{"id":578433,"date":"2026-02-09T22:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T22:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/578433\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T22:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T22:41:13","slug":"sean-astin-leads-screen-actors-guild-amid-ai-and-streaming-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/578433\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean Astin leads Screen Actors Guild amid AI and streaming challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Sean Astin<\/a> has taken on the presidency of the SAG-AFTRA<\/a> at a particularly perilous time for the actors union, and for Hollywood. There\u2019s the threat of human actors being replaced by artificial intelligence. The ongoing upheavals of streaming. Studio consolidation and realignment.<\/p>\n

Nearly three years ago, the actors launched a four-month strike<\/a>, securing some protections and higher wages. And on Monday, negotiations on a new three-year contract with studio and streamers are already beginning again. <\/p>\n

So what actor would want this role? <\/p>\n

\u201cIn my imagination, growing up, I would want to have been in a place of consequence,\u201d he told The Associated Press<\/a> in an interview in his office at the guild\u2019s Los Angeles headquarters. \u201cAnd so to have the opportunity to be in a role, leading a union of 160,000 people at this moment of consequence when there\u2019s turmoil, when there\u2019s fear and uncertainty and danger, this is exactly where I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

A life as an actor and union member<\/p>\n

Astin, an elected board member during the strike who left his mark as a fiery rally speaker, won the presidency<\/a> in September, replacing the outgoing Fran Drescher<\/a>. <\/p>\n

As an actor, the now-54-year-old is known as the leader of a scrappy band of kids in 1985\u2019s \u201cThe Goonies,\u201d<\/a> an aspiring football player with never-ending grit in 1993\u2019s \u201cRudy,\u201d<\/a> and Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins\u2019 steadfast bestie in the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d<\/a> trilogy. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s a SAG lifer, becoming a member as a young boy in 1981. His mother, Oscar winner Patty Duke, who died in 2016, was president of the guild from 1985 to 1988, before it added the -AFTRA in a 2012 merger. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"SAG-AFTRA<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Harrison<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

His father, John Astin, now 95, is best known for playing Gomez on \u201cThe Addams Family.\u201d His brother Mackenzie Astin is a child star turned journeyman actor who recently had a three-episode arc on \u201cThe Pitt.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

Sean Astin said he hopes to get actors like his brother, who rely heavily on small ongoing payments for guest roles, to have streaming residuals pay as well as they do for broadcast TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to be at a Thanksgiving or a Christmas with him and nudge him and say, \u2018Hey, how\u2019s your residuals doing?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The coming contract talks <\/p>\n

Astin said he has reason to believe the new talks won\u2019t start with actors and their employers at each other\u2019s throats. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey came in last time provoking the fight,\u201d he said, referring to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. \u201cThey wanted the strike. No question in my mind. I was in those rooms every single day. They\u2019re sending much different signals now. They\u2019re sending signals of wanting stability, of wanting to work as partners again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AMPTP said in a statement to the AP that the group representing studios and streamers<\/a> looked \u201cforward to working collaboratively with our partners at SAG-AFTRA as we commence formal bargaining.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBy taking the time to thoughtfully engage on the challenges confronting our industry, we are optimistic that, together, we can reach a fair deal that reflects our shared commitment to supporting our industry\u2019s talented performers and promoting long-term stability,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n

Astin said the guild won\u2019t yield any of the ground it won in 2023, whether it be wage increases or requiring informed consent for the use of actors\u2019 likenesses via AI. and that means they can\u2019t disarm in advance — striking is not out of the question, whatever the lingering pains from last time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only one real tool available to a labor union in a negotiation, and that\u2019s saying no,\u201d Astin said. \u201cWe reserve the right to say no again if we need to.\u201d<\/p>\n

On March 1, the guild will hold the world\u2019s most glamorous union meeting, the newly renamed Actor Awards<\/a>, where high-profile members like Leonardo DiCaprio<\/a> and Emma Stone<\/a> are nominated. But the vast majority of acting members don\u2019t even make the approximately $27,000 a year required to qualify for guild health insurance. And Astin represents the guild\u2019s full membership \u2014 including video game actors<\/a>, puppeteers, broadcast journalists and TV announcers. He\u2019s spent much of his time since his election \u2014 and plenty before that \u2014 learning the specific concerns of, for example, stunt drivers or actors who live in Minnesota or New Mexico. <\/p>\n

\u201cI will say to everybody, I\u2019m gonna fight as hard for you as anybody has ever fought for you, for your issue,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople say, \u2018You can\u2019t fight for everybody equally.\u2019 I say, \u2018Yes, I can.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

The best parts of his best characters<\/p>\n

A speech Samwise gives in \u201cThe Two Towers\u201d \u2014 \u201cThere\u2019s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it\u2019s worth fighting for\u201d \u2014 became an Astin rallying cry during the strike. <\/p>\n

He said that he can also draw from his other characters for traits he ought to embody now. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe qualities that make Rudy special \u2014 determination, grit, inspiration, aspiration \u2014 whatever is a part of that thing that makes him, makes his story touch the lives of so many people, is the part of myself that I want to pour into this job on behalf of my members,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Mikey from \u201cThe Goonies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think of \u2018The Goonies,\u2019 \u2018The Goonies\u2019 is about saving their home,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun, there\u2019s a pirate ship, but it\u2019s about a group of friends who don\u2019t want to be overtaken by industrialists. Maybe that\u2019s the most important one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Sean Astin has taken on the presidency of the SAG-AFTRA at a particularly perilous…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":578434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,276,185,435,38508,83398,171,85589,57,65,121604,24963,13618,224,251033,53,121603,42859,32761,235115,1607,158,399,61,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-578433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-business","tag-california","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity","tag-compensation-and-benefits","tag-emma-stone","tag-entertainment","tag-fran-drescher","tag-general-news","tag-information-technology","tag-john-astin","tag-labor-unions","tag-leonardo-dicaprio","tag-los-angeles","tag-mackenzie-astin","tag-movies","tag-patty-duke","tag-sag-aftra","tag-sean-astin","tag-send-to-apple-news","tag-strikes","tag-technology","tag-television","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116043087260548245","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}