Chelsea Muirhead on the SAG Strikes (And How You Can Support It)

Mixed Asian Media - November 7, 2023

By Melissa Slaughter

Photo Credit: Calyssa Lorraine @calyssalorraine

It’s been a #hotlaborsummer that’s quickly turned into a #spookylaborfall. It’s been impossible to miss the constant news of strikes around the country from hotel workers, screenwriters, automobile workers, UPS drivers, and actors. At the time of this article’s publication, the WGA has successfully ended their strike, having negotiated an “exceptional” deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Unfortunately, the actors haven’t been so lucky. They’re still picketing, with recent negotiations going in fits and starts. I spoke with actor Chelsea Muirhead, who was last seen in a Bruce Lee inspired streaming show, via Zoom to discuss how the ramifications of the strikes are affecting people in Canada, as well as those who are directly outsider the unions. Chelsea, a half-Scottish, half-Filipino actress is with ACTRA, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. Without the influx of American money, Chelsea has seen the effects on Canada’s film industry first-hand.

How did you become involved in acting? What was your idea of what it was going to be like?

When I was in high school, I thought I was going to be a veterinarian. But I loved acting. I was in drama classes in my school, but coming from a single mother Filipino household, my mum was like, "Be lawyer. That's kind of like acting. Be doctor. You'll make money. Be nurse". My drama teacher saw that I applied for [a] Bachelors of Medical Sciences, and he came up to me in the hall and said, “Please audition for theatre school.” He watched me in the play and saw that I loved it so much, and that I had something. I ended up getting accepted to Ryerson University. Out of like 2,500 people, 20 people got accepted. And now I'm here 10 years later.

For me, it was a way to understand myself. Coming from an Asian background (and my dad, who was very strict), [I] felt as a child, I wasn't allowed to express myself. I wasn't allowed to be myself. And through the process, I've learned so much more about myself. I've learned so much more about people and humanity. And I think that it has taught me empathy.

When you started acting, was there a moment for you where your idealism about performance and story met with the reality of commerce and capitalism?

Right now, it's hitting me the loudest and the hardest. It always comes down to a bottom line. It's not about the quality of your work. On [one of my recent jobs], I was so happy to be there. And then all of a sudden they're cutting time. They don't care about the rehearsal schedule, theydon't care about the story that we're telling. And all of a sudden, if money is the most important thing, it becomes really easy to censor those messages [of humanity and empathy].

There are ways in which the economy of filming impacts not just actors and creatives, but also whole towns. How is the lack of filming affecting Toronto?

I very much feel Toronto [and] Vancouver are [in] service to Hollywood and America, cos it just seems like the States rule everything. [First] Hollywood shut down. So did Toronto. So did Canada. Nothing is shooting now. We have Netflix [and Disney] studios here, but for people that own those locations, if I no longer need a person to show up to a set, I don't need to rent locations. They no longer need to hire a gaffer and a lighting person to hang the lights and someone to spike the floor. Filming radiates beyond creatives and into the deeper infrastructure of society. The last thing that I was shooting was in Cape Town; a lot of the Capetonians I was talking to who were local said, if [international film projects] didn't come to Cape Town, they would not have an economy. They're opening huge studios and it's falling apart over there. It's rolling blackouts every four hours. Even us, when we were shooting, we had generators on because the lights would just cut out. But that's part of their government. They just literally can't afford electricity.

Something people don't think about when we think about strikes or unions, is that you're not just paying the creatives. You're paying for the continuation of the livelihoods of people outside of the creative work. 

Absolutely. I have been seeing a lot of comments about that, like, “Why should you support these millionaires?” But I feel it so much in Toronto. I live in downtown Toronto, and I’d see film sets all over town, and I’d go check it out. And it's this thriving ecosystem within the city. It runs so much deeper. We don't seem to realize how connected we really are. At the end of the day, we're all trying to survive. It's not just a glamorous Hollywood thing. We're just the weird kids in high school that are asking for something more.

What can people do to either support the union or support the strikes?

I saw that there's a SAG fund for artists. I think that's an amazing way if people have the opportunity to donate to that. If you can't, go to social media and just keep sharing, because everything has slowed down. America stopped. I'm not getting any auditions, I'm not working here, and I’m not even on strike. Tying back to [how everything is connected around the world], as a member of ACTRA, (but not part of SAG) I don't even have access to the SAG fund. I don’t think people know how hard this industry is, and how big the [wealth] discrepancy is between the people that are making the most, and the people that are helping on set. I have been an extra, I have been a P.A., I have been the artist that shows up that just wants to be there working for free. But in this world, you can't.

I feel like when friction comes up, when anger comes up, it's really a sign that a boundary has been crossed. I am excited that there is this fire under our feet and there does seem to be this rumbling anger of something. Something is causing friction, and I encourage everybody to ask — not only with regards to SAG — why does it feel like everything is on fire? Why does it feel like there's so much friction? And can we change it? Life is really hard. And the economy is really hard. Does it have to be? I feel like that's kind of my call to action. Life is so hard. Does it have to be?

Follow @SAG-AFTRA on Instagram and Twitter, and donate to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and the Entertainment Community Fund.