Jessica Chastain felt "nervous" about appearing at Venice during the strike
Actors are "often made to keep quiet in order to protect future working opportunities," the Memory actor suggested as a reason for Hollywood's toxic practices
When you work or exist in an environment that continually grinds you down over years or even decades, fighting back can start to look like an entirely insurmountable challenge. This is how AMPTP has maintained its stranglehold over Hollywood for so long—at least according to Jessica Chastain, who spoke candidly about her fear of speaking out at a Venice International Film Festival press conference for her film Memory last night.
“I was very nervous about coming,” Chastain said, per Variety, before elaborating that “there were actually some people on my team who advised me against it.”
Memory, directed by Michael Franco, was granted one of SAG-AFTRA’s controversial interim agreements to send its stars to the festival in order to “demonstrate to the AMPTP… that independent producers at all budget levels are… able to work with our members under these terms,” according to a statement from the guild. Still, some detractors have expressed their discomfort with the agreements, as they say they blunt the visual impact of an industry-wide picket.
For Chastain, the opportunity to speak—which she did while wearing a black “SAG-AFTRA on strike” t-shirt—was precious, if nerve-wracking. Actors are “often made to keep quiet in order to protect future working opportunities, and we are often told and reminded how grateful we should be,” she said. “That is the environment that I think has allowed work to be abused, to go unchecked for many decades. And is also the environment that has saddled members of our union with unfair contracts.”
After noting that she was “here because SAG-AFTRA has been explicitly clear that the way to support the strike is to post on social media, walk the picket line and to work and support interim agreement projects,” Chastain continued:
Independent producers, like the ones here, are letting the AMPTP know that actors deserve fair compensation, that AI protection should be implemented, and there should be sharing of streaming revenues. I hope my being here today encourages other independent producers, and encourages actors to show up [at festivals] and support our union members. Hopefully we will see an end to the strike soon and hopefully AMPTP will go back to the table.
Unfortunately, with major studios like Warner Bros. Television suspending remaining development deals with even their most high-profile producers, it seems like AMPTP is buckling down for the (very) long haul. We’ll surely see more impassioned pleas for fairness and change like this one as festival season continues.