As head of the actors guild, Sean Astin brings a little Rudy, a little
Samwise, and a lot of fight
[February 10, 2026]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean Astin has taken on the presidency of the SAG-AFTRA
at a particularly perilous time for the actors union, and for Hollywood.
There's the threat of human actors being replaced by artificial
intelligence. The ongoing upheavals of streaming. Studio consolidation
and realignment.
Nearly three years ago, the actors launched a four-month strike,
securing some protections and higher wages. And on Monday, negotiations
on a new three-year contract with studio and streamers are already
beginning again.
So what actor would want this role?
“In my imagination, growing up, I would want to have been in a place of
consequence,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in his office
at the guild's Los Angeles headquarters. “And so to have the opportunity
to be in a role, leading a union of 160,000 people at this moment of
consequence when there’s turmoil, when there’s fear and uncertainty and
danger, this is exactly where I want to be.”
A life as an actor and union member
Astin, an elected board member during the strike who left his mark as a
fiery rally speaker, won the presidency in September, replacing the
outgoing Fran Drescher.
As an actor, the now-54-year-old is known as the leader of a scrappy
band of kids in 1985's “The Goonies,” an aspiring football player with
never-ending grit in 1993's “Rudy,” and Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins'
steadfast bestie in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
He's a SAG lifer, becoming a member as a young boy in 1981. His mother,
Oscar winner Patty Duke, who died in 2016, was president of the guild
from 1985 to 1988, before it added the -AFTRA in a 2012 merger.
His father, John Astin, now 95, is best known for playing Gomez on “The
Addams Family.” His brother Mackenzie Astin is a child star turned
journeyman actor who recently had a three-episode arc on “The Pitt.”
Sean Astin said he hopes to get actors like his brother, who rely
heavily on small ongoing payments for guest roles, to have streaming
residuals pay as well as they do for broadcast TV.
“I can’t wait to be at a Thanksgiving or a Christmas with him and nudge
him and say, ‘Hey, how’s your residuals doing?’” he said.
The coming contract talks
Astin said he has reason to believe the new talks won't start with
actors and their employers at each other's throats.
“They came in last time provoking the fight,” he said, referring to the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “They wanted the
strike. No question in my mind. I was in those rooms every single day.
They’re sending much different signals now. They’re sending signals of
wanting stability, of wanting to work as partners again.”
The AMPTP said in a statement to the AP that the group representing
studios and streamers looked “forward to working collaboratively with
our partners at SAG-AFTRA as we commence formal bargaining.”
“By taking the time to thoughtfully engage on the challenges confronting
our industry, we are optimistic that, together, we can reach a fair deal
that reflects our shared commitment to supporting our industry’s
talented performers and promoting long-term stability,” the statement
said.
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SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin poses for a portrait at his office in
Los Angeles on Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
 Astin said the guild won't yield any
of the ground it won in 2023, whether it be wage increases or
requiring informed consent for the use of actors' likenesses via AI.
and that means they can’t disarm in advance -- striking is not out
of the question, whatever the lingering pains from last time.
“There’s only one real tool available to a labor union in a
negotiation, and that’s saying no,” Astin said. “We reserve the
right to say no again if we need to.”
On March 1, the guild will hold the world's most glamorous union
meeting, the newly renamed Actor Awards, where high-profile members
like Leonardo DiCaprio and Emma Stone are nominated. But the vast
majority of acting members don't even make the approximately $27,000
a year required to qualify for guild health insurance. And Astin
represents the guild's full membership — including video game
actors, puppeteers, broadcast journalists and TV announcers. He's
spent much of his time since his election — and plenty before that —
learning the specific concerns of, for example, stunt drivers or
actors who live in Minnesota or New Mexico.
“I will say to everybody, I’m gonna fight as hard for you as anybody
has ever fought for you, for your issue,” he said. “People say, ‘You
can’t fight for everybody equally.’ I say, ‘Yes, I can.’”
The best parts of his best characters
A speech Samwise gives in “The Two Towers” — “There’s some good in
this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for” — became an
Astin rallying cry during the strike.
He said that he can also draw from his other characters for traits
he ought to embody now.
“The qualities that make Rudy special — determination, grit,
inspiration, aspiration — whatever is a part of that thing that
makes him, makes his story touch the lives of so many people, is the
part of myself that I want to pour into this job on behalf of my
members,” he said.
And then there's Mikey from “The Goonies.”
“If you think of ‘The Goonies,’ ‘The Goonies’ is about saving their
home,” he said. “It’s fun, there’s a pirate ship, but it’s about a
group of friends who don’t want to be overtaken by industrialists.
Maybe that’s the most important one.”
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