Notes from the National Board Member

Take a Bow

SAG-AFTRA Portland Local members choose to live in the Pacific Northwest instead of New York, L.A., Chicago or other major markets. Some of you are just coming up as performers, broadcasters, stuntwomen or in any one of SAG-AFTRA’s many categories. Others have moved here from larger markets or have always lived in this glorious part of the United States and worked here for years. Some of you will leave the region; others will stay. Our reasons for being here are as varied as there are members.

We union members all have one thing in common, however: If we want to practice our craft here, we have to be creative about doing so. Work isn’t as plentiful as it is elsewhere. Once you’re used on a series, unless you score a recurring role, you won’t work again on that show. Films are largely seasonal, with four or five shooting here against the dozens in Shreveport, Atlanta and other film centers across the country. Broadcast work is similarly limited.

So we have day gigs, and side gigs to that gig and a hustle on the side of that. We scramble to squeeze in auditions, and pray the work won’t conflict with our straight job when we’re cast. Money can be scarce, and there are classes we want to take and new headshots and a gym membership ... and there is always the endless worry whether it’s time to move to a larger market or, let’s be honest, throw in the towel altogether.

Which makes you a human, and a rock star and a hero in my eyes. You’re on a journey that promises nothing; that takes talent and energy and courage and as much dedication as determination and — above all these things — faith. Faith that the journey is worth it, and faith in yourself.

Notice please that I didn’t write that the journey “will be” worth it, but that it “is” worth it right now. That mixed in with all the hassle and worry and frustration is the pure joy of working in, or working toward, your passion. That you are doing something very few folks can do, for one reason or another: You’re following your heart and pursuing your dream.

You’ve also made the decision to be a union actor. To never work off the card; to support your union sisters and brothers by working union rates under a union contract; to help your union family be the best they can be when they falter, or when their faith fails them.

This isn’t an easy life, this one you’ve chosen (or did it chose you?). Looking back over my 35 years as a member, I recall the many times that working steadily seemed impossible. That making anything close to a living would take a miracle.

But let me tell you what miracles are made of, sisters and brothers. They’re made of guts and grit and sweat. They’re made of sorrow and rage and slumping up your front stairs after a long shift waiting tables. They’re made of unexpected breaks, of a great shoot day on an indie, of a big-budget picture casting you in a juicy role. They’re made of keeping faith and in being the best among best: a SAG-AFTRA member. And miracles are made by savoring every scary, spectacular step on this crazy journey you have said yes to.

So give yourself a standing O, sisters and brothers, and take a bow. Take in just how brave and hopeful you are, and whether you’re packing to move to L.A., or you’ve just landed in Portland from New York, know that the journey you’re on with your passion, and with your union, is one you should be very proud of indeed.

Mary McDonald-Lewis