In the wake of the strike led by the union - Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) - aimed against movie and television studios over demands for better pay and working conditions in the industry, some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Academy Award winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis and Marvel star Jeremy Renner, sent messages of solidarity via social media posts. After the Screen Actors Guild announced that the strike is on, starting Thursday, the cast of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer was compelled to leave the film's London premiere.
Everything Everywhere All At Once star Jamie Lee Curtis' message came loud and clear. "Since we will all stop utilizing social media to promote work that we are on strike for, this is my last offering from the wonderful new Disney movie," wrote Jamie Lee Curtis posting BTS pictures from her new project Haunted Mansion. The strike also aims at more protection against artificial intelligence. Ms Curtis emphasised on maintaining the right balance between skills and technology, with respect to her film Haunted Mansion and she added, "In order to put Madame Leota inside her crystal ball and trap her there for hundreds of years, they used a digital technique which was a first for me, acting with my head in a vise, but the results are magnificent. A great combination of acting AND technology."
The veteran actress signed off her post with these words, "What I will say is that although I am computer generated, it is from my performance, my sense of comedic timing and you CANNOT replicate that with a machine. I stand strong with my union SAG-AFTRA."
Marvel star Jeremy Renner, on his Instagram stories, re-shared a post by SAG-AFTRA and wrote, "A necessary change."
Screenshot of Jeremy Renner's Instagram story
Sex And The City star Cynthia Nixon, who is also an activist, extended her support to the SAG-AFTRA and she tweeted, "The SAG-AFTRA strike has at last arrived. I am proud to be standing tall with the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America, East 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."
Actor-comedian Kumail Nanjiani, star of the popular series Silicon Valley simply tweeted SAG-AFTRA's post that read, "On Strike." No caption needed.
Best-known for playing Tiffany Valentine on Chucky and also a professional poker player, Jennifer Tilly, showed solidarity to the union and she tweeted, "Actors! Drop your sides and back away from the set! We are officially on strike," accompanying her words with the hashtags #Solidarity, #SAGstrike and #Fairwages.
The initial strike was meant to take place last month. However, it was postponed amid the expectation of striking a fruitful deal with studios that could fulfil the union's demands.