Matthew Modine announces bid for acting union president

Movie star Matthew Modine is hoping to replace former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Gabrielle Carteris as the president of Hollywood acting union SAG-AFTRA.
The Full Metal Jacket and Stranger Things actor, who is a member of the union’s local and national boards of directors, has announced his candidacy for the job Carteris has held since 2016.
“As a current national and local board member of SAG-AFTRA, it would be my honor to represent all 160,000 members of the union I have proudly been a member of for nearly four decades,” he said in a statement. “It is my privilege to stand up for our legacy in order to safeguard our future.
“There comes a time when we must work to ensure that current and future membership will be able to enjoy the basic rights and securities our union has always provided. It’s my time to give back.”
His potential appointment could shake things up within the union as he’s launching his presidential bid as a leading player in the Membership First campaign, which opposed the merger of SAG and AFTRA in 2012.
Membership First activists are fighting for a union that is tougher when it comes to thrashing out deals with Hollywood studio bosses.
According to Deadline, Modine has received supporting endorsements from past SAG presidents Ed Asner, Bill Daniels and Alan Rosenberg, and from SAG-AFTRA national board members including Martin Sheen and Esai Morales.
Other celebrity endorsers include Ed Harris, Vincent D’Onofrio, Mira Sorvino, Eric Stoltz, Nancy Sinatra, Patricia Arquette, Rosanna Arquette, Sean Astin, and Jennifer Beals.