What Oppenheimer Cast Said About Hollywood Strike Before Walking Out Of Premiere
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"We talked about it. Look, if it's called now, everyone's going to walk obviously in solidarity," Matt Damon said on the red carpet
In solidarity with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the stars of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer (Robert Downey Jr, Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon) walked out of the film's London premiere. Hollywood went on a strike after film and movie studios failed to acknowledge the demands for better pay and more protection against artificial intelligence in the industry. Earlier on the red carpet, Matt Damon had told Variety, "We talked about it. Look, if it's called now, everyone's going to walk obviously in solidarity... Once the strike is officially called. That's why we moved this (red carpet) up because we know the second it's called, we're going home."
Matt Damon extending his support to the SAG-AFTRA, added that "we've got to get a fair deal." "We gave the strike authorization. We voted 98% to 2% to do that because we know our leadership has our best interest at heart It's really about working actors. It's $26,000 to qualify for health coverage and a lot of people are on the margins and residual payments are getting them across that threshold. This isn't an academic exercise. This is real life and death stuff. Hopefully we get to a resolution quickly. No one wants a work stoppage, but we've got to get a fair deal." Variety quoted the actor as saying.
Meanwhile, Matt Damon's Oppenheimer co-star Emily Blunt told Variety: "Obviously we stand with all of the actors and at whatever point it's called, we're going to be going home and standing together through it because I want everyone to get a fair deal." When asked if she will be joining the picket line herself, The Devil Wears Prada actor added, "Oh, I think so."
