How ‘The Nanny’s Fran Drescher Became the Actors’ Guild President
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Just a day after this year’s Emmy nominations were announced and two months after Hollywood writers went on strike, the actors have voted to join the picket lines.
SAG-AFTRA, the union led by actor Fran Drescher that represents around 160,000 film and television actors, voted to strike Thursday after failing to reach an agreement with major studios. Starting at midnight Friday, the actors and writers will begin their dual walkout for the first time since 1960.
“The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics and on others completely stonewalled us,” Drescher said, according to The Washington Post. “Until they do negotiate in good faith, we cannot begin to reach a deal.”
Drescher, who is most known for her lead role on the 1990s television sitcom The Nanny, was voted president of the Screen Actors Guild in September 2021. Here’s a look at how she came to earn such a pivotal role in Hollywood.
Becoming President
Drescher was born on September 30, 1957, in Queens and grew up in the New York City borough with two working parents. According to The Nation, she picked up her first job as a grocery store cashier at age 14 and eventually dropped out of college to pursue acting.
While Drescher has written that her unique background sometimes made her feel like a “gefilte fish out of water” among her Hollywood peers, it also helped establish her staunch pro-union stance. Which brings us to the actors guild.
According to Variety, SAG-AFTRA is primarily dominated by two rival factions: Unite for Strength and Membership First. The majority Unite for Strength, which has controlled the union since 2009, sought a replacement in summer 2021 for Gabrielle Carteris, who announced she would not seek reelection as president. Their candidate was Drescher.
Membership First members have generally taken a more combative line in contract talks, which made Drescher’s candidacy unpopular among many of the group’s members. According to The Nation, they believed Drescher lacked labor experience and felt she had been nominated because of her name, not her negotiating ability.
Despite this, following an election filled with mudslinging, Drescher defeated actor Matthew Modine by 5 percent of the vote and became president. “What I don’t know, I promise you I will learn very quickly, and what I do know cannot be taught,” she said at the time in a virtual address to members.
Recent Controversies
Although Drescher has pleasantly surprised a lot of members during her tenure with her outspoken nature, it has also gotten her into trouble of late.
She has been an outspoken critic of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Hollywood. During her speech at February’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, Drescher urged colleagues to use their financial influence to pressure governors into relaxing restrictions. “Money talks and bulls–– walks!” she said on stage, quoting her character from the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap.
Then in recent days, she drew criticism for traveling to Italy amid last-chance negotiation efforts between the actors and studios. She attended Dolce & Gabbana’s five-day Alta Moda festival, with Kim Kardashian posting a photo with Drescher at Sunday’s closing show. According to The Hollywood Reporter, her attendance upset a number of Hollywood insiders who felt the trip wasn’t a good look amid the pivotal impasse.
However, on Thursday, Drescher blasted the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, calling their responses to the union’s proposals “insulting and disrespectful,” according to The Washington Post. Time will tell if Drescher can help strike a deal that keeps most of her fellow actors happy.
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