The big stars of Hollywood take to the streets to support the actors' strike in the United States

First strike by writers and actors since the 1960s

MADRID, 15 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

This Friday the strike declared by the United States Actors Union SAG-AFTRA began in solidarity with the Writers Union (WGA) and great Hollywood stars have been seen in the streets of the country.

From Paramount's offices in Times Square to Netflix's grounds on Sunset Boulevad, rallies have been seen across the nation, with crowds -- waving banners and chanting -- including famous actors like Susan Sarandon, Jason Sudeikis, Mandy Moore, Kendrick Sampson or Merritt Wever, according to the newspaper 'The Washington Post'.

Outside the Netflix office in Los Angeles, the pickets have been led by SAG president and actress of the series 'The Nanny', Fran Drescher, who has arrived with other union leaders.

Crowds upon seeing her have begun chanting: "That's our president," "SAG-AFTRA strong," and "The roster is gone," a reference to comments Drescher directed at the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). , the bargaining group representing the major studios.

Since the pickets at 888 Broadway in New York, the actress from movies like 'Thelma and Louise' or 'Death Penalty', Susan Sarandon, has told 'The Washington Post' that they "had no other option" than to strike . The AMPTP "isn't even addressing our main concerns," she added.

"There's definitely always been a feeling that if it's not resolved now, how are we going to resolve it in the future?" Sarandon told the BBC, adding that "if you don't have the foresight to put something in place for the future, then you're screwed." "It is clear that nothing is going to change from the top down, it will depend on us at the bottom," she has sentenced.

Also in New York it has been possible to see the star of the series 'Ted Lasso', Jason Sudeikis, who has spoken to CNN and has asked them to "listen" to the voices of the strikers who chanted slogans such as "Hey, hey, the corporate greed has to go" and "What do we want? Contracts. When do we want them? Now!". "That says it all", has sentenced the actor.

There have been other actors who, although they have not participated in the demonstrations, have wanted to show their solidarity with the strike, such as George Clooney. "This is a turning point in our industry," he denounced in a statement shared with CNN, in which he added that "large numbers of actors and writers have lost their ability to earn a living. For our industry to survive, that has to change. For actors, that journey begins now."

The main actor of the hit series 'Succession', Brian Cox, has also wanted to contribute his grain of sand, conducting an interview with the BBC in which he said that the strike could last "until the end of the year".

"The whole 'streaming' thing has changed the paradigm (...), they are trying to freeze us and bring us down, because there is a lot of money to be made from streaming and the desire is not to share it with writers or artists," he said. Cox.

The actors have joined the 11,000 members of the WGA, who left the sets at the beginning of May, and whose objective is an increase in wages and better working conditions by film studios and streaming platforms.

The previous actors' strike that the country has suffered was in 1980, a ten-week stoppage that resulted in estimated losses of 100 million dollars (about 90 million euros) for the industry.

However, the last time both writers and actors went on strike was in 1959, a walkout that lasted 21 weeks for writers, while actors walked off their jobs for five.

In that case, it was done because the actors were looking to receive residual payments from the television channels that broadcast films they had worked on and the producers, who were seeking greater profits from new media, refused to negotiate.

To carry out the negotiations, the union called the then actor Ronald Reagan, who at that time was a Democrat and had already served as president of the organization from 1947 to 1952, according to 'The Washington Post'.

After agreeing to return to the SAG chairmanship in 1959, he would preside over a five-week strike that resulted in actors earning residual payments. Hollywood writers also staged a strike, drawing their own payments for movies shown on TV.