LOUISVILLE, Ky. — If you are a fan of Marvel’s "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and ABC’s “The Goldbergs” and “The Rookie”, you have likely seen actor Jay Hunter.
Hunter was featured in four episodes of the hit police drama as Officer Gil Webb.
“He’s kind of a put his foot in his mouth type of officer. [He] wants to do well – always got the team’s back. He’s there when you need him,” Hunter described.
Since May, many television series have been put on pause because of a strike stemming from an ongoing labor dispute between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the actors union, is also on strike because of similar issues.
Hunter is standing with fellow actors and writers and through this period, he’s taking time to do things his hectic schedule did not allow like visiting Louisville.
“I’ve got some friends here that I grew up with and they decided to make Louisville their home. It’s a lovely place to make a home, so I’m going to stop by more often,” he said.
Hunter, who hails from Buffalo, New York, attended college in Pennsylvania and played football as a student-athlete. While waiting for his big break, he found a love for history and became a teacher.
“I believe that they both work kind of simultaneously in their own way because I’m a history buff; I believe in history," he said. "You know, you don’t learn history, history repeats itself."
Hunter added if we take what we've learned in history we can put it on the big screen.
"If you learn all history, in general, you will start to realize how important the American history is and how much is needed to tell everybody's history, including ours -- our African American history," he said. "When I get the opportunity to, I will be telling some stories that a lot of people don't know about and I think it will make us better, stronger as a, as a country."
Hunter hopes to teach history someday by producing and acting in period pieces, but much of that is on hold until the strike ends.
Many actors including Hunter want people to know that not everyone is instantly wealthy when they make it in the spotlight.
“A lot of people don’t realize the money to an extent is some of the things that we do can be lucrative,” he said. “For 95% of the actors, it’s a paycheck. What I mean – it’s a paycheck that gets them by for that month and then they must look for the next one.”
Hunter is among the working actors who had to learn the art of the side hustle -- meaning they had a primary job, sometimes off the wall, to keep the bills paid while they went after their dreams.
Despite the strike impacting actors like Hunter, they can still work, but it can't be entertainment based. Actors are also declining to discuss or promote upcoming projects as a symbol of solidarity to their brothers and sisters on the picket line.
If you want to check more of Hunter's work, you can find him in the latest season of the MAX original "And Just Like That..." starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis.
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