Insecure star Kendrick Sampson is going to Dallas where SAG-AFTRA is set to hold a rally on Saturday. The visit is significant to Sampson in support of Texas actors navigating the strike under the leadership of Governor Greg Abbott, who he calls an “evil human being”.
SAG-AFTRA members will rally at 9am on Saturday in Dallas’ Reverchon Park.
“I’m heading to Dallas to support another SAG[-AFTRA] action for the workers there in solidarity with everything – all the wild, craziness that Governor Abbott is imposing on everybody. He’s just an evil human being,” Sampson tells Deadline at the Star Trek picket held at Paramount Studios on Friday.
“I’m frustrated and it’s a super emotional day. This is bulls**t. The fact that we have to do this and the fact that we have so many people out here. I’m on the verge of tears thinking about how many people have had to relocate or who might be selling their houses, things they worked so hard for.”
Republic Governor Abbott has made a number of controversial decisions while in office that have been heavily criticized including the shipping of undocumented migrants to states such as California, eliminating diversity and inclusion programs at higher education institutions in the state, banning critical transgender care for minors and his anti-drag show bill.
Sampson, whose credits also include ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder and the CW’s The Flash, was born in Houston and has more than two decades working in Hollywood. The picket regular is passionate about supporting the guild’s actions as it tries to push the industry away from the gig economy.
“The fact that I’m going to Texas after leaving there in 2006 to try to make this a career for myself [without] having to work other gigs and I’m 20-something years in now. I’ve been acting professionally for 25 years strong and I’m still trying to find another stream of income,” he continued. “I’m pissed about it and I’m tired. We gotta escalate this sh** and [the studios] gotta come back to the table.