“Better call Bob!” the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists declares as Better Call Saul and Emmy Award winner Bob Odenkirk joins the picket line alongside fellow actors for the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike. The official Twitter account for SAG-AFTRA shared a clip of Odenkirk to social media, with the actor saying, “we have to do this now, and we have to do this right so that we don’t have to do this for another 20 years. Let’s do it right.”
Odenkirk is far from the only big name to join the picket line and strike for fair pay and fair treatment for actors and performers, with the cast of Amazon’s hit superhero series The Boys, The X-Files star David Duchovny (holding a sign saying “the residuals are out there”), California Congressman Adam Schiff, and celebrated actor Kevin Bacon also showing their support.
The SAG-AFTRA strike began on 14 July, with the union taking action after negotiations between them and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers due to issues surrounding streaming and the potential use of artificial intelligence.
Actors and performers joining the picket line comes following reactions from the likes of Matt Damon, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the White House. Ongoing support has come from many names across the industry, with director Christopher Nolan saying that he will not work on any projects until the strike has come to an end.
RELATED: The Actors’ Strike: Explained
The SAG-AFTRA Strike Began Last Week
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The SAG-AFTRA strike is now underway, with the strike marking the first time that actors have initiated a labor dispute in Hollywood since 1980. The strike also marks the first time that both actors and writers have walked out at the same time for more than 60 years.
“It came with great sadness that we came to this crossroads, but we had no choice. We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity,” SAG–AFTRA president Fran Drescher said during the announcement that a strike will take place. “I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history.”
One of the major sticking points is the possible use of AI, with the SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland revealing that studios had proposed “that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation.” Something that Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise was brought in to fight against.
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