In the first week of the Screen Actors Guild strike that’s disrupting the film and television industries, Hollywood actors have been speaking on and off the picket line about their thoughts.
The strike has been described by the actor and Sag-Aftra president, Fran Drescher, as a response to an unfair system that’s diminishing and demeaning to performers. “We are the victims here,” she said. “We are being victimised by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us.”
The main focus is on base pay for residuals and the use of artificial intelligence within film and television, similar bones of contention for screenwriters who are also on strike concurrently.
Here are the major names who have added their thoughts to date:
“This is an inflection point in our industry. Actors and writers in large numbers have lost their ability to make a living. For our industry to survive that has to change. For actors that journey starts now,” – George Clooney
“If our residuals go down it means our health insurance isn’t going to be met. In a way, the streaming services have shot themselves in the foot because they’ve said, ‘oh, we’re going very well on this front’. And when we called them to task and said ‘what about our residuals, what about our money?’, everything kind of closes down and ... you know, it’s not going to happen,” – Brian Cox
“Sending love to all my fellow actors and writers. Praying that this is resolved swiftly and we all come out feeling empowered! Families have to be fed, but people have to and deserve to be respected for their work as well,” – Keke Palmer
“It’s gonna be tough for the actors, for 160,000 actors. Nobody wants a work stoppage but if our leadership is saying that the deal isn’t fair then we gotta hold strong. It’s the difference between having healthcare and not for a lot of actors, and we gotta do what’s right by them,” – Matt Damon
“AI will affect everybody. 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,” – Susan Sarandon
“We always worked in a business that rewarded success and didn’t want failure. Now, we have these opaque streamers who kind of tell us what’s a success and what’s a failure and I wouldn’t trust an employer to tell me how well I’m doing,” – David Duchovny
“The AMPTP refused to make a fair deal on television, theatrical and streaming work. We are not afraid of a fight and we will not back down. My union, SAG/AFTRA is now on strike,” – Jessica Chastain
“They’ve created an empire of billionaires & believe that we are no longer of value. While they hang out in the billionaire boy summer camps laughing like fat cats, we organize a new world for workers,” – Mark Ruffalo
“I’m striking because if it wasn’t for the folks who fought for me to have residuals, I would’ve been living on ramen for the rest of my life. I mean, I really am grateful for what we have but the industry has changed and those contracts need to be updated as well,” – Rosario Dawson
“I’ve been a proud SAG member since 1995. I love my job. Hoping for a FAIR meeting of the minds” – Niecy Nash
“Make no mistake: This strike SUCKS for us. On the heels of a shut-down, with both SAG/AFTRA and the WGA striking at once?? The last time this happened, the SAG president was an actor named Ronald Reagan. But do you know how many of us voted to authorize it? 98%. Because we know the stakes,” – James Van Der Beek
“I think AI is a huge issue. I think that transparency, I think that the basic wage. But you know, all of these things are things that I personally can negotiate for but I’m here for the working class, middle class part of our union. You know, who need these basic provisions in their basic contract” – Kevin Bacon
“I hope our wonderful indispensable fans understand we are striking not just for ourselves but for the future and the literal survival of the entertainment industry,” – Jean Smart
“I am proud to be standing tall with the WGAWest and WGAEast as actors and writers together demand a fair share of the record-breaking profits the studios have been reaping from our labor for far too long. We will win this!” – Cynthia Nixon
