Los Angeles, July 14 – With the news that SAG-AFTRA will now go on strike, members of the acting guild have taken to social media to express their support for the union and to commit to the fight, reports ‘Variety’.
SAG-AFTRA — Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — are joining the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in striking for fair compensation, making it a “double strike”, which hasn’t happened since 1960. The WGA struck work on May 2.
Jamie Lee Curtis took to Instagram and championed the strike by posting a photo of the comedy and tragedy masks, ‘Variety’ adds. “It looks like it’s time to take down the MASKS. And pick up the SIGNS,” she wrote in the caption.
Curtis was awarded the supporting actress prize for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” at the SAG Awards earlier this year. She has Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” set for release in August, but she will not be allowed to promote the film during the strike.
‘Better Call Saul’ actor Bob Odenkirk tweeted with a quote from SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher: “Holy Cow. Go Fran Go! This was a powerful statement. I stand with Fran and everyone in SAG and WGA in this extended moment … onwards.”
Odenkirk’s response followed Drescher’s “How they plead poverty that they are losing money left and right when they give $100 millions to their CEOs.” She continued, “If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines.”
Cynthia Nixon, ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘And Just Like That’ actress, also sent out messages of solidarity, ‘Variety’ notes. She wrote: “The @sagaftra strike has at last arrived. I am proud to be standing tall with the @WGAWest and @WGAEast as actors and writers together demand a fair share of the record-breaking profits the studios have been reaping from our labor for far too long. We will win this!”
In solidarity with the union, Emmy nominee and SAG-AFTRA member Kumail Nanjiani tweeted a photo of the official SAG-AFTRA logo accompanied by the copy ‘ON STRIKE!’
Comedian and ‘Bros’ actor Guy Branum also wrote about how he will now be double striking, tweeting, “Now that I am also striking as an actor, all my picketing movements will have purpose and my strike character will have a secret.”