They're the names you don't know. Hollywood's 'journeyman' actors explain why they are striking

abcnews.go.com:

You don't know their names but you might recognize their faces

NEW YORK — Jason Kravits gets a lot of this: People recognize him — they’re just not sure how. “I’m that guy who looks like the guy you went to high school with,” says Kravits. “People think they've just seen me somewhere.”

Actually, they have — on TV, usually as a lawyer or a doctor. “I’ve had enough roles that I’ve been in your living room on any given night,” the veteran actor says. “But mostly people don’t know my name.”

Kravits is one of those actors union leaders refer to as “journeymen” — who tend to work for scale pay, and spend at least as much time lining up work as working. They can have a great year, then a bad one, without much rhyme or reason. “We’re always on the verge of struggling,” says Kravits.

And they, not the big Hollywood names joining the picket lines, are the heart of the actors’ strike.

Many say they fear the general public thinks all actors get paid handsomely and are doing it for love of the craft, almost as a hobby. Yet in most cases it’s their only job, and they need to qualify for health insurance, pay rent or a mortgage, pay for school and college for their kids.

“All of us aren’t Tom Cruise,” says Amari Dejoie, 30, who studies acting, does background jobs (as an extra) and modeling to keep afloat, and is considering waitressing during the strike. «We have to pay rent and bills, and they’re due on the first. And your apartment does not care that your check wasn’t as high as you expected it to be.”

In interviews, a few journeyman actors at different stages of their careers discussed their lives and their reasons for striking.

THAT ONE-PENNY CHECK

Recently Jennifer Van Dyck got a couple residual checks in the mail — one for 60