I don't know of this ever happening to an actor, but when it does happen it happens in so random a way I thought I'd post a general warning about it, for future reference.

I was reminded of it in reading Ann Patchett's "Truth and Beauty", where she mentions how, as a published but still obscure novelist, she was thrilled to meet an older man who claimed to be representing a millionaire who wanted to finance selected writers. He was clever in his come-on - he asked her to help him find candidates for this generosity. Which of course she was thrilled to do.

In her case, things dragged on a bit and it wasn't until she'd given him a draft of her next novel to read that he suddenly showed his hand - that is, started making romantic overtures and in fact stalking her for a while after she tried to cut off contact.

This brought to mind an incident from years back when an attractive poet I know was contacted by a man who claimed he wanted to finance a feminist magazine (strange in itself, for a guy) and that he wanted her to run it. In her case, things went much faster. Very soon after their first "business meeting", he called her up and said, "I feel like I'm seventeen again! I'm in love!" Etc.

Ewwww.......

Neither of these was exactly a scam in the sense of trying to get money from these women, but they weren't exactly comforting experiences either. And they certainly couldn't have helped each person's trust level.

How would this work with an actor? "I'm thinking of financing a film... Could you help me find actors?... Do you have a script?...." The possibilities are endless.

I could say: "Beware of unexpected benefactors". But really, the bottom line is the old one: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.