Foreign Actors On Spooks

[A Cousin]

Wow! First time I have started a thread.

Ummm...OK, backstory: I was reading through the 8.8 thread and came across the puzzlements re: why Spooks doesn't hire American actors to play Americans - much less any other nationality for the most part. lwhite53 touched on an answer to the issue. As it was off topic JHyde suggested that any discussion pertaining to it be posted here in General Discussion. I am a bit rusty in the machinations of the world of the union actor but I try to keep up on it as best I can. I thought I would offer (wanted or not) some "business of the biz" insight on this subject. I did trawl around a bit to see if anyone had mentioned all this before, but found nothing. If anyone finds something wrong in what I am saying or has additional info, please feel free to contribute.

If you don't already know the main union for all actors in the UK is Equity UK and the main union for TV and Movie actors only in the US the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

In May of 2002 SAG initiated what is called Global Rule One. Global Rule One states that all members of SAG working for a foreign producer have to work under a SAG contract and said producer has to be a signatory to a Global Rule One agreement. The inherent differences (Think: salary, benefits, residuals, work hours, etc.) between SAG and Equity UK contracts may not make it worthwhile to do this, esp. for bit parts. The cut backs at the BBC probably make this even more of a challenge.

If they do, part of any agreement between SAG and Equity UK is that there needs to be an actor for actor trade in an equal role. For instance, when Doug Hodge comes to perform on Broadway in A Little Night Music, there is an equal trade for an American actor in an equal role in the West End. Maybe not at the same time, but it does have to be contracted. Imagine the logistical nightmare for a bit player on that one!

Since the job of any Union is to protect jobs for their members, historically, all Unions have been a bit testy about giving jobs to actors from a different unions. Thus causing political problems for any Producer that would even like to hire an actor of the accurate cultural background.

There are ways around it. All of them risky. A producer can hire a "scab," an actor with dual citizenship/membership, or they can offer the role under a different union that is not covered by the Global Rule, e.g. and AFTRA contract rather than a SAG contract.

Of course, nationality does not an accent make. I am sure that there are plenty of English actors who do really good American accents: Brian Protheroe (Samuel Walker in S8) for one. I could name others: Hugh Laurie, Minnie Driver, Damien Lewis,.... It could also just be one big conspiracy. It has been suggested that it is all just pay-back for Dick Van Dyke's really bad cockney accent in Mary Poppins. In that case, we deserve it!