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In a nutshell: don't reference the actor in the example unless the actor is relevant to the example in a way their character is not. So unless the trope is something like Actor Allusion, it's a no-go.
2025: the year it all ends?When I started troping on the wiki years ago, that was one of the things that annoyed me the most, so much I made an entry on How Not to Write an Example about it.
That was especially bad with some iconic actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger; from many of the examples you'd think the guy is a mass-murderer.
Yeah, I've done it myself especially in films where a famous actor's character's name is sorta forgettable, but I at least always say "Arnold's character..." rather than say he does it himself.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.That assumes standards of notability, and reads like an advertisement. "Look, Brad Pitt was in this film!"
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"If a reader needs to know the cast listing for a movie, they should go to Wikipedia, or better, IMDB. We're here to document tropes in stories, that's it. Short of trivia, there is literally no reason you would ever need to know anything about the actors in a work in order to trope it. We're not here to help you "identify" works. presumably, if you're reading the page, you've already identified it, which is how you found the page.
Or you can pop over to You Know That Show. You can also go to the article on Brad Pitt and check its related links.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I get it, and I see why it's not a good thing. I was just arguing that there is at least some justification for the practice (in which, for the record, I don't indulge myself).
^^Solip Schism: it's no problem if I'm reading the work page, because it should describe the movie, mention actors, anyway. I agree that there's absolutely no need to mention actor names in the trope list on a work page. I was referring to the case where you're seeing a work mentioned on a trope page. (This is just to explain what I meant - I'm not trying to argue anything anymore.)
^Fighteer: Or I could just click on the link to the work page (which is, of course, what I usually do).
Edited by GnomeTitan"Bob jumped over the lazy dog" > "Bob, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, jumped over the lazy dog" >> "Arnold Schwarzenegger's character, Bob, jumped over the lazy dog" > "Arnold Schwarzenegger jumped over the lazy dog"
Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

I've noticed that when some tropers write about what a character in a TV show does, they don't use the name of the character, but the name of the actor. For example, if they write an example for Charlie's Angels they'll write something like:
instead of
I assume this is not desirable. After all, Farrah Fawcett wasn't playing herself, she was playing the fictional character Jill Munroe.
Is it OK to change such usage on sight, or does it require discussion first?