Several American film and television stars, including Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, took to the microphone on Tuesday to defend striking Hollywood actors at a rally in New York’s iconic Times Square. “We will not accept that our jobs are eliminated and entrusted to robots”, launched Bryan Cranston by evoking his fears in the face of artificial intelligence in front of a dense crowd of strikers and supporters gathered on this place in the heart of the district of the Broadway theaters.
Sporting a flocked SAG-AFTRA Actors Union T-shirt with a raised fist, he delivered a message to Disney boss Bob Iger, a target of the movement: “We won’t accept you taking away our right to work and earn a decent living. Finally, and above all, we will not let you take our dignity, ”concluded the man who embodies the character of Walter White in Breaking Bad, the series that marked the history of television shows. In the middle of the giant screens of Time Square – so often the support of promotions for new productions on streaming platforms – F. Murray Abraham, known for his roles in Amadeus (Oscar for best actor in 1984) or the series Homeland and The White Lotus, for its part, took the defense of trade unionism, “good for America.”
Other stars were present, such as Christine Baranski, Chloë Grace Moretz, Steve Buscemi, Brendan Fraser, Christian Slater, or Jessica Chastain, who was indignant, on July 18 on Twitter renamed X, that “87% of union members SAG-AFTRA earn less than $26,000 a year” and are not eligible for health insurance. “Where the fuck is my money!” said Liza Colon-Zayas, known for her role in The Bear. Last week, Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis also appeared on the picket line.
The actors have joined the screenwriters already on strike since July 14, after the failure of negotiations with the studios on their salaries and guarantees against artificial intelligence. According to them, it threatens their future, in particular generative AI, which makes it possible to easily create very realistic synthetic voices and images. This double social movement has been unheard of for more than 60 years in Hollywood. The guidelines of SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors, stunt performers, dancers and other professionals on the small and big screen, prohibit all members from filming, but also from promoting their productions, in person or on social networks, seriously disrupting Hollywood .
