Real Person Fic (RPF)
From Fan History Wiki
Real Person Fic (RPF) is a genre of fanfiction that utilizes the actors/actresses in media fandoms rather than the characters they portray.
The genre is still a contentious topic among fans with one side (pro) claiming the "characters" portrayed in such stories are no more or less fictional than the characters the actors/actresses play in their respective franchises. The other side (con) maintains it is an invasion of privacy and/or and appropriation and possibly libelous infringement on the individual's sense of identity and personality.
During the "Golden Age" of Hollywood, it was not unusual for the film studios to release novels and trade paperback collections of stories featuring their more popular "assets" in books portraying the actors/actresses in adventures and mysteries as if they were fictional characters. Cary Grant, Audie Murphy, Roy Rogers, and others became fictionalized representations of themselves under the studio's desire to market to the public both their stable of contracted actors and actresses and upcoming films in which those performers starred.
