Fran Drescher SAG speech: Fiery Sitcom star takes on Netflix, Disney, Paramount

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Fran Drescher has captured the nation with her passionate address from Los Angeles. In her address, Drescher branded streaming giants such as Netflix, Disney, and Paramount as «disgusting,» accusing them of lavishing hundreds of millions on their CEOs. Her speech, which quickly went viral, epitomizes the broader labor disputes unfolding worldwide.

Drescher criticized executives for prioritizing Wall Street and greed over acknowledging the essential contributors who keep the industry running, as per a BBC report. However, Fran Drescher's journey to union leadership has been far from conventional. She was born in 1957 to a Jewish family in the Queens borough of New York City.

While attending Hillcrest High School, she met Peter Marc Jacobson, whom she married in 1977 at the young age of 21. Reflecting on their marriage, Drescher admitted they were «just kids» who didn't truly know themselves, but they weathered many challenges together. Jacobson would later become her primary artistic collaborator.

Drescher's first breakthrough in Hollywood came with a minor role in the blockbuster film Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta. In this brief cameo as a club dancer, she famously delivered the line, «So, are you as good in bed as you are on the dance floor?» to the Hollywood legend. She went on to find success in various film roles, including the critically acclaimed This is Spinal Tap, where she portrayed publicist Bobbi Flekman, before securing a co-starring role in the short-lived sitcom Princesses.