Griffin Newman Image by Getty/Dominik Bindl/Contributor

By PJ Grisar June 2, 2020

With film and TV production shut down for the foreseeable future, many actors are relying on royalties from reruns and syndication to get by.

But self-proclaimed “out-of-work actor” Griffin Newman is using his own to help protestors raise bail.

Late Monday night, Newman, best known for playing moth-themed superhero Arthur on Amazon’s “The Tick” and voicing Jared Kushner on “Our Cartoon President,” tweeted about one of his deeper cuts: A two episode arc on the police drama “Blue Bloods.” Realizing he was still profiting off his against-type performance as a detective, he donated $10,000 to the National Bail Fund Network via the progressive fundraising platform Act Blue to aid those arrested in their protest of the death of George Floyd. While that exact sum may not be tied to Newman’s own brief turn on the show, he urged actors with hefty residuals to donate the money they get from playing cops or “acting blue.”

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I’m an out-of-work actor who (improbably) played a detective on two episodes of BLUE BLOODS almost a decade ago.

If you currently play a cop?

If you make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in residuals from playing a cop?

I’ll let you do the math. pic.twitter.com/En4ww2OSjP

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) June 2, 2020

Others involved in cop series soon pitched in in ways large and small. Stephanie Beatriz of NBC’s ”Brooklyn 99” dug deep and gave to Act Blue, while actors who’ve had more modest turns as police also offered what they could.

I’m an actor who plays a detective on tv.

If you currently play a cop?

If you make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in residuals from playing a cop?

I’ll let you do the math. (Thanks @GriffLightning for leading the way). pic.twitter.com/Xxf3dU0urF

— Stephanie Beatriz (@iamstephbeatz) June 2, 2020

I was a background sheriff on this episode of The Rookie. I’m in one shot and think I made $96 let’s call it an even hundred to BLM LA pic.twitter.com/eAZq7olzGh

— Will Martin (@mrwillmartin) June 2, 2020

i played the Chief of Police in my high school’s production of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. #BlueActorsActBlue pic.twitter.com/LtNVbwAelj

— ? Roy Parker ? (@oh_itsRoy) June 2, 2020

I haven’t so much as acted in a school play in about twenty years but I promoted the hell out of #TheCloser and #MajorCrimes (for a time…), and advocated hard for #Brooklyn99’s revival. pic.twitter.com/vSOFousWGs

— Avery F. (@averyintheopen) June 2, 2020

This isn’t the first time Newman, who co-hosts the “Blank Check” podcast and was recently cast as Orco on Netflix’s “Master of the Universe” reboot, has raised social awareness — and donations — through his Twitter presence. In October 2017 the actor was among the first to express his regret for working with Woody Allen and announce he had given his salary for his role in Allen’s 2019 film “ A Rainy Day in New York” to the anti-sexual assault non-profit RAINN.

I need to get this off my chest:
– I worked on Woody Allen’s next movie.
– I believe he is guilty.
– I donated my entire salary to RAINN.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 14, 2017

A few months later, his co-stars Timothee Chalamet and Selena Gomez also donated their money to Time’s Up and RAINN, while a groundswell of Allen’s former collaborators pledged not to work with the director again as the #MeToo movement gained momentum.

PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture fellow. He can be reached at [email protected]

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