The elected, two-year office pays no salary, although it does lead to one of the highest profiles (and supply of headaches) in Hollywood. Former SAG presidents include Ronald Reagan, George Murphy, Charlton Heston and Ed Asner. Current president William Daniels just announced he won’t seek re-election, after serving one rather tumultuous term. Not only did the 98,000-member union endure a six-month commercials strike under Daniels’s watch, it narrowly averted a potentially devastating strike with producers earlier this month. Ballots go out to SAG members in October, and the results will be announced in November. Daniels has endorsed Harper. But, Gilbert, now 37, who has worked steadily in television movies since her “Little House” days, promises to mount a strong challenge. NEWSWEEK’s Ana Figueroa spoke with Gilbert about her candidacy:

NEWSWEEK: Most people have this image of you as little Laura Ingalls Wilder running across a meadow on “Little House.” Is it a benefit or a detriment to be frozen in time that way?

Melissa Gilbert: It can be a double-edged sword to a certain extent, because people do see me as a child. But it’s fairly undeniable at this point that I am an adult. I haven’t been 9 for a long time, although, at 37, I’m still very young. I have a tremendous amount of energy, excitement and exuberance. And I think that can only benefit SAG.

I suppose one of the benefits of being a child actor is that you really get to know how the business works.

Exactly. I’ve been in SAG since the age of 2. I have a very deep and intense knowledge of the way the business works. I certainly understand the problems of a working actor, having been one for so long. One of the advantages of starting out as a child in this industry is that you absorb so much without even knowing it. I can apply a lot of the knowledge that I learned from being on the set as a kid.

You’ve been active on SAG’s national board of directors since last fall. Why did you decide to run for president?

I think the board of directors has lost sight of what our purpose is. There is so much infighting and divisiveness that it’s gotten in the way of the major job of SAG. That is, to look out for and support and make major decisions for the union as a whole. I would like some unity brought back, and I think I’m the person who can do that.

Why do you think you’re the best person for the job?

I’ve been in the business for a long time and know the workings of it. I’ve gone from being a child actor, where everything is taken care of, to being an adult who negotiates her own contracts. I’m very involved in my own image and my own career. I also am very opinionated and have very strong ideas of where SAG can go and what SAG can do. Additionally, I’m a mother. If I can run a household and mediate debates among four boys (two stepsons, 20 and 15, and two sons with husband Bruce Boxleitner, 12 and 5), I can certainly be of assistance to the union.

What are your thoughts about running against Valerie Harper? The current SAG president, William Daniels, has endorsed her.

I’m very excited by the challenge of running against Valerie. I think it will be very interesting. I can’t comment more specifically because I haven’t seen what her platform is or what she plans to do with the union. I’d love to see a debate down the road. Actually, I reached out to Valerie before she announced her candidacy to see if she and I could possibly join forces. The people who elected William Daniels support her. I was hoping we could really unify SAG, because there was a lot of factionalization between the people who supported Daniels and those that opposed him. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

It’s no secret that the internal organization of SAG is badly split. The newly appointed CEO quit after only 10 days on the job last week. Why do you want to step into that hornet’s nest?

As a board member, I’m already in the fray. If elected, I’ll have to practice my ducking skills. [Laughs] There’s no question that SAG politics are extremely divisive. There are major issues that people are disagreeing on. Everybody is so passionate about the issue that they believe in, that they don’t listen to anything else. We’ve got a very large board, with over 100 people. We have various committees, but there are very few voices being heard. A lot of people chair numerous committees, and are spread way too thin. I’d like to see that changed.

SAG narrowly averted a strike recently, after some very tense negotiations with producers. What were the major issues, and did they get resolved to your satisfaction?

The issues included increased residuals, increased minimum salaries, and residuals from Fox. I’m extremely satisfied with the new contract. I’m thrilled that a strike was averted. I do have some concerns, however, because I think the threat of a strike could have been averted. We could have found a way to begin negotiations earlier, because we are suffering from a bit of a work slowdown.

So, there were still some adverse effects for union members, even though you didn’t strike?

Yes, because what happened is that they rushed a number of productions to get them done. The fear was that we’d have a writers’ strike and an actors’ strike coming at the same time. That would not only have had a crippling effect on the industry but a crippling effect on the income of the state. That could have been pretty devastating. After the commercial strike, a lot of the work never really came back to us.

Do you find that a lot of people think of SAG as a glamorous association for pampered actors, rather than a real, working union?

Yes. There are so many misperceptions out there. People tend to think of actors as spoiled, blessed, extraordinarily lucky people. That is unfortunate. The truth is that actors are extremely hard working, focused people. SAG is a working union, just like any other union. We have members all over the country, and they make varying salaries. It’s the minority of members that make tremendous salaries.

If you are elected, what will some of your priorities be?

One thing we need to address the issue of runaway production. That’s extremely important. It might require legislative change to make it more attractive to shoot films and television back in the United States. Another big issue is our contract with the Association of Talent Agents, which is up for renegotiations. There’s been a stalemate, so neither side is talking. We lose that contract in January, and it could be devastating to lose the franchise with the agents. And, another issue dear to me is the tremendously large number of minors in our union. I’m on the Young Performers’ Committee, and think we can do a much better job protecting child actors, especially those working outside the state of California. v A few people have used the SAG presidency as a stepping-stone to a political career. George Murphy went on to be a California senator, and, of course, Ronald Reagan did pretty well for himself in politics. Do you have any designs on the political world?

Well, I tell you. I didn’t realize what a political animal I was until I got involved in SAG. I’m not ruling it out someday, but as of now, I have no plans to seek any other kind of office. I did talk to one of my high-profile supporters about it. He told me he’d rather be president of the country than president of SAG, because it would be easier.