No one told this actor the strike was over

BURBANK, Cal. – On Wednesday, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced it has reached a tentative three-year deal with Hollywood’s television and movie studios, effectively ending its months-long strike.

Although the deal must still be voted on by the union’s members, the news was celebrated all the same by the nearly 160,000 actors on the picket lines as they could finally go home with the peace of mind that they’d soon be able to return to work in better conditions than before.

On Thursday morning, however, there was one man in the official SAG-AFTRA strike t-shirt, holding some freshly painted signs, pacing up-and-down the sidewalks outside Warner Brothers Studios.

“We sent an email to all our union members, we posted a press release on our website, and it’s been all over the news,” said SAG-AFTRA spokeswoman Sheila Brown. “But apparently that wasn’t enough for everyone to get the word.”

Benjamin Springfield, a 64-year-old professional background extra with more than 400 acting credits on his IMDB page, admits he doesn’t own a smartphone or checks his email regularly and was a little disappointed he took an Uber all the way out there for no reason.

“My wife and I spent quite a bit of time last night coming up with some nifty catch phrases for my signs,” said Springfield. “I was really hoping to show them off today. I really like this one that says, ‘I’m too poor for a real sign, pay your actors’. My wife came up with that one. She’s a clever one.”

We asked Springfield what his plans were now that the strike was over and he simply said, it was time to get back to work and that this news came at the perfect time because he has an appointment to have new headshots taken over at the JCPenney near his house.

“I’m so happy I can get back to doing what I love,” said Springfield. “I moved out here to L.A. when I was 18 with a dream of becoming a famous actor. It’s a tough road, but I still have a spring in my step and that dream in my heart.”

Springfield started his acting career in 1982 as an unnamed extra in Sylvester Stallone’s blockbuster, First Blood. Over the past 41 years, he has bounced from franchise-to-franchise looking for his big break.

Some of his more notable roles include playing an ill-fated away team member on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Enterprise. He also played a borg alongside Jeri Ryan on Star Trek: Voyager. He also crossed science fiction universes and played a Naboolian guard in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, a Coruscanti citizen in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, a clone trooper in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, a stormtrooper in Star Wars: Rogue One. And in more Earthly roles, he played a dead person in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, CSI: Cyber, CSI: Vegas, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Criminal Minds, Bones, Blue Bloods, NCIS, NYPD Blue, and Chicago PD. He also lent his voice to the most hated and most frequently killed NPCs in the Elder Scrolls: Morrowind video game.

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