Several celebrities marched with hordes of other actors in Hollywood and New York on Friday in protest against the recent negotiations with production houses that have reached a deadlock.
Hundreds of protesters marched with placards at the Netflix building on Los Angeles’ famous Sunset Boulevard, as well as at Disney, Paramount, Warner and Amazon sites.
In Hollywood celebrities like Allison Janney last The West Wing, The Help and Mom marched up, as well as Mandy Moore from This is Us and A Walk to Rememberand Ben Schwartz of Sonic the Hedgehog.
In New York, Jason Sudeikis was from Ted Lasso, We’re the Millers and Horrible Bossesas well as Susan Sarandon of Thelma & Louise and Tammy among the celebrities who protested after various production houses did not meet actors’ demands for better pay and job security.
“The production houses are tone deaf and greedy, and they need to wake up – because we are the ones who made them rich,” said actress Frances Fisher, who in Titanic played, told AFP as she protested outside Paramount Pictures.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), which represents around 160,000 Hollywood actors, has been on strike for weeks – the first industry-wide strike in 63 years.
Actors formally went on strike at midnight on Thursday after negotiations with the production houses fell through. The union’s demands focused on dwindling pay for actors in the era of streaming platforms.
“This is a historic moment. It’s time we close contracts that will benefit future generations of actors. Just like they did in 1960,” said Vera Cherny, who rolls in The Americans and For All Mankind had, said.
The strikes brought Hollywood and its operations to a virtual standstill.
Television shows that continued amid the writers’ strike, such as the Star Wars-series Andorwill not proceed further.
The superhero movie Deadpool 3 and the epic sequel Gladiator 2 are also expected to cease operations. Moreover, their release dates may be delayed if the strikes continue.
Actors who in Universal Studios’ long-awaited Oppenheimer play, also walked out of their London premiere on Thursday.
SAG-AFTRA represents everything from mega stars like Tom Cruise to actors who play small roles in television series.
Although famous actors often enjoy the benefit of individual contracts that are far more beneficial than the union’s minimum requirements, their presence at the protests can help draw attention to the dispute.
