Sean Astin followed in the footsteps of his mother Patty Duke on Friday as he was elected SAG-AFTRA president 37 years after she left the post.
The Lord of the Rings actor will preside over the sprawling 160,000-member union alongside Michelle Hurd, who was appointed secretary-treasurer. Astin won nearly 80 percent of the votes, while his opponent Chuck Slavin earned a little over 20 percent. Hurd won about 65 percent of the vote, with her opponent Peter Antico receiving over 35 percent support. Voter turnout was low, with 20,459 qualifying ballots being received.
With incumbent president Fran Drescher deciding not to run for re-election, Astin and Hurd ran on a platform of bringing production back to the U.S., improved access to health and pension plans, prioritizing residuals in contract negotiations and fighting for improved AI protections.
They represent something of a continuation of Drescher’s leadership: Both Astin and Hurd served as members of the 2023 negotiating committee and served on the national board under The Nanny star. After Drescher brought together two warring political factions within the union for its 2023 election, amid the union’s film and TV strike, Astin’s “Coalition 2025” slate did the same. Astin, after all, was once a member of the Membership First group, while Hurd was a member of their rivals, Unite for Strength.
Meanwhile, Astin and Hurd’s opponents promised a major change in union politics. Chuck Slavin, running for president, was a critic of COVID-19 vaccine mandates on union productions and Astin’s non-union work on The Lord of the Rings. He also wanted major changes to the union’s AI protections.
More to come.