Actress Angelica Ross is speaking up about the importance of the ongoing SAG strike and the effects of Hollywood’s constricting policies. On Sunday afternoon, the “Pose” actor took to Twitter to share her experience with a limiting contract,
“I was under a 7 year contract with FX in what they call “first position”,” she began her tweet. “As a series regular, I could not work anywhere else without getting network approval.”
Ross continued to explain that while working on American Horror Story season 10, she was told she would be returning to Season 11 and was put on hold for several months. The 42-year-old actor went on to share that the contract restricted her from accessing certain opportunities.
“During this time,” she wrote, “Marvel called a few times asking about my availability. By the time FX released me, Marvel stopped calling. Now it’s been years since I have had an acting job. This is also why we are striking.”
A Reckoning
On July 14, members of SAG-AFTRA began a strike against Hollywood players. The union joined the Writer’s Guild of America who have been on strike for close to 90 days now.
Ross’s story echoes the many concerns and challenges Hollywood creatives, from writers to working actors of various popularity, are facing today. Other Black women, including recent Emmy Nominee Dominique Fishback and Yvette Nicole Brown have also chimed in on the situation.
Fishback, while speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, shared that, “I think that all artists deserve to be fairly compensated and respected for the hard work that they do. We go do projects and leave our family and friends, sometimes for months at a time. You spend hours on set, and it affects your personal life. I wouldn’t trade it at all; I love what I do, and there are other ways to make artists feel respected and appreciated.”
Actresses like Lupita Nyong’o have also been seen marching on the frontline and standing in solidarity behind their colleagues.