High-profile UK actors spoke out in support of the strike by members of the US’ SAG-AFTRA performers’ union at a rally held by UK sister union Equity on Friday July 21.
Succession star Brian Cox gave a brief speech at the rally, before he and fellow actors including Simon Pegg, Naomie Harris, David Oyelowo discussed their reasons for attending and their thoughts on the future of their industry.
Brian Cox
”Streaming has really shifted the paradigm about how we watch television. People binge-watch on a regular basis. That serves us because they like our work and they watch our work. But we need also to have some kind of say. They’re trying to remove our best interest.”
[On the effects of the strike on studios] “They’re the producers - they’re already suffering. The whole paradigm has shifted considerably because it used to be all Hollywood-based. It isn’t anymore. I stay in New York and I haven’t worked in LA for years. It was as much work going on in LA, Atlanta, Toronto. Our whole paradigm is shifting - Hollywood is not the centre anymore.”
Hayley Atwell
“So many people are on their knees unable to make a living wage, not from a lack of effort, skill, talent or time, but because people are at the top - streamers, heads of studios - are exploiting the people that are creating the content for them. And so what they’re asking for is something very simple, that is to be compensated fairly for our time, so that we’re able to live and can continue to work and put out content for you”
“We can’t be replaced. Because audiences are going to want content; they’re going to want original material, they’re going to want to see human beings on screen delivering to them a reflection of their own human experience.”
Simon Pegg
“I’d say [to the AMPTP] please come back to the table, please be realistic, please have a little bit more socialism in your heart. And think about the people that make the money for you. There’s a reason these people are enjoying massive profits, there’s a reason why studio heads earning 300 times more than the lowest paid worker - because they’re making massive amounts of money. The fact that they don’t want to reveal their viewing figures - it’s because we’d see that they’re making an enormous amount of money, [which] needs to be redistributed a bit more fairly.”
David Oyelowo
“The gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening. And that’s a problem for all of us. If people are going to be literally starved out of the business, it’s going to become eroded.”
”When it comes to artificial intelligence, this is an existential crisis for performers. And that just needs regulating. It’s not a question of it shouldn’t exist, but it has to be regulated, or it’s going to be incredibly dangerous to the livelihoods of those who are actually making the stuff we’re watching.”
Naomie Harris
“I think so often when people think of the actor strike, they think: ’Well, why are actors striking? Why do we need to be concerned about, them because they earn so much money?’ But I just want to remind people that less than 2% of actors are able to make a living out of what they do.”
”Over 98% of actors in this industry are living paycheck to paycheck, and they’re having to supplement their income by doing other jobs. So we really need to support those actors and stand in solidarity with them and make sure that they are protected.”
Tobias Menzies
“It’s important to take the time to stand firm as unions together because that’s the only way that we can come to sustainable solutions. It can work for everyone so that everyone gets what they need, and it can make for a stronger industry because ultimately that’s what we all want. So it can be a really healthy, strong, successful industry that provides wages and work for many, many people for years to come.”
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