Interview with Michelle Hurd (SAG LA Vice President):
All your favorite things that you've been watching for years, and you know those actors that you go, "Oh, there's that guy on that show." You may not necessarily know their names—you may see me on a show, you may not know my name, but you've seen me on a lot of things. Those actors, those actors are working-class actors. We're literally working paycheck-to-paycheck.
It takes $26,000 to qualify for your health insurance for SAG-AFTRA. A guest star on a show, producers will do top-of-show—this is a verbiage that they created, it's not in our contracts, it's what they created—so they're not gonna budge above whatever their top-of-show is. Top-of-show, generally, could be anywhere from $5,000 to $7 or $8,000 an episode. Maybe that sounds great. So say I cobble together 2 or 3 guest stars during a year. People, our audiences, sees me on 3 or 4 different shows, and they're like, "Wow, that actress is working, she's doing all this stuff." I still, by doing that with top-of-show, I have still not qualified for my health insurance. We literally are going paycheck to paycheck.
Back in the day, we used to have quotes. That once you've been working for a certain amount of time, you're working really hard to get your quote up, to get your salary up. They decided to get rid of that, so they no longer acknowledge or respect that. This industry is one of the few industries that seniority, that being in this industry for a long time, that gathering up an amazing resume, doesn't mean anything to them.
Yes, there is some very wealthy actors. Absolutely. There's 160,000 members in our union. 160,000. 1% are the top grossers. 1%. And of that, maybe 2% are the ones that literally support and uplift our union, and keep the insurance going. Everybody else is below the line.
People don't realize that SAG-AFTRA is not just actors. We're broadcasters, we're stunt coordinators, stunt workers. We're dancers and singers and voiceover artists. There's a huge umbrella that we encompass, and 98% of those people are below the line? Are struggling to make a living? In an industry that we all know is making billions?
I think about this all the time, we talk about this in our caucuses. Back in the day, we used to talk about millions, everybody wanted to make millions, and oh wouldn't that be amazing. These people are making billions, and yet they don't have money to give us just a scooch more? To contribute to our pension and health? To allow us to qualify for our health insurance?
We have actors that you all will recognize. You will know us from that guy on that show that have lost their insurance, no longer qualify, and are hustling just to get a day on a job to just pay their rent. Not even their insurance, their rent.
This is a serious, crucial moment. This sounds hyperbolic or whatever, but it is a life-or-death situation. Because we're talking about, you know, taking care of our families. Taking care of our loved ones, you know, our parents, if they're getting older. You always, as a child, you want to be able to contribute. Should I be at this age, still asking my parents for money? No. I should be taking care of my parents. It's painful.
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