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This will be a monster thread – sorry about the length. I wanted to address a perception that many of us have – that Sam is treated differently than others on OL. I will NOT tolerate any unkindness towards any other cast member. DO NOT TAG any of the talent. I mean it.
I think we can all agree that St*rz sucks at promo. For both S & C. For the show. For all the actors. BUT, there has been a disparity on how they seem to regard him. And it’s not just St* – it’s also the studio and production.
I don’t have the time to go through the entire history – but from the start, it was “the kilt drops.” I get it, they were trying to get an audience, marketing, etc. Looking some early tweets – you can see it in action.
I vaguely remember sometime in S1 or 2, C & T going off with the GG committee, while Sam was stuck on set. He had to join them late. If I’m remembering that wrong, let me know. More time w/GG folks=more time to schmooze & make your case.
S2 Sony FYC video. Accolades about Sam: square jaw, eyes, ruggedness, will never be a character actor. She spends ~50 secs of a 6 min video on him. This is after S1 & the brilliance of Wentworth. The rest is about C&T and how they walk on H2O. https://youtu.be/hI5Ny69FWEg ">https://youtu.be/hI5Ny69FW...
The video above was posted by Backstage (trade site). If you click on “show more” under the video, you will see that they also have interviews with C & T. Where’s Sam? No clue. In fact, he’s listed as the THIRD star of the show. FFS.
S3 – printshop ep airs. Fans are angry b/c Jamie didn’t cry. Production decides to throw Sam under the bus saying it was his fault. Have you ever seen a TV show throw one of their leads to the wolves like this? I haven’t. Good on Sam for stating his case.
Production tries to walk it back the next day. The thing is, production is the boss. If they wanted the scene filmed like that, then film it like that. Or ask that it be filmed both ways. Someone must have agreed to it and when the crap flew, they ducked.
Don’t get me started on all the deleted scenes. A lot of Jamie seems to have been left on the cutting room floor. Why? Don’t know. It just seems odd especially since many of the scenes could have enhanced episodes (like Faith). https://youtu.be/_RIO0-DIPvM ">https://youtu.be/_RIO0-DIP...
S4 promo – S, R & S are all in NY doing the “kilt daddy” interview with Saeed. Where is C? In CA spending the day with the GG committee. Sam would join her the next day he had the morning alone w/them (as did she), then interviews w/both him & C in the afternoon. 
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I did a search of the official OL Twitter acct for the word “talent” & “talented.” Now, maybe the results are wrong b/c the search fxn seems to have a mind of its own. But it did turn up these lovely tweets.
Lots of talented people on OL! I didn’t include many, many tweets with the world talented. Again, maybe I can’t find it, but I could not find a tweet from the network that ever referred to their leading man as talented or a talent.
And then we have good old Jeffrey. He got up at the TCA’s in front of TV journalists & critics and declared Sam to be “eye candy” for the “premium female” audience. See one of my rants about this here: https://twitter.com/Aeryn_Sus/status/1228803922996842496">https://twitter.com/Aeryn_Sus...
Sam responded in his typical fashion – with grace and wit.
Jeff “apologized” in Jan. And I use that term loosely. Notice, he doesn’t immediately apologize. He has to 1st praise C’s “best work” and then finally says S is phenomenal but has “developed” as an actor.
Remember when 512 aired and they put up the warnings and said how they wanted to make sure the fans and the cast were treated with respect? For the Wentworth eps…not so much. Can you imagine if they had treated C that way? (thanks @debra1918 for images)
I’ll wrap up w/the Emmy campaign for S5. The episode they featured for the Deadline interview? 512. A C centered ep. I knew they’d choose that one. 509 would have been fairer as it highlighted the whole cast. But this isn’t about the whole cast is it?
Then St*rz PR sends out a video highlighting the women of network. B/c you know, premium women and all that. It was also featured on IG. At this point, no comparable video has been released for the men of St*rz.
Then comes the official FYC video for the show and cast. Up first – C. With 4 individual head shots. S is next, with only 3. One by himself, 2 of him looking lovingly at Claire. No dialogue. Some of the supporting cast got better highlights than him.
I know there was much mocking from certain corners of the fandom over those of us that were upset. Maybe you can now understand better why. We are waiting for the day when he is treated with the same respect and treated as the talented leading man of the show.
That is all we are asking. Equal footing. Is that so wrong? If I have anything wrong, I apologize. I did everything with the best of intentions. S has always been the biggest cheerleader of the show. It’s time for them to return the favor.
Thank you for reading, if you are still awake after all that! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😂" title="Gesicht mit Freudentränen" aria-label="Emoji: Gesicht mit Freudentränen">
