6 QUESTIONS

Fran Drescher The president of the actors' union on joining the writers' strike, the impact of streaming and AI, and the Nanny memes burning up the net

- JUDY BERMAN

It’s hard for some people to reconcile reports of A-list stars commanding tens of millions in salaries with the news of an actors’ strike. Why has a union representing such an apparently lucrative profession taken such a dramatic step?

Those big stars—they draw people into the theaters and allow everybody below them to make a living. But [most] people in this 160,000-members strong union make not enough to even be eligible for health benefi ts. Most actors just want to pay rent, put food on the table, and be respected. Those are the people we must strike for. When the opposition says that if you’re a background person, we’ll scan your image [with AI] and pay you for one day, then own your likeness in perpetuity, where does that leave that performer? [In a statement released July 17, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said its proposal requires a “performer’s consent for the creation and use of digital replicas.”]

How has the streaming economy affected actors’ livelihoods?