Two months after movie and TV writers went on strike, Hollywood actors will be joining them on the picket lines.
Actors will go on strike after their union and the major studios failed to reach an agreement on a new film and TV contract, further deepening the disruption of scores of shows and movies.
At a press conference on Thursday, the actors' union announced the strike will begin at midnight after its national board voted unanimously to authorise the walkout.
A deadline to reach a new contract expired on Wednesday.
Multiple media outlets reported last month that over 300 actors had signed a letter addressed to SAG-AFTRA's leadership and negotiating committee, urging their representatives not to settle for a weak deal, saying "SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not."
The letter was signed by Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Neil Patrick Harris, Rami Malek, Quinta Brunson, Ben Stiller, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie, Neve Campbell, Brendan Fraser, and others according to Rolling Stone.
Hollywood has not faced simultaneous strikes since 1960 when members of the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild both walked off the job in a fight over residuals from films sold to TV networks.
As actors are set to walk out, here's what you need to know about the strike.
Why are actors going on strike?
Both SAG-AFTRA – Hollywood's largest union, representing 160,000 film and television actors – and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are demanding increases in base pay and residuals in the streaming TV era plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).
Fran Drescher, former star of The Nanny and the president of SAG-AFTRA, called the studios' responses to actors' concerns "insulting and disrespectful".
