NPR’s 6AM News Gave Sag Aftra Actors a Return to Work

To watch or listen to the 7:00am news is a part of me being a good citizen. When I began drinking my coffee (insomnia sucks) before 7:00am on Nov 7th, MPR told me at the tail of the hour, that the SAG AFTRA union had a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Theater Producer (AMPTP) I was surprised and relieved for performers. 

I saw a slender light flicker for moi. I’m not chomping at the bit to see new TV or films; as I age, ever fewer of them grab me. I’m no actor. I’m not a paid speaker (how many Certified Speaking Professionals are in any actor’s unions?) So, why did the news register with me?

In late 2022 I was an ambitious and artistic speaker. Still a Toastmaster, I was an outlier within the global group. Some months after having returned to Toastmasters, again. I wanted to use more non-verbals and to exploit the stage space to serve my messages. As I sought lessons about stagecraft for theatrical speakers, I had “discovered” the SAG AFTRA conversations on YouTube for myself.

To work on-screen or -stage you must be handsome. During the last 20 odd years, strangers and relatives have reacted to my image by asking “what do you do for a living” then insist “you need to be modeling”! Why not exploit and profit from the source of this praise?

The wrinkle in my “beauty”? I performed in industrial videos for the Minnesota Lottery and Medtronic during the 2010s. There has been a long pause since then. What’s more, talk therapy and diligently improved self-talk convinced me to accept and walk with this praise. Alas, no major Twin Cities talent agency has invited me to do substantive or even sporadic work. 

If I act concretely toward acting related work, Sag Aftra resumption of work could help me. I have great public speaking and writing experience. I have bare acting experience. 

I have seen too many speakers (mostly executives and elected people) who stand at a mic or lectern while reciting or reading their messages anemically. This is common. No one expects them to show a persona or use gestures to emphasize their messages. 

The speakers whom I revere choose to be interesting, animated and memorable. Why not choose that lane?

To foresee something for me in the SAG AFTRA and AMPTP agreement is silly and delusional. Each of us lifts ourselves by acting toward a vision of a future. Being on-file with the Ruggiero, Caryn Talent and Wehmann agencies and without calls or messages from them is the first stage. Drive or optimism?

The end of the 6:00am report from NPR telling listeners about actors resuming work, breathing like they foresaw paying their bills left a mark was splendid for them. How many “strikingly handsome,” “devastatingly handsome,” or “gorgeous” men go without on-screen work?