Hollywood actors went on strike at midnight Thursday after talks with studios collapsed.
Actors joined writers that have been on strike since May, forcing studios to contend with their first dual work stoppage in 63 years, according to Reuters. Hollywood’s largest union, SAG-AFTRA, represents 160,000 actors that are demanding base pay and residual pay increases, echoing the strike position initiated by the Writers Guild of America (WGA). They are also seeking job protection to ensure they will not be replaced by artificial intelligence.
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The entertainment industry took a significant hit during the global pandemic and is now facing a complete and indefinite seizure.
Discussions with the studios fell short with SAG-AFTRA, in spite of efforts to find a resolution and the looming threat of unprecedented dual strike action.
Matt Damon talks about the potential actors’ strike while at the “Oppenheimer” photocall in London. pic.twitter.com/sFzy77PKPN
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) July 12, 2023
Former star of “The Nanny” and president of SAG-AFTRA, Fran Drescher, lashed out against the studios that failed to find a resolution that could have prevented strike action. She called the studios responses “insulting and disrespectful” in a speech that has now gone viral online.
“The eyes of the world and, particularly, the eyes of labor are upon us,” Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, said. Leaders of the Hollywood union representing 160,000 television and movie actors, voted to strike on Thursday, joining screenwriters. https://t.co/601CRHlMCI pic.twitter.com/E0Iq6ELAQ1
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 13, 2023
“I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us,” Drescher said.
“I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things, how they plead poverty that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions to their CEOs,” she said.
“It is disgusting.” (RELATED: The Writers Strike Gives Us A Much-Needed Break From Awful Late-Night Talk Shows)
A-listers, including Margot Robbie, Emily Blunt, Keke Palmer, Matt Damon and Jeremy Renner, voiced their support for the strike, as did the entire cast of Oppenheimer, who walked out of their premiere in a show of solidarity with SAG-AFTRA.
Both sides remain deeply divided as the total pause on Hollywood productions enters its first day of dual strike action.