In 1985, Valley of the Dolls and The Miracle Worker actress Patty Duke became the second-ever woman to lead the Screen Actors Guild as president, a position she filled for three years.

Now, decades later, her son Sean Astin is seeking to follow in her footsteps. The actor, perhaps best known for his role as the loyal hobbit hero Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, is running for president of the current iteration of the film and TV actors’ union, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

In an interview, Astin pointed to his years on national and L.A. Local boards and on five separate negotiating committees as key preparatory steps for the top job at SAG-AFTRA. “It feels like this moment is a culmination of all of that work,” he said. “The time feels like it’s absolutely right and I’m excited to do it.”

Fran Drescher, who has led the union as president since 2021 and managed the organization through the onset of the generative AI era and its grueling 118-day strike in 2023, is said to have decided not to run again. Drescher, however, could not be reached on Friday to confirm or deny.

Astin is running alongside Blindspot and Star Trek: Picard actor Michelle Hurd, who is seeking the position of secretary-treasurer. The union’s current secretary-treasurer, Joely Fisher (Ellen, The Mask), will turn her attention to running for president of the Los Angeles Local Board alongside Abbott Elementary star Lisa Ann Walter, who will run as the Local’s first vice president, and David Jolliffe (ParaNorman), who will again run for second vice president. Their combined political slate is called “The Coalition 2025.”

Fisher points to the downturn in local Los Angeles production, especially since the 2023 strikes, as the impetus for her to run as president of its Local. “I am turning my national focus to my hometown,” she said, adding that she wants to make this “the golden age of Hollywood.”

In a statement, secretary-treasurer hopeful Hurd said she is running because “every member deserves to know how our union’s resources are being used — and to trust that they’re being used wisely.”

Their slate will focus on strong contracts, healthcare reforms, AI protections, stronger residuals, safe working conditions and paying attention to the unique needs of the union’s 25 Locals, Astin said. “We are a huge union with a lot of constituencies that are entitled to and deserve and in fact require fierce advocacy,” he added.

The full landscape of potential competitors isn’t yet clear, as candidates have until 5 p.m. on Friday to submit their nominating petitions. What is known is that SAG-AFTRA New England Local board member Chuck Slavin is running for president alongside secretary-treasurer hopeful Peter Antico on a platform of transparency for members and union health plan reforms.

Whoever wins the upcoming election will be faced with an immediate test of leadership. Next year, the union will return to the negotiating table with studios and streamers for the first time since its 2023 strike in a challenged position, with a contraction in the business having squeezed employment opportunities for its 160,000-odd members. The union will need to revisit the AI protections in its contract after three years of technological advances and wage the continuous battle of securing its health and pension plans.

The next crop of SAG-AFTRA leaders will also be faced with the issue of runaway production. After California legislators passed reforms to the state’s tax credit program and Gov. Gavin Newsom injected it with new funding, attention is turning to an effort to launch federal film and television tax incentive legislation in D.C. Odds are that the actors’ union, with its star power and politico ties, will be a key player in that fight.

The full list of SAG-AFTRA political candidates is expected to be released next week. Election ballots will be collected between August 13 and September 12.