diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs
index 0479259e5..4c8c7f3b7 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs
@@ -1169,11 +1169,18 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities
 
             if (string.Equals(person.Type, PersonType.Actor, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
             {
-                // Only add actors if there isn't an existing one of type Actor or GuestStar
-                if (!People.Any(p => p.Name.Equals(person.Name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) && (p.Type.Equals(PersonType.Actor, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) || p.Type.Equals(PersonType.GuestStar, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))))
+                // If the actor already exists without a role and we have one, fill it in
+                var existing = People.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Name.Equals(person.Name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) && (p.Type.Equals(PersonType.Actor, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) || p.Type.Equals(PersonType.GuestStar, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)));
+                if (existing == null)
                 {
+                    // Wasn't there - add it
                     People.Add(person);
                 }
+                else
+                {
+                    // Was there, if no role and we have one - fill it in
+                    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(existing.Role) && !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(person.Role)) existing.Role = person.Role;
+                }
             }
             else
             {
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Providers/BaseItemXmlParser.cs b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Providers/BaseItemXmlParser.cs
index 48281b6a9..65ec6899f 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Providers/BaseItemXmlParser.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Providers/BaseItemXmlParser.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System.Globalization;
+using System.IO;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities;
 using MediaBrowser.Model.Entities;
 using MediaBrowser.Model.Logging;
@@ -281,13 +282,26 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Providers
 
                 case "Actors":
                     {
-                        foreach (var p in SplitNames(reader.ReadElementContentAsString()).Select(v => new PersonInfo { Name = v.Trim(), Type = PersonType.Actor }))
+
+                        var actors = reader.ReadInnerXml();
+                        
+                        if (actors.Contains("<"))
                         {
-                            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(p.Name))
+                            // This is one of the mis-named "Actors" full nodes created by MB2
+                            // Create a reader and pass it to the persons node processor
+                            FetchDataFromPersonsNode(new XmlTextReader(new StringReader("<Persons>" + actors + "</Persons>")), item);
+                        }
+                        else
+                        {
+                            // Old-style piped string
+                            foreach (var p in SplitNames(actors).Select(v => new PersonInfo { Name = v.Trim(), Type = PersonType.Actor }))
                             {
-                                continue;
+                                if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(p.Name))
+                                {
+                                    continue;
+                                }
+                                item.AddPerson(p);
                             }
-                            item.AddPerson(p);
                         }
                         break;
                     }
@@ -500,6 +514,7 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Providers
                     switch (reader.Name)
                     {
                         case "Person":
+                        case "Actor":
                             {
                                 foreach (var person in GetPersonsFromXmlNode(reader.ReadSubtree()))
                                 {
@@ -619,7 +634,7 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Providers
         private IEnumerable<PersonInfo> GetPersonsFromXmlNode(XmlReader reader)
         {
             var names = new List<string>();
-            var type = string.Empty;
+            var type = "Actor";  // If type is not specified assume actor
             var role = string.Empty;
 
             reader.MoveToContent();
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.sln b/MediaBrowser.sln
index eb3251f74..f9f5e9436 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.sln
+++ b/MediaBrowser.sln
@@ -173,7 +173,4 @@ Global
 	GlobalSection(SolutionProperties) = preSolution
 		HideSolutionNode = FALSE
 	EndGlobalSection
-	GlobalSection(Performance) = preSolution
-		HasPerformanceSessions = true
-	EndGlobalSection
 EndGlobal