Will Smith Addresses SAG-AFTRA Strike, Calls It A 'Pivotal' Moment For Actors

Will Smith has described the Hollywood actors and writers’ strikes as a “pivotal moment” in the industry.In an Instagram post on Friday (July 28), Smith expressed his support for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) strikes.“I wanna talk for a second about ACTING,” Smith wrote. “As some of yall mighta heard, my guild, @SAGAFTRA are on strike along with our writer colleagues in the WGA.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher again took aim at the heads of the film and television conglomerates, calling them “greed-driven and disrespectful” and their corporate culture “maniacal” in remarks Tuesday at a rally outside New York City Hall. 

Will Smith is speaking out in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike. The 54-year-old actor took to Instagram on Friday to call the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes “a pivotal moment for our profession.”

Will Smith is speaking out in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike. The 54-year-old actor took to Instagram on Friday to call the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes «a pivotal moment for our profession.»«I wanna talk for a second about ACTING.

Jaden Thompson Will Smith has taken to Instagram and Twitter to support the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. A member of SAG-AFTRA, Smith wrote about the importance of this moment for both guilds. “I wanna talk for a second about ACTING,” Smith wrote.

Will Smith put a high-profile spotlight today on his fellow actors and scribes out on strike.

Mike Massa, a veteran Hollywood stuntman who’s credits include “Star Trek”, “The Italian Job” and doubling for Harrison Ford in the last two “Indiana Jones” movie, made a big impression during an Atlanta protest in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Professional stunt coordinator Mike Massa joined the picket lines in a huge way when he set himself on fire during the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Prince Royal, an actor in Los Angeles, was working as an extra on “The Flash” when he was directed to a tractor trailer to “take pictures.” Inside were hundreds of cameras. He stood with his arms up as the operators took a 3-D scan, which he was told would be used for continuity and special effects. “We were told if we didn’t do it, we’d be sent home without pay,” he said.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Toronto Film Festival is at a critical moment after three difficult years following the COVID-19 pandemic, but “the festival will take place,” says Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF. TIFF has typically been a star-studded affair and staple of awards season. However, what the red carpets at the gala premieres and tribute ceremonies that have gone to significant A-listers like Kate Winslet will ultimately look like, remains unknown. The longtime festival director doubled down on moving forward with this year’s festival, whether the big stars are in attendance or not. This comes amid ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that have halted the Hollywood industry, putting the remaining months of movies and TV shows into unknown territory.

Succession star Brian Cox has said the actors strike will “affect British Equity far worse than it will probably affect SAG-AFTRA.”

“Thanks to the SAG strike, I’m the most famous person here,” joked Kevin Smith at a San Diego Comic-Con panel for Netflix/Mattel’s Masters of the Universe: Revolution.

Ted Sarandos is speaking out about the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood.

The Haunted Mansion world premiere at Disneyland was the first major movie premiere affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike. None of the on-screen talent was at the event but director Justin Simien did address the elephant in the room.

Addie Morfoot Contributor As the SAG-AFTRA strike gets underway, documentary filmmakers are still at work. But despite the fact that the dual strike by actors and their writer counterparts in the WGA could lead to gaps in narrative content for broadcast networks and streaming companies, the doc industry isn’t holding out much hope that studios will start flooding money into documentaries. “There’s a feeling of solidarity and support for SAG and for the WGA,” says Bryn Mooser, founder of nonfiction film and television studio XTR. “The struggle they are facing is a struggle that doc filmmakers have also faced since the beginning of the industry on the documentary side, which is fair pay and making sure we are represented in the right way, et cetera. But if anybody thought that this would mean that (studios) will just shift resources to a different part of the industry like docs while this gets figured out, that’s not happening.”

Fran Drescher is opening up about the SAG-AFTRA strike and how long it might go on.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the SAG-AFTRA strike a “historic inflection point” that will have an impact on the overall economy, while suggesting that she would be working on a resolution.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Universal Pictures has canceled the upcoming red carpet at the U.S premiere of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. The movie will still be screened, however. The premiere is set to take place on Monday, July 17 at 7pm ET in New York City at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square theater. SAG-AFTRA called a union strike on July 13, with the first day of picketing beginning July 14. “In support of the ongoing SAG strike, the filmmakers of ‘Oppenheimer’ will not be proceeding with the NY premiere as originally planned, and will instead screen the movie to celebrate the crew and craftspeople who contributed to making this landmark film,” a statement from Universal Pictures read.

Actors’ Equity president Kate Shindle is urging stage actors to “proactively and aggressively avoid breaking” the SAG-AFTRA strike by inadvertently accepting struck work.

With the much expected SAG-AFTRA strike announced Thursday, fall film festivals are in wait-and-see mode as to whether it’s a season sans stars.