The A-list ensemble of Christopher Nolan’s new film “Oppenheimer” left the film’s London showing midway in solidarity with a Hollywood actors union strike. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted on Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike after failing to reach an agreement with the studios and streaming services represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on a new contract.
Wow! SAG-AFTRA #Union (biggest union of actors in #Hollywood representing 160'000 TV and movie actors) joins the writers strike that has been going on for weeks now. Cillian #Murphy and Emily #Blunt left the premier of Oppenheimer to support the strike pic.twitter.com/fN0dJHdy7b
— Prince Myshkin (@TurmoilAhead_) July 13, 2023
Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Ramy Malek graced the red carpet for the London premiere of “Oppenheimer,” Nolan’s sweeping epic about J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical scientist recognised as one of the fathers of the atom bomb.
But, as the filmmaker later revealed, they fled before the film’s viewing to prepare for the impending strike.
“You saw them earlier on the red carpet. Unfortunately, they’re off to make picket signs for what we assume is an impending strike by Sag, joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the fight for fair wages for working union members, and we support them,” Nolan stated on stage.
The premiere was also pushed back an hour to allow the cast to walk the red carpet before the SAG board’s announcement.
Damon told American news site Variety on the red carpet that if a strike is announced, the cast will walk out in “solidarity.”
“We talked about it. Look, if it’s called now, everyone’s going to walk obviously in solidarity… That’s why we moved this (red carpet) up because we know the second it’s called, we’re going home,” the actor said.
“We gave the strike authorisation. We voted 98 per cent to 2 per cent to do that because we know our leadership has our best interest at heart,” he added.
“Obviously, we stand with all of the actors,” his co-star Blunt remarked, “and at whatever point it’s called, we’re going to be going home and standing together through it because I want everyone to get a fair deal.” The Hollywood actors’ strike is the first since 1980. It is also the first time since 1960 that two major Hollywood unions have gone on strike at the same time.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since early May, demanding, among other things, higher minimum wages, more writers per programme, and shorter exclusive contracts.
