As highlighted by Nelson Branco in the "Suds Report" earlier in the day, longtime ONE LIFE TO LIVE star Robin Strasser recorded a message on her hotline Thursday that said a big announcement would be made on the hotline by Friday night. Strasser stated that she had received one offer from OLTL and seemed to indicate the Friday hotline would reveal whether she was staying or leaving her role as Dorian on the soap. I've just called the updated hotline and this is what Ms. Strasser had to say:
What I am able to say right now is I have been asked to make no announcement, to say nothing. I've been asked to take a time out, to wait until Brian Frons gets back from his vacation. That would be another eight days. Already I waited while the lawyer came back from her vacation. I waited six weeks to see if the first offer they made me would get negotiated to something better, only to find out six weeks later, and a lot of money spent on a lawyer, nothing has changed. It's the same offer. I know that it is a bigger paycut than other actors have been asked to take. And anybody who has been asked to take a larger paycut was making two or three times as much as I was. In 2002, when Frank Valentini broke the blacklist and got me back on the show, that necessitate me taking a 63% paycut. What I am seeing is something that feels disprespectful, something that feels that feels inequitable, I know it to be inequitable, and makes me feel discriminated against.
Strasser goes on to say that she is willing to negotiate and does not want to leave the show. The only way she would ever leave is if she feels the show is asking her to devalue herself by signing a contract that is unfair and much less than others are receiving. This is just a small excerpt so call her hotline at (212) 414-5300 to hear Strasser's entire message.
I just listened to Robin's recorded message, and, actually, I think she said "lawyer" and not "warrior" (LOL)!
ReplyDeleteRobin is a truly fabulous actress and a lovely person. She is, and always has been, a pleasure to watch on screen. Furthermore, I can vouch, from personal experience, what a pleasure she was to deal with at work.
I first met Robin during my second job, back in the mid-1970s, while I was a relative newbie to the world of work, only having been out of college for a year. At the time, Robin was playing Dr. Christina Karras on "All My Children," and I was working in the AMC production office during the days when both AMC and OLTL originated from 101 West 67 Street in Manhattan. (Both shows had adjoining office space on the second floor, and adjoining soundstages on the first floor.)
No performer should ever be asked to take a cut in salary. And certainly not the hardworking performers of ABC Daytime, especially a longtime performer such as Robin who has had such a commendable daytime career!
Let's all wish Robin well during her contract renegotiation period, and hope that she can negotiate a huge salary increase! She, and all the OLTL contract players, surely deserve fair treatment and just compensation.
Soapluvva, I think you're right! That's funny. I listened several times and I figured that was some "inside' joke that I should have known but didn't. LOL
ReplyDeleteI really love Robin and don't want to see OLTL without her. If our daytime soaps have to go away in the next few years (I hope not but the trends aren't looking good), I want them to go out with the characters and faces that we have loved for years and really care about.