Photo:Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Michael Loccisano/WireImage
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Michael Loccisano/WireImage
Jennifer Lawrence,Meryl Streepand hundreds of other Hollywood actors are ready to strike.
The A-listers are among the actors who are reportedly urging the Screen Actors Guild leaders to consider a strike rather than settle for a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers they feel may prove inadequate.
Multiple outlets reported on Tuesday that more than 300 actors recently signed a letter addressed to SAG-AFTRA’s leadership and negotiating committee that expressed a concern that “SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not" as the deadline to agree to a new contract with the AMPTP looms on Friday, perRolling Stone.
In addition to Streep, 74, and Lawrence, 32, Rami Malek, Quinta Brunson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ben Stiller, Neil Patrick Harris, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie, Neve Campbell, Ariana DeBose and Brendan Fraser are among the hundreds of actors who have signed the letter, which says actors are “prepared to strike if it comes to that,” according toRolling Stone.
A representative for SAG-AFTRA did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment Wednesday.
SAG-AFTRA members previously voted 97.91% in favor of authorizing a strike on June 5 before it began negotiations with the AMPTP on June 7, though that vote did not immediately call for a strike.
The group’s letter to SAG-AFTRA leadership appears to stress its concerns surrounding Hollywood studios' interest in using artificial intelligence in film and television production. “We think it is absolutely vital that this negotiation protects not just our likenesses, but makes sure we are well compensated when any of our work is used to train AI,” the letter reads, perRolling Stone.
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“We want you to know that we would rather go on strike than compromise on these fundamental points,” the letter continues, the outlet reported. “And we believe that, if we settle for a less than transformative deal, the future of our union and our craft will be undermined, and SAG-AFTRA will enter the next negotiation with drastically reduced leverage.”
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SAG-AFTRA’s presidentFran Dreschertold the union’s members in an update last Saturday that SAG-AFTRA expects to “achieve a seminal deal” through its negotiations with the AMPTP, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
SAG-AFTRA’s contract with the AMPTP expires at midnight on Friday, June 30. SAG last went on strike in 2000, prior to its merger with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, according toCBS News. If the union initiates a strike, actors will join the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike since May 2 following their own failed negotiations with the AMPTP, on picket lines at Hollywood studios.
source: people.com
