The Rock Makes Seven-Figure Donation to SAG-AFTRA to Help Striking Actors

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has gone to the mat, financially, to help striking actors.

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the educational and charitable arm of the actors union, said Monday the wrestler-turned-actor made a seven-figure donation for actors needing financial assistance during the strike against Hollywood studios.

“Thank you @TheRock for your extraordinary generosity and historic donation to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation! You’re helping thousands of @sagaftra actors and families in urgent need, and taking the lead for others to follow! We appreciate you!!!” the foundation said in a statement on Twitter.

After SAG-AFTRA called the strike on July 13, the foundation sent a letter to the union’s 2,700 highest-earning members requesting financial assistance to shore up its coffers.

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SAG-AFTRA Foundation President Courtney B. Vance and Executive Director Cyd Wilson wrote the letter.

Johnson’s team responded almost immediately, Vance told Variety on Monday.

While Vance declined to say the exact amount Johnson gave, he noted that the Black Adam star’s generosity sends a message to the acting community.

“This is him saying, ‘In such a time as this, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, whatever you need me to do.’ And that sends a huge message to other folks to do the same thing,” Vance said.

The last time the SAG-AFTRA foundation issued an urgent appeal for help was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when film and TV productions shut down.

“Our mandate and our mission is to be able to help members in times of need and crisis times financially — for their medical bills, their rents, their mortgages and their food. And that’s where we find ourselves once again. They’re on the picket lines, but they still have to be able to pay for things,” Vance explained.

Wilson said eligible members can apply for SAG-AFTRA Foundation grants of up to $1,500, and in dire situations, a lifetime member can get up to $6,000 in emergency assistance.

The foundation noted that Johnson’s seven-figure donation will help between 7,000 and 10,000 of the union’s 160,000 members.

“When we hit a crisis like this and we’re going to spend millions and millions of dollars in financial assistance, this is when we need our high profile talent who can afford it, who are in a situation to help others,” Wilson said.

The union has previously stated that 87 percent of its members don’t earn enough from acting jobs to reach the $26,000 a year threshold to qualify for union health insurance.