Susan Sarandon joins picket line for actors’ strike alongside filmmaker son
Many Hollywood stars who are part of the union which represents around 160,000 actors in the US have been pictured on picket lines this week.
Susan Sarandon has told her fans that she attended her latest picket for the Hollywood actors’ strike along with her filmmaker son Jack Henry Robbins.
The Thelma And Louise star, 76, joked in an Instagram story on Wednesday that she would have asked Robbins to caption the post but he was unable to due to writers also being on strike.
She wrote: “Usually my son would finish this caption but he’s on strike.”
The strike was called last week following the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) – failing to negotiate new contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
The Writers Guild of America began industrial action on May 2.
Many Hollywood stars who are part of the union which represents around 160,000 actors across the US have been pictured on the picket lines this week.
Actors pictured recently include Homeland actor Mandy Patinkin, The Boys star Jack Quaid and Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord Of The Rings.
Astin, also known for Stranger Things and The Goonies, is a negotiating committee member at the union.
He said in an Instagram video on Wednesday: “I just want to say we’re at the start of this journey. There’s no sense of urgency coming from the other side.
“We want to go back to work. We want everyone to go back to work.”
Thor actor Chris Hemsworth also became the latest high-profile actor to back the strikes publicly following George Clooney, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jessica Chastain also voicing support online
In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Hemsworth wrote: “These are challenging times for so many in our industry and I stand in solidarity with my fellow actors in #SAGAftra who are striking for a better future.”
Some producers of independent films are being granted waivers to continue shooting despite the strike, as long as they are operating outside the studio system, according to Sag-Aftra.
The latest given the exemption include upcoming productions such as The Watchers starring Dakota Fanning and directed by M Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan, Don’t Move which is produced by The Evil Dead director Sam Raimi, Exhibiting Forgiveness, Isaac and Weekend Escape.
Mother Mary starring The Devil Wears Prada star Anne Hathaway and I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel, The Rivals Of Amziah King starring Matthew McConaughey, and Death Of A Unicorn with Ant-Man star Paul Rudd and Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega had already been placed on the temporary waiver list.
The contract between Sag-Aftra 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.
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.
