Male film actors get jobs like "doctor" and "cop." Women get "receptionist&

by Zachary Crockett

''If you finish watching a movie and let the ending credits scroll for a while, you’ll come across the actors who are merely identified as descriptors — "bridesmaid #1," "man in donkey suit," or "hot dog vendor."

Upon first glimpse, these roles seem inconsequential; after all, these are characters that weren’t even important enough to get names. But a deeper look at these credits reveals a dramatic difference in the roles Hollywood ascribes to female and male "day players" (actors whose roles are unnamed in the credits).

Bruce Nash, over at the Numbers, went through 160,000 acting credits from 26,000 major US movie releases dating back to the dawn of the film industry. At our request, he pulled the most common credits given to men and women in non-major roles...''