With contract negotiations looming amid threats from AI, decreasing job numbers and increasing health care costs, the winner of this year’s SAG-AFTRA presidential election — to be announced Friday — will face a foreboding Hollywood landscape resembling something out of “The Lord of the Rings.”

In the actors’ guild race, Sean Astin, known for his roles in the “Rings” trilogy and “Rudy,” is up against Chuck Slavin, a SAG-AFTRA New England local board member, background actor and indie film performer. Whoever wins will succeed actress Fran Drescher as the new president of the powerful Hollywood performers union.

The election comes during an uncertain time for the guild, which boasts about 160,000 members. With the industry still recovering from the 118-day strike in the summer of 2023, many

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