If youre just starting out in the "biz", do you have to use your stage name for all acting things?

Employment Contracts

Standard union employment contracts have places for you to list your social security number, your legal name AND your stage name. Usually, the contract says something like "Credited As:". That's where you place your stage name., and that is what will be shown in the credits of the project.


So what happens in the case of employment contracts that are often court ordered? Michael Rosenfeld, Vice President and Counsel of the Walt Disney Company tells us, "Most kids do not legally change their names to their stage names. The court documents generally need to reflect both names, since the legal name is on the birth certificate (or passport or drivers license) and the contract lists the stage name (and sometimes also the legal name). Court documents would generally say something along the lines of "Destiny Hope Cyrus aka Miley Cyrus". By the way, Miley Cyrus did eventually do a legal name change after having used the stage name for many years.


Finances

Banking, taxes and payroll are normally tracked by social security number, not names. Still, young performers might find a few glitches, so we suggest talking to your bank when you open the account to make SURE things on the account are listed correctly. Representatives at AFTRA/SAG Federal Credit Union tell us that young performer bank accounts are typically opened in BOTH names (same ideas is above, "Destiny Hope Cyrus aka Miley Cyrus"). That way, no matter which name the checks are issued in, the performer can deposit them. We suggest using a financial institution that is familiar with stage names for minors (such as AFTRA/SAG FCU, Actors Federal Credit Union, and First Entertainment Credit Union) for this reason.