'Why would I want to root my industry?'

Robyn Malcolm: "The thing that makes me feel so sick is this was never personal."

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Under-siege actor Robyn Malcolm has gone from hero to zero.

But the three-time Best on the Box People's Choice award winner for her work on Outrageous Fortune says she cares more about workers' rights than personal popularity.

Malcolm was vilified last week after she fronted for NZ Actors' Equity, whose desire to negotiate standard performer contracts for The Hobbit sparked an international boycott that may have pushed production of the Sir Peter Jackson project overseas.

Yesterday Malcolm vowed to keep being a voice for vulnerable workers.

"I don't actually need a union anymore. I can go in and negotiate a pretty good contract for myself. The reason I am doing this is I have been in this industry for 20 years and I remember what it was like to be a baby coming out of drama school – you are unbelievably powerless.

"All you want to do is please every director, producer and company you work for...the idea of making any sort of demand in a contract is completely terrifying."

Without across-the-board industry standards, "actors are completely unprotected".

Malcolm says she has been accused of being little more than a loud-hailer. "But I really believe in this stuff. I believe in workers' rights.

"I could choose not to care. I could just very quietly not rock the boat. I am a working solo mother of two boys and I don't have a job. Outrageous Fortune has finished. I am looking for work. Would I really, in the words of Cheryl West, want to root my own industry?"

Union boycotts of the film were lifted last week, and assurances given The Hobbit would not be subject to further action.

A decision on where the movie will film is expected this week, after Warner Bros executives visit New Zealand.

Malcolm said she had worked for Jackson twice. "He has a really international attitude to actors artistically. He gets what actors do and he lets them do it. The thing that makes me feel so sick is this was never personal."

- © Fairfax NZ News