‘Abbott Elementary’ Star William Stanford Davis Goes Viral For Displaying 5-Cent Residual Cheque: ‘This Is Why We’re On Strike’
23.07.2023 - 20:01
/ etcanada.com
The actors continue to walk the picket lines in the SAG-AFTRA strike, many of them are coming forward to share examples of why they’re striking.
Among them are William Stanford Davis, a veteran actor whose extensive credits range from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to “Ray Donovan”, and is currently seen on “Abbott Elementary” as janitor and occasional substitute teacher Mr. Johnson.
Davis recently posted a video on Instagram, in which he displayed a residual cheque for a role in a TV series he didn’t identify.
READ MORE: Kimiko Glenn Reveals Her ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Royalty For $24.30: ‘Why SAG-AFTRA Is Striking’
“I’ve been a member of the [Screen Actor’s] Guild for 32 years and… I’m gonna let this speak for itself,” he said before holding up a residual cheque for a whopping five cents.
“This is a residual cheque,” he said. “Can you see that? Can you believe that? That’s [five] cents. The postage, the paper, everything costs more than that. That’s what they think of us as actors. This is why we’re on strike for better wages, for better residuals [and] for a piece of the subscription and to not give in to AI.”
Actor David Denman, who played Roy Anderson on “The Office”, echoed those sentiments in an interview with The Associated Press.
According to Denman the streaming model is set up to benefit the studios that sell the content to streaming services, effectively cutting actors out of the equation.
“Netflix, they created a model that everyone else followed, which is, ‘We’re gonna buy you out, we’re gonna pay for your services for a cycle, which could be three months,'” Denman said.
READ MORE: Mandy Moore Reveals She’s Received ‘This Is Us’ Residual Cheques For Just A Penny Amid SAG-AFTRA Strike
“And it doesn’t