Dylan McDermott And Dermot Mulroney Finally Join Forces
While Hollywood writers and actors striking at the same time means no new scripted TV and movies for the foreseeable future, that doesn’t mean there isn’t some very entertaining content coming from the picket lines. For example, Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney recently appeared together and made some cute references to the fact that audiences always manage to mix the two up. While they were being interviewed, the actors also clarified why they are striking: actors need higher wages, better residuals, and increased protection against AI.
Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney joined the rest of SAG-AFTRA on the picket line in Hollywood.
If you’re not sure why it’s so funny having Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney appear at the same time in the same video is funny, it all goes back to a long-running internet gag that audiences have trouble telling the two actors apart. This is partially due to similar facial features and partially due to the fact that their names are just similar enough to confuse audiences at home who see one of them on television and then try to remember who they are.
Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney are often mistaken for each other, thanks to similar names, facial features, and even roles.
Because that confusion is so prevalent among so many different people, Saturday Night Live eventually produced a skit about a fictional game show called “Derbel McDillet.” The premise of the spoof game show was simple: contestants had to accurately guess whether they were looking at a picture of Dylan McDermott or a picture of Dermot Mulroney. This funny skit helped make “Derbel McDillet” part of the internet lexicon, and fans online often jokingly use the term to describe how often they confuse the two actors.
While we’re big fans of the Saturday Night Live skit, this recent video of Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney covers something neither actor considers a laughing matter: the reasons that they and the rest of the SAG actors are currently on strike.
The first reason they give is the need for actors to be better paid, which is understandable. Despite the “rich celeb” stereotype, CNN reports that over 87 percent of actors don’t make enough each year (which is only $26,470) to qualify for union health insurance.
87 percent of SAG-AFTRA members don’t make the minimum, $26,470, to qualify for union health insurance.
The second reason Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney gave for their striking is the need for actors to earn better residuals. Companies like Netflix have ensured that streaming is now the primary way audiences consume entertainment. However, actors generally receive very little in streaming residuals, especially in comparison to how much streaming companies continue to profit from the content the actors helped create.
The third and final reason given by Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney for why they are striking is that they think actors should have better protections against AI, and recent developments may have validated their concerns. SAG-Aftra leadership has reported that certain background actors were allegedly scanned so that their likenesses could be used in countless future productions without providing more compensation to the actors in question.
While an AMPTP spokesperson denied these claims, McDermott, Mulroney, and the rest of the striking actors see this as the perfect time to get restrictions against AI replicas written directly into any future contracts with major studios.
