Which A-List Star Is Hacking IMDb Pages?

This story first appeared in the Nov. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

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Onstage during the Napa Valley Film Festival on Nov. 9, in Yountville, Calif., Billy Bush asked James Marsden what roles the actor had turned down -- Marsden claimed he wasn't in a position to do so -- and why he's such a big Barry Manilow fan.

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Marsden laughed and said he's constantly asked this about the singer but that it's just not true. The Access Hollywood host protested that he got it from a presumably reliable source: the actor's IMDb bio.

So it must be correct, right? Not so much. Explains Marsden, "I have a famous actor friend of mine -- I won't tell you who he is -- but he likes to go into other people's bios and add things."

A spokesperson for IMDb acknowledges the ease with which a prankster can wreak havoc: "We make it easy for users and professionals to update much of our content, which is why we have an 'edit page.' The data that is submitted goes through a series of consistency checks before it goes live. Given the sheer volume of the information, occasional mistakes are inevitable, and, when reported, they are promptly fixed. We always welcome corrections."