If I learned anything from watching reruns of The Nanny as a kid, it was not to underestimate Fran Drescher—not when she was playing a Jewish beautician from Queens (“Oh, Mistah Sheffieeeeeld!”) and certainly not when she’s exercising her power as the president of SAG-AFTRA, the Hollywood actors union that joined the WGA (Writers Guild of America) on strike last week.
“I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us!” Drescher said at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, adding: “How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them!” If you’re a worker in any sector of the economy who was appalled by Disney CEO Bob Iger calling the unions’ strike demands “unrealistic,” you can empathize with Drescher’s outrage; while she’s one of the privileged few who presumably do just fine off residuals, the reality is that most SAG members don’t even earn enough annually to qualify for their union’s health insurance. All across the country and the world, prices are rising, wages are stagnant, and people are pissed; is it any wonder that Drescher’s message is hitting so hard?
As a proud union member myself, I can’t help being transfixed by the sight of one of my longtime favorite sitcom stars absolutely taking to task studio execs with bloated expense accounts and seemingly no remaining shred of human solidarity. Right now, Drescher feels like exactly the person who should be advocating for the union’s nearly 160,000 members—and workers in general, most of whom benefit from highly visible gains made by unions in the public eye. (A rising tide lifts all boats, as they say!)
While it’s primarily lower-earning, non-famous members of SAG (and the WGA, for that matter) who are driving the momentum of the current strikes with their nonstop picketing, resource sharing, and dissemination of information about just how much work needs to be done to win a fair contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the importance of name-checkable celebs lending their clout to the negotiations can’t be overstated; just look at the response generated by Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, and other members of the Oppenheimer cast walking out of their own premiere. The truth is, it’s scary to go up against your boss or fight for improvement in any industry, but it’s a lot less isolating and nerve-racking when your coworkers are there right beside you; in Hollywood, of course, your coworker might just happen to be a nanny named Fran.
