Three of Fran Drescher’s former co-stars on The Nanny have come out in support of her political rival, Matthew Modine, in the race to be the next president of SAG-AFTRA.
Charles Shaughnessy, Renee Taylor and Madeline Zima also are backing the Membership First slate of candidates headed by Modine and his running mate Joely Fisher. None of them, however, said anything negative about Drescher or her running mate, Anthony Rapp, who are running on the ruling party’s Unite for Strength ticket.
“Our leadership has always been playing catch up,” Shaughnessy — who played the Broadway producer who employed Drescher’s character as his nanny and later married her on the show — says in a video released by the Modine camp (watch it below). “They just haven’t been aware of what’s going on. They’ve not done the research and they have not looked forward into what’s coming around the corner. It’s time we change that. We need a leadership that has vision. That can anticipate the next revolution and negotiate on our behalf among a model, a system, into which the future can be fitted so that we are not caught out, yet again. And that’s why I am supporting Matthew Modine as national president and Joely Fisher as national secretary-treasurer of SAG-AFTRA. Because they have the experience – and the vision – to anticipate where things are headed from now. To negotiate to protect what we have now. But also to negotiate for what we will be needing in the future going forward. Into what is, we all know, a very uncertain future. So please join me in voting for Matthew Modine and Joely Fisher for SAG-AFTRA Membership First.”
Taylor, who played the Drescher’s character’s mother on The Nanny, also a Membership First candidate to be a delegate to the union’s next convention. S“My best friend Connie Stevens was legacy SAG’s secretary treasure,” she said. “Joely Fisher is like a daughter to me. She is smart, talented and would be amazing at the job. What a legacy.”
Said Zima, who played Shaughnessy’s youngest daughter on the 1993-93 CBS sitcom: “As a union member for 31 years, I completely trust and support Matthew Modine as SAG-AFTRA president and Joely Fisher as SAG-AFTRA secretary-treasurer to do what’s best for SAG-AFTRA members and for our industry during these challenging times.”
Election ballots will be mailed to members on August 3 and tabulated on September 2.
Here is Shaughnessy’s video: