How the Unexpected A-List Strike Letter Came Together

Katie Kilkenny and Tyler Coates
·5 min read
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In a sign of a new current of energy infusing Hollywood labor, hundreds of A-list actors sent a bombshell letter to their union leaders Tuesday calling on them to make a “transformative” deal with studios and streamers and expressing their resolve to strike if such a compromise wasn’t reached.

The likes of Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Louis-Dreyfus signed the message in advance of the expiration of their union SAG-AFTRA’s current TV and film contracts Friday night. And after the letter was read by union negotiators and leaders, hundreds more signed on, including apparently Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix and Amanda Seyfried — currently, the letter appears to have over 2,000 signatories, though in the Google Doc copy The Hollywood Reporter has seen, header language cautions that volunteers are in the process of verifying signatures.

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(Confusingly, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher’s name appears on the Google Doc version of the letter, addressed to union leaders. THR has reached out to several of her representatives to see if she did indeed sign the letter.)

Amy Schumer, Paul Scheer and Paul Downs were key organizers behind the letter, THR has learned. Via a representative, the group of organizers declined to comment. “I received a link to a Google doc from Megan Boone over text Tuesday morning,” says Tavi Gevinson (Gossip Girl, The Twilight Zone), who was among the first wave of signatories, in a text. “It was funny to open it and see the cursor named Anonymous Hedgehog be like ‘JOHN SLATTERY.’ “

The language of the letter was forwarded to potential other signatories in an abbreviated time period, such that once the letter became public, some SAG-AFTRA members who hadn’t yet heard of it rushed to sign on. A separate group, meanwhile, was invited to join this second wave of names. One joint Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA member says they first became aware of the letter Monday, when an actor posted an Instagram story about the message, soliciting signatures. This member responded too late to be added to the first wave of signatures, but on Wednesday received an email from one of the original signatories, inviting them to sign in a second round. “At that point, it was already in over 600 names. I added in mine and could see other names being added by the minute,” this person said.

Joking that he was on the “B-list SAG letter” because he was in the second wave of union members to sign, Zach Woods (Silicon Valley, The Office) says Scheer forwarded him the message after it initially went public. “I’m just happy to be included, and I’m glad that people took the initiative,” he said. “I’m always awestruck and happy to sign onto their thoughtful and courageous moral gesture.”

The letter was sent to SAG-AFTRA leaders at a critical juncture, just a few days before the expiration of the union’s current contract package. Union members have authorized their leaders to call a strike if the talks go downhill once the contracts expire June 30: Nearly 98 percent of voting members supported a potential work stoppage in this scenario.

Explains joint WGA and SAG-AFTRA member Anna Konkle (PEN15) of the letter, “We all banded together and said, ‘Let’s make this push and make sure that the leadership understands that these are really important issues, and this is the time for us to make it as strong of a case as possible along with the WGA.'”

On Saturday, Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland appeared to signal that talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were going well, calling them “extremely productive.” Drescher added,  “We’re standing strong and we’re going to achieve a seminal deal.”

This message was a factor in the joint WGA and SAG-AFTRA member signing the letter: “I don’t need the performance. I need the action. And most certainly, when that video went out, I was doubly concerned. So when the opportunity to sign came to me I said ‘absolutely,'” this person said.

In their letter, some of the union’s top performers added the cautionary note that “SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.” They called for major changes to minimum rates, streaming residuals and exclusivity provisions and expressed a desire to get ahead of artificial intelligence’s potential effects on their profession and put further protections in place with regard to self-taped auditions.

“We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade. We need to reverse those trajectories,” the signatories said.

A second joint SAG-AFTRA and WGA member, who signed the letter Wednesday, notes that while the high-profile (and high-earning) names on the list garnered attention, the union’s goal with its ongoing negotiations is to offer all of its members more sustainable livelihoods. “I believe the message needs to be clear [that] the time for a new deal is now. And I’m grateful the A-listers got the ball rolling, but it’s the working actors who are trying to make a living whose voices really need to be heard.”

Chuck Slavin (Daddy’s Home 2), a member of the union’s New England Local board, also signed the letter. “The importance of this letter is to reaffirm the commitment of the signatories that it is no longer business as usual between our members and our leadership,” he wrote in an email. “The last several contracts, especially with the allowance of streaming, has crippled the earnings from background artist to Hollywood star.”

Chris Gardner contributed reporting.

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