Matthew Modine Running for SAG-AFTRA President
Veteran actor Matthew Modine is running for president of SAG-AFTRA as the head of the ticket for the Membership First faction of the performers union.
Modine was first elected as a member of the SAG-AFTRA national board in 2017. He’s the first candidate to announce for the presidency. Current president Gabrielle Carteris, who won a two-year term in the 2017 election, has not yet announced whether she will seek re-election.
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“As a current national and local board member of SAG-AFTRA, it would be my honor to represent all 160,000 members of the union I have proudly been a member of for nearly four decades,” Modine said in a statement released Monday. “It is my privilege to stand up for our legacy in order to safeguard our future. There comes a time when we must work to ensure that current and future membership will be able to enjoy the basic rights and securities our union has always provided. It’s my time to give back.”
Modine has an extensive resume, breaking out as the star of “Full Metal Jacket” and stars in the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” Other credits include “Pacific Heights,” “Weeds,” “And the Band Played On” and “Proof.”
Ballots are expected to go in the mid-summer. Carteris, who has been president since 2015 when she replaced Ken Howard following his death, is part of the ruling Unite For Strength faction.
Most of the attention in the SAG-AFTRA elections is focused on the presidential race. Carteris headed the Unite for Strength ticket two years ago, fending off challenges from Membership First’s Esai Morales along with independents Peter Antico and Robert B. Martin, Jr. SAG-AFTRA’s 80-member national board is the key ruling body for the union.
Membership First dates back two decades when William Daniels was elected as president of SAG on a platform of taking a tougher stance at the bargaining table, which led to a six-month strike against the ad industry. Modine has received endorsements from Daniels along with past SAG presidents Ed Asner and Alan Rosenberg, and from current SAG-AFTRA national board members Martin Sheen, Frances Fisher, Pam Guest, David Jolliffe, Esai Morales, Patricia Richardson, Jodi Long and Marie Fink.
Other high-profile endorsers include Ed Harris, Vincent D’Onofrio, Mira Sorvino, Eric Stoltz, Nancy Sinatra, Patricia Arquette, Rosanna Arquette, Sean Astin, Jennifer Beals, Ernie Hudson, Kent McCord, Alfred Molina, Bill Mumy, Marcia Cross and Bruce Davison. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
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