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Posted on 09/27/2026 10:30:51 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
Several Hollywood actors, including Princess Diaries star Heather Matarazzo, are trying to raise awareness about new actor’s union requirements that could cause many performers to lose their healthcare benefits.
Matarazzo, whose last role was in the 2025 short film Paper Tiger, told fans on her social media that if she does not get a paying acting role soon, the new union rules will cause her to lose her health insurance, according to Variety.
She made her comment in reply to a similar post made by actor Jack Haven, who told fans that he is $4,000 short of reaching the annual $28,933 earning requirement to retain his SAG-AFTRA health insurance plan.
The most recent SAG-AFTRA union contract is not static at the $28,933 income level, either. According to the agreement, actors will find the annual earning total rise by $900 a year all the way to 2030, meaning that by then actors will have to earn $32,533 every year thereafter before being qualified to enroll in the union’s healthcare plan.
Union scale wages for speaking roles are currently as low as $256 a day for low-budget productions and $1,283 per day for productions carrying a $2 million budget or more.
The Welcome to the Dollhouse star echoed Haven’s distress, telling her fans, “I am literally in the same boat right now. Lots of my fellow actors are. I remember a time when we didn’t have to earn a minimum to qualify for insurance.”
The union began a series of steps several years ago to change the plan “to address financial deficits facing the plan.”
But, according to Variety, that means about 90 percent of actors are no longer covered under the union’s healthcare plans.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
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According to the story, Matarazzo hasn’t had a gig since 2025.
According to IMDB, Haven has had several gigs this year but if he hasn’t earned enough yet to get health insurance, he must be near the bottom of the pay scale.
It looks like if you’re at the very bottom, you’d need 20+ gigs per year to get health insurance...my guess is that’s impossible.
“Lear” how to Code in Minnesota?
The funny thing about SAG and health care:
Jesse “the Body” Ventura tried unionizing WWE (then WWF) to get healthcare. He joined SAG (he was on The X-Files back in the day among other things), got healthcare, and then stopped pushing it in wrestling.
Neither here nor there but an interestng tidbit that popped into my head.
They can’t buy it through the marketplace just like we have for the past 5 years.
And the last one was a 10K budget short film that was nominated for the 2025 Southeast Emmy Student Production Award. She probably did that one pro bono.
Can’t she ask Anne Hathaway for help getting an acting job?
Exactly! Put all of these whiners, er, pretenders, I mean actors on 0bamacare, stat!
Bew hew.
There you go.
Note to actors...
You should have desertified your union decades ago.
Formed one that worked for you and not Deep State.
Sucks to be you now.
Welcome to the party, pal.
Anne Hathaway is likely to take the job herself. She hasn't done anything of note for more than a decade.
Most members hardly work at their craft.
It’s like professional baseball. There are a lot more minor league players making next to nothing vs the few Major leaguers who sign huge multi year deals.
Many of them are unemployable in any other capacity.
On the contrary, most actors have valuable and easily transferable skills.
The ability to perform, to appear friendly and affable, to be open and extroverted. These are valuable social skills.
This is why many actors work on the side as waiters, receptionists, salespeople, realtors, spokesmodels, hotel reps, activity directors for cruises or parks, tour guides, telemarketers, or in public relations & publicity.
Acting skills are useful in any job that requires interaction with the public.
Yas mean tuh say dat dose browbeaters ain’t got duh money tuh be sick?
Watching the Canadian spelling in closed captions on a tv show and reminded of how many productions have fled north to avoid Hollywood constraints.
I’m sorry about your son. Obamacare is a nightmare—I know. It’s very expensive. I hope it’s not too bad for your son.
There is a massive difference between improvisation, live acting along a script as in theater, or rehearsed and on cue as in television and movies.
You can watch how poorly most actors think and speak when they're off script. It's so bad that their agents won't dare let them do it. Even when pitching their show or movie on the talk shows, the hosts were given specific questions and the rep is standing right off camera, ready to pull the plug if the actor can't handle it.
No one yells "cut" and does a retake for waiters, receptionists, salesmen, realtors, spokesmodels, tour guides , telemarketers, PR, etc.
In addition, customers expect hamming from tour guides and Disney staff, but resent acting in others such as receptionists, salesmen, realtors, etc.
And yet joining that union is mandatory. Tells you all you need to know about that vaunted liberal “compassion.”
And I am sure the union knows that. This is a means of pushing those actors and actresses off private insurance and onto Obamacare.
I was once shopping for a Mustang. The salesman started saying what a great convertible it was. I said I was only interested in a hardtop. Without missing a beat, he started telling me why hardtops were superior to convertibles.
He didn't care which he sold. But he knew to reinforce the customer's decision to buy.
I did buy a Mustang from him. Best car I ever owned.
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