"There's a real separation between actors and all the other functions of Hollywood. If you're an actor you're somehow not a member of the crew. You're somehow more special. I hate that"
About this Quote
Hollywood runs on a strange caste system: the people whose faces sell the product are treated like visiting royalty in the very workplace they depend on. Rider Strong’s irritation lands because it’s not an abstract plea for humility; it’s an insider calling out a ritualized separation that’s baked into set life. Actors are literally placed apart: different entrances, different holding areas, different meals, different rules about eye contact and access. The architecture of production enforces hierarchy long before anyone behaves badly.
Strong’s phrasing is doing double work. “Somehow” is a small word that signals a big con: the specialness is both omnipresent and weirdly unspoken, like a superstition everyone participates in because challenging it threatens the illusion. “Not a member of the crew” stings because it’s technically true in job classification and power structure, but false in the way making anything actually works. Film and TV are collaborative by necessity, yet celebrity culture frames collaboration as support staff orbiting a singular “talent.”
The subtext is less self-flagellation than labor politics. This divide protects the brand (stars must appear untouchable) and manages risk (keep the high-value asset comfortable, controlled, on schedule). It also quietly trains everyone to accept inequality as professionalism. Strong’s “I hate that” reads as a refusal to let glamour launder the reality: status games erode solidarity, and solidarity is the only thing that makes a 14-hour day feel like a shared mission instead of a feudal arrangement with better catering.
Strong’s phrasing is doing double work. “Somehow” is a small word that signals a big con: the specialness is both omnipresent and weirdly unspoken, like a superstition everyone participates in because challenging it threatens the illusion. “Not a member of the crew” stings because it’s technically true in job classification and power structure, but false in the way making anything actually works. Film and TV are collaborative by necessity, yet celebrity culture frames collaboration as support staff orbiting a singular “talent.”
The subtext is less self-flagellation than labor politics. This divide protects the brand (stars must appear untouchable) and manages risk (keep the high-value asset comfortable, controlled, on schedule). It also quietly trains everyone to accept inequality as professionalism. Strong’s “I hate that” reads as a refusal to let glamour launder the reality: status games erode solidarity, and solidarity is the only thing that makes a 14-hour day feel like a shared mission instead of a feudal arrangement with better catering.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
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