Ready for Action
Fran Drescher talks the state of the union
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher was a model of fearlessness last year during the union’s 118-day strike — the longest in its history — facing down the leaders of the major studios, while maintaining membership solidarity on the picket lines. But she’s quick to admit that the “unrelenting stress” took its toll. Two months after the union ratified its new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, her body is still paying her back for what her brain put it through. Recently recovered from a “cold from hell” she brought back to Los Angeles from New York, she’s now dealing with a torn meniscus in her knee.
“I try to be a superwoman, but sometimes my body reminds me that I’m not,” says Drescher, a multi-hyphenate actor-writer-producer-women’s health advocate (a uterine cancer survivor, she founded the nonprofit Cancer Schmancer Movement), who was previously best-known as the star of the long-running sitcom “The Nanny.”
She’s much more bullish about the status of the guild, post-strike.
“We went from being like third banana on a sitcom to the stars of an Oscar-winning feature film,” she notes.
The deal, worth more than $1 billion over the three years of the contract, includes a 11% bump in minimum pay during the first year, a 153% effective increase in relocation payments, increased contributions to health and pension/ retirement funds, improved sexual harassment prevention, and new rules covering hair and makeup equity and even auditions.
“Not really respecting [the time] that an actor [needs to] prepare had really run amuck,” says Drescher.
“Now, they have a limitation as to how many pages they have to read for the early audition process.”
The contract’s most talkedabout deal points address how advances in technology are rewriting industry business models. It created a $40-million-a-year residual bonus for actors on streaming shows, with 75% going to those working on the mostwatched programs and 25% going to a fund jointly administered by the SAG-AFTRA and employers that will be distributed more broadly to actors appearing in streaming content. There are also new rules regarding the use of artificial intelligence, including provisions requiring producers to get “clear and conspicuous” consent from an actor to create a digital replica of their likeness and pay them for the number of days it would’ve required to shoot the scenes with the actor on a live set, as well as residuals.
“Nobody ever expected us to walk away with a $1 billion deal,” says Drescher. “I’ve been told that by the CEOS themselves. They didn’t see this coming; they didn’t see me coming. But they’ve had a come-to-jesus moment that this is going to be one of those contracts that they have to lean into and make big changes.”
Drescher is now working with politicians in Washington, D.C., to lobby for the Artificial Intelligence
Fake Replicas and Unauthorized Duplications (No AI FRAUD) Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-fla.) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA.) that would establish a federal framework to protect Americans’ individual right to their likeness and voice from being the subject of Ai-generated fakes and forgeries.
“Making a contract is one thing. Having federal regulations to protect not only our industry but all others is quite another,” says Drescher. “It’s important that we build on this success.”
Drescher has committed to leading that building process through September 2025, when her second two-year term as SAG-AFTRA president ends. But don’t expect her to be around to lead the negotiations when the current contract expires on June 30, 2026.
“This a very difficult and demanding job if you want to do it the way I do it, because I don’t know how to do anything by half,” says Drescher. “I think that by the end of this tenure, I’ll be ready to walk away.”
would childhood friends know who she was when she was famous?) And she even corrected Ed Sullivan when he almost mispronounced her last name on his show. On her first album, “The Barbra Streisand Album,” she opted for more creative control than a bigger payday.
Streisand also writes that director Arthur Laurents gave her an epic tongue lashing over their differing views on the choreography for her big number in the Broadway musical, “I Can Get It for You Wholesale.” She didn’t get upset or cry. Instead, she says that this is when it dawned on her that “that’s the way it is going to be for me. I will do that to people. I will make them angry.”
This year, Streisand is the recipient of SAG-AFTRA’S SAG Life Achievement Award, which recognizes both her career achievements and humanitarian accomplishments (she’s known to use her performances to raise money for various causes and, in 1986, she launched the Streisand Foundation to help with aid toward civil rights protection, nuclear disarmament and women’s health).
“Her enduring career is a testament to her genuine performances, connecting with audiences on a profound level,” SAGAFTRA president (and fellow outer boroughs native) Fran Drescher said upon announcing the news of Streisand’s honor. “She is a colossal icon with a relentless work ethic, evolving with each stage of her remarkable journey. We celebrate Barbra Streisand not just for her achievements but for the enduring legacy she has carved.”
Some people are threats. She’s a triple force with which to be reckoned.
She is a colossal icon with a relentless work ethic, evolving with each stage of her remarkable journey.” — Fran Drescher