Actors Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry picket in support of the Writers Guild of America. Photographer: Matthew Simmons/Getty Images
The support for striking scriptwriters from some of Hollywood's starriest actors for striking scriptwriters is another in the long and relatively undistinguished history of thesps flexing their political muscles. It's to be applauded (which is more than can be said of some of the actors), but don't hold your breath.
Actors have always been prepared to pick up a placard for a worthy cause. In Britain we've marched for Palestine, against Palestine and for all I know through Palestine; we've supported the miners, the poll tax demos and the closure of the local donkey sanctuary. I well recall marching with a group of fellow actors in the big protest demonstrations against the invasion of Iraq back in 2003, and I can tell you it was a profound experience; I not only won the "Guess the TV theme tunes" game we played during the long hours of the walk, but I also got Su Pollard's autograph in Hyde Park.
In fact my own credentials as a political activist stand with the best: back in 1999 I helped organise a campaign in my local area of north London, under the acronym CANT - Cricklewood Against Nuclear Trains. I'm only relieved I didn't call it Cricklewood Under Nuclear Threat.
And I'm not the only one. When Equity, our gallant but beleaguered trade union, advertises its AGM to all members each year, the agenda is always packed to the gunnels with motions and points of order supporting worthy causes and highlighting political and social injustice both inside and without the profession.
Yet the brutal fact is that the majority of actors are still drawn to attend the event by free custard creams at the tea break and the possibility of bumping into Trevor Nunn in the gents.
And as for speaking our minds: actors are always full of it round the pub table, what they're going to say to the producer the next morning, how they're going to tell their agent they "want out"; how they're not prepared to forsake the voice of their conscience any longer. It soon evaporates. When one actor of my acquaintance announced to an experienced producer that he was going to walk out of the part he was playing on a point of principle, his employer replied laconically: "Well if you must, you must." Needless to say, he stayed.
In fact the story goes of a recent scientific experiment to see if dogs mirrored the behaviour of their owners. A pile of various shaped bones was laid out on the floor and three mutts were brought in, one belonging to a politician, one to a campaigner and one to an actor.
The politician's dog licked the bones until they all looked identical. The campaigner's dog pushed the bones around until they spelt out a slogan. The actor's dog ate the bones, shagged the other two dogs and asked if it could go home early ...
