Hilary Duff and Kevin Bacon join picket lines of US actors’ union strike

Hilary Duff, Bob Odenkirk and Kevin Bacon are among the Hollywood stars who have joined fellow actors on the picket lines amid the largest industry strike for 60 years.

Strike action took place outside major studios, including Warner Bros, Disney, Paramount and Netflix in Los Angeles on Monday, though two were cut short due to “extreme heat”.

Action began on Friday morning after contract negotiations between actors’ union Sag-Aftra (Screen Actor’s Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down.

Lizzie McGuire star Duff was pictured out picketing in LA on Monday, later posting a selection of pictures from outside Paramount Pictures studios.

“Out there… with my girls. We stand with our union! Let’s gooooooo,” she captioned the post.

Community star Danny Pudi was also outside Paramount studios, following in the footsteps of his co-star Jim Rash, who attended on Friday.

“We are here supporting the union in working on a fair contract,” he said, adding: “(There’s) a lot of issues on the table, it’s good to be out here to support the union.”

Award-winning Better Call Saul actor Odenkirk shared a photo of himself outside Warner Bros studios, with Kids actress Rosario Dawson also making an appearance at Paramount.

Odenkirk said: “I’ve been a member of Sag-Aftra since 1988, and we have to do this now, and we have to do this right so that we don’t have to do this for another 20 years.

“Let’s do it right, hang in there.”

Bacon, who starred in the 1984 hit movie Footloose, was pictured in New York, where actors also picketed the offices of HBO, Amazon, Warner Bros, Netflix, Paramount and NBC Universal on Monday.

“Walking the line in solidarity with my fellow SAG-AFTRA members,” he wrote on Twitter, sharing a video of himself chanting with other union members.

Action in Los Angeles was due to take place outside the studios of Disney, Amazon, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros – from 9am to 1pm local time.

But shortly after 9am, local time, Sag-Aftra tweeted: “UPDATE: Because of extreme heat in LA, Disney and Warner Bros pickets end at NOON today. Stay hydrated!”

It comes as parts of the US west coast experienced sweltering temperatures, with Death Valley along the California/Nevada border approaching its highest ever temperature.

Approximately 160,000 actors are now on strike across the US, joining the 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who walked out on May 2.

It is the first time both unions have been on strike since 1960, when Sag-Aftra was led by former US president Ronald Reagan.

During the strike, actors will not film new projects or promote their films at junkets, premieres, awards shows or conventions, including the 2023 San Diego Comic Con, which is due to begin on Thursday.

On Saturday the global premiere of new Disney film Haunted Mansion went ahead at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, but without stars Owen Wilson, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tiffany Haddish.

The cast of Christopher Nolan’s new movie Oppenheimer walked out of the London premiere last week as news of the impending strike broke, and planned junkets for films including Barbie have also been affected.

Producers of independent films could be granted waivers to continue shooting despite the strike, as long as they are operating outside the studio system.

Marvel star Mark Ruffalo was among the high-profile actors to voice support for such waivers, and possible sharing of profits from successful independent films.

The contract between the union and the AMPTP, which represents the major film studios, TV networks and streaming giants, expired after negotiators failed to reach an agreement over a number of issues including pay and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

The union said actors face an “existential threat to their livelihoods” with the rise of generative AI technology and the threat of unregulated use.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief negotiator for Sag-Aftra, said studios had asked for the ability to scan the faces of background artists for the payment of one day’s work, and then be able to own and use their likeness for any future projects without consent or compensation.

The issue of pay has also been a key part of negotiations as the advent of streaming has changed the way actors are compensated for their work.

In the past they would make money from residuals, where they would be paid based on re-runs of their shows and films, but streaming has severely dented this, with actors and writers saying their residuals have plummeted.

The union says members are striking for a fairer division of profits, but the AMPTP says negotiators chose to forego “the highest percentage increase in minimums in 35 years” in favour of going on strike.