Amid industry consolidation and lack of work in Hollywood, actors are speaking out about needing help to qualify for SAG-AFTRA’s health insurance plan this year.
Cheyenne Jackson, known for her on-screen roles in several seasons of American Horror Story, 30 Rock And Joy, launched the movement Monday morning on its Instagram to highlight actors needing one or a few additional gigs to meet the SAG-AFTRA minimum of $28,000 in annual income to qualify for health insurance. In less than 24 hours, he said he “received hundreds and hundreds” of direct messages from actors asking to be featured, some pointing out that he was only short a few hundred or a few thousand dollars, and others pointing out an almost barren job landscape.
“It’s systematic. It’s like all the SAG actors that are working now,” Jackson said. The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s what’s happening. People who have run TV shows have worked for years and years, and you know their faces, and you know their jobs. This year, they’re like, ‘What am I going to do?’
Jackson said he was inspired to start the One Job Away Project after reflecting on his experience in 2025. That year, for the first time in more than 20 years in the industry, he was $6,000 short of meeting the eligibility requirements for the insurance that covers him, his husband and their twins. Faced with a deadline, he called Kathy Bates, with whom he had previously worked, and she arranged for him to have four speaking lines on her show, Matlock, to meet the eligibility criteria.
Jackson also highlighted Angela Lansbury, who also helped hire older actors who were insecure to be guest stars in The murder she wrote, as a source of inspiration for the project. His goal, by publishing the portraits and biographies of the actors, is that casting directors or other famous names give them the same boost as he does.
While many actors have struggled to qualify for health insurance in the past, the sharp decline in orders for scripted television series and the surge in runaway production amid industry consolidation and cost-cutting in recent years are cumulatively taking a toll on performers. Those involved in the SAG-AFTRA plan have four different quarterly deadlines to qualify for the $28,000 in income, depending on when they joined the union.
And in a context of rampant health care inflation, eligibility is not about to get any easier. From January 1, quarterly eligibility bonuses will increase, as will the one percent income threshold, with more one percent increases in subsequent years. This is the result of terms negotiated in the union’s latest contract with studios and streamers.
This year, Jackson, who also has a stage career, said he was “making it on his own” and was able to meet the minimum through a few gigs, including starring in a microdrama for the first time and doing a commercial.
“The disconcerting thing is that I’ve been on over 40 TV shows so I make quite a bit of money from the residuals. Not great, but OK. But that money doesn’t necessarily go to your insurance. So it’s tough,” he said. “You can have a really good year. You can make $350,000 a year as an actor, and then the next year it’s meager, but unfortunately that money from before doesn’t necessarily help you the next year. So I don’t know. I just think some conversations need to be had, and I think now’s probably the time because there’s a lot of discussion right now around SAG and everything that’s going on.”
Bayne Gibby was one of the actors highlighted on Instagram on Monday. Gibby, who describes herself as a middle-class actress, has been in the industry for 30 years, most notably starring as Gigi in The return and recently in the last season of Tipswhere she offers the seed art of Deborah Vance’s character. Despite this latest appearance and what has been a steady stream of work, Gibby said she has only been able to work one day this year, making it her “worst financial year ever.”
“I’ve been on a few HBO series that won Emmy Awards, and I’ve done a lot of commercials, and I’ve directed a few feature films. Then to go to a place where you’re not sure you’re going to be able to pay your bills and you could potentially lose your health insurance, it’s like a real kick in the crotch, and it’s very scary,” she continued.
In addition to industry consolidation, Gibby also points to the traumatic events of recent years, all of which have put a damper on work. Among these is the SAG-AFTRA strike, the effectiveness of which Gibby said she and others are currently questioning, given the lack of opportunities that currently exist in the industry and the sacrifice they have made by not working several months into 2023.
“There was a saying in the industry: ‘Stay alive until ’25,’ and everyone was under the impression that in January 2025 we were going to kind of come back from the strikes of ’23, and then in January 2025 we had the fires and that set everything back,” Gibby said. “It was almost the final blow after the pandemic, then the strikes, then the fires. It felt like every time we thought we could get to calmer waters, the blows kept coming.”
“When we went on strike in 2023, I think people were all on board because they really thought we were going to make this short-term sacrifice to get greater long-term benefits, and I think a lot of my peers are now wondering why did we strike? Why did we make this huge sacrifice? Because things haven’t gotten better,” she added.
She still has several months to qualify for insurance and has no plans to leave the industry, but said it’s a conversation that is increasingly percolating among other actors.
Jackson and Gibby noted that there was some stigma around admitting the need to work more to qualify for health insurance, although Gibby said it had already been brought up “in hushed tones” while waiting for the hearings. The project also aims to combat this.
Since launching on Instagram, Jackson said she has received support from her friends Sarah Paulson and Jamie Lee Curtis, who repost the actors’ bios and photos. He also notes that he’s since heard from others on Instagram asking for a similar campaign for directors and for hair and makeup artists.
“There’s definitely a need to highlight each other, and what I really want to do is just eliminate the stigma because I don’t think there’s any shame in talking about the fact that you’re short,” Jackson said. “And I feel that from people: ‘They just say, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to seem like I’m sorry and like I can’t cope.’ But that’s just what happens. So be vulnerable. Put yourself out there.
Katie Kilkenny contributed to this report.
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