Celebrities Hit the Picket Line as SAG-AFTRA Begins Strike
© AP Photo / Chris Pizzello
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The Screen Actor Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike officially began on Thursday at midnight after a month of heated negotiations collapsed between the union and major studios. Those actors are now joining the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who have been on strike since early April.
SAG-AFTRA took to the streets on Friday to strike against major studios including Paramount, Disney, Universal, Sony, Fox and streaming giants Amazon and Netflix, joining writers who have been on strikes for months.
The event marks a historic development as it serves as the first time since 1980 that actors in the film and television industry have gone on strike, and the first strike by both actors and writers since 1960.
Almost every TV or film actor in the US has now joined 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America who are asking for increased residual payments from streaming services. Streaming services have decreased the amount of work writers and actors receive (and therefore their pay) while also eliminating their royalties for however many times an episode or film may be re-watched by customers.
Fran Drescher, an actress best known for TV series and films including The Nanny, Saturday Night Fever, and Happily Divorced and who serves as the third president of SAG-AFTRA, announced the strike Thursday.
“The eyes of the world and particularly the eyes of labor are upon us,” said Drescher. "What happens here is important because what’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor by means of when employers make Wall Street and greed their priority, and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run."
“The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, AI. This is a moment of history that is a moment of truth. If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble,” the actress said in her statement, which tackled the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). “You cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract to change too.”
While not all actors who are a part of SAG are rich nor famous, some of those better known names did show up in support of the strike, while others spoke publicly about their opinions on the strike over social media.
Actor Jason Sudeikis, center, walks a picket line with striking writers and actors, Friday, July 14, 2023, at NBC Universal Studios in New York. The picketing comes a day after the main actors’ union voted to join screenwriters in a double-barreled strike for the first time in more than six decades. The dispute immediately shut down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down.
© AP Photo / Bebeto Matthews
Susan Sarandon, who is an Academy Award winner known for the film Thelma and Louise, joined the picket line on Friday alongside actor Jason Sudeikis, who is known for his work on TV series Saturday Night Live and Ted Lasso. Actress and director Olivia Wilde was also spotted amongst the New York City picket line.
"AI will affect everybody," Sarandon said from a picket line in New York. "There's definitely always been the feeling that if it isn't solved now, how do we ever solve it in the future? If you don't have the foresight to put something in place for the future, then you're screwed. It's clear that nothing is going to change from the top down, it's going to be up to us at the bottom."
Actor Matt Damon spoke to the Associated Press while at a promotional event for Oppenheimer, the cast of which walked out of their opening premiere in the UK to stand in solidarity with the strikers. Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt were said to be among the cast members who departed the area.
"What we would be striking for, if we strike, is unbelievably important," said Damon. "We got to protect the people who are kind of on the margins. 26,000 bucks a year is what you have to make to get your health insurance. And there are a lot of people who ― residual payments are what carry them across that threshold. If those residual payments dry up, so does their healthcare, and that's absolutely unacceptable."
Other, more well known SAG-AFTRA members include Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Rami Malek, Quinta Brunson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Amy Poehler, all of whom joined other members in signing off on a letter to the union’s negotiating committee, urging the union’s representatives to hold fast and not agree to any deal which did not meet their demands.
Actor Rosario Dawson attends a rally by striking writers and actors outside Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, Calif. on Friday, July 14, 2023. This marks the first day actors formally joined the picket lines, more than two months after screenwriters began striking in their bid to get better pay and working conditions and have clear guidelines around the use of AI in film and television productions.
© AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill
Though she did not walk out of the premiere like the Oppenheimer cast members did, actress Margot Robbie told reporters she is “absolutely” in support of a SAG-AFTRA strike: "I very much am in support of all the unions, and I’m a part of SAG, so I would absolutely stand by them," she said.
Other celebrities who shared their solidarity on social media upon hearing news of the strike included Jamie Lee Curtis, Jessica Chastain, Padma Lakshmi, Patton Oswalt, and Kim Cattrall. Meanwhile actors Timothy Olyphant, Josh Gad and Sean Astin were seen joining the picket line outside of Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
While it remains unknown as to how long the strike will take place, union members will be forbidden from engaging in any promotional activities including: tours, appearances, interviews, conventions, premieres, screenings, panels, award shows and even social media.
This will most likely include San Diego’s Comic-Con, and upcoming film festivals. The New York premiere of Oppenheimer has also canceled its red carpet event. Meanwhile, discussions to postpone the 75th Emmy Awards are currently underway.
