George Clooney offers some thoughts on the actors strike
George Clooney is among the high-profile stars throwing support behind the Hollywood writers and actors currently on strike
The SAG-AFTRA strike officially began on July 14. It’s the first time Hollywood’s actors and writers have been on a dual strike since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild. The entertainment landscape now couldn’t look more different, and the stakes now may be higher than ever—which is bringing today’s Hollywood leaders to the forefront, like one Mr. George Clooney.
During what was described as “early hours LA time,” Clooney issued a statement to Deadline that “actors and writers in large numbers have lost their ability to make a living.” Echoing a letter with hundreds of high-profile signatories issued shortly before the strike, Clooney said, “This is an inflection point in our industry. For our industry to survive that has to change. For actors, that journey starts now.”
Many other actors have weighed in on the possibility of a strike, including Clooney’s Ocean’s Eleven co-star Matt Damon. Damon, who shortly after speaking with Deadline left the premiere of his new film Oppenheimer as part of the strike, acknowledged the implications of shutting down the industry and the impact it will have on workers everywhere. However, he said, “If our leadership is saying that the deal isn’t fair, then we gotta hold strong until we get a deal that’s fair for working actors. It’s the difference between having healthcare and not for a lot of actors, and we gotta do what’s right by them.”
SAG-AFTRA leadership certainly did call out the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) for presenting an unfair deal. In a press conference to announce the strike, current SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher gave a fiery speech condemning the studios and streamers. “We stand in solidarity, in unprecedented unity. Our union and our sister unions and the unions around the world are standing by us, as well as other labor unions, because at some point the jig is up,” she said. “You cannot keep being dwindled and marginalized and disrespected and dishonored. The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, AI. This is a moment of history that is a moment of truth. If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble.”
As Damon and Clooney both noted, it’s not the stars in their tax bracket who most need to be protected by union action. It’s the everyday working actors who make up the majority of SAG-AFTRA who are at greater risk of the existential threats of a changing industry. “I’ve had people even in the industry, like makeup artists, or people who don’t really understand how actors are paid, ask me, ‘Why do actors have to strike? Especially if you’re on a show, you probably get paid so much!’” Richa Moorjani of Never Have I Ever recently told The A.V. Club. “What people don’t understand is that the majority of the Screen Actors Guild actors are the actors who are doing … one guest star appearance, you know, recurring characters. What I was before Never Have I Ever. And the majority of those actors don’t make enough—for the most part, do not make enough in one year to get health insurance, let alone make a decent living.” Let the fight for a fair deal commence.