By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --The Screen Actors Guild officially stands opposed to the California ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriage.
After weeks of being criticized for not contributing enough to defeat Proposition 8, members of the film-TV industries have recently stepped up their contributions – financial and otherwise – to fight Proposition 8, and on Tuesday a union committee voted to oppose the measure.
“No actor should have to disclose his or her sexual preference in order to get health and retirement benefits,” said SAG Chairwoman Anne-Marie Johnson. “Being legally married means everyone is treated the same. It’s important that we take a stand to protect all actors from discriminatory hiring practices and provide same-sex couples access to benefits.”
SAG said the organization does not endorse political candidates, but the actors union often takes positions on ballot initiatives. The union’s Colorado branch previously announced it is opposing Amendment 47, a right-to-work measure on the state’s November ballot which would bar unions from requiring nonunion workers to pay dues.
In the last two weeks, several SAG members have personally donated money to defeat Proposition 8, according to state fundraising records, including: “Two and a Half Men” actor Jon Cryer ($10,000); “Bones” actress Emily Deschanel ($2,000); “The New Adventures of Old Christine” actress Wanda Sykes ($3,500) and “In Plain Sight” actress Mary McCormack ($3,000).
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More