Hollywood strike: Hollywood will grind to a complete halt as actors and writers both walk out – it could last for months
Writers have been treading the pavements with picket signs outside the Netflix building in Hollywood for two months now.
The midday sun is punishing but they stride on – some wearing headphones, others chatting with friends.
Every couple of minutes, a passing motorist beeps their horn in support.
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What’s behind Hollywood actors’ strike?
A huge cheer erupts as they hear news that the actors will soon be joining them on the picket line.
They know a walkout of 98,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, makes their strike action even more impactful.
In total, an estimated 160,000 actors and performers are expected to take part.
Production had been limping along in a small number of shows and films which were already written.
This dual strike, the first for 63 years, means the entertainment industry will grind to a complete halt almost immediately.
Without writers and actors, very little can be achieved.
“We didn’t want it to come to this,” Michele Mulroney, the Writers Guild of America vice president, tells me, “We would rather be practising the craft we love of writing and acting. But unfortunately the studios have been unwilling to seriously consider the existential needs of our two memberships. The Screen Actors Guild has been standing with the Writers Guild since day one, and we will now stand with them.”
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Why are US actors striking?
SAG-AFTRA said the industrial action – which is being held amid anger over pay, conditions and concerns over the use of artificial intelligence (AI) – begins on Friday morning.
The union also warned no date for its end has been set.
As the strike was announced, stars including Matt Damon walked out of the London premiere of historical epic Oppenheimer to “write their picket signs”, the film’s director Christopher Nolan said.
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Matt Damon: ‘Actors need fair contracts’
The last time a dual strike happened Marilyn Monroe was staring in films. It is a watershed moment for the industry and it heaps pressure on the production studios and streaming giants to try and find a solution.
One of the main sticking points in negotiations were residual payments, a form of royalties, which actors say are inadequate, especially since the streamers became the dominant force in the industry.
“We’re being squeezed and squeezed and squeezed,” one picketer told me.
Another fear is the rise of artificial intelligence and the concern that an actor’s digital likeness could be used without their knowledge.
“AI just doesn’t belong in Hollywood, especially not in a writer’s room,” actor Jeante Godlock says. “All the TV shows that we watch, that we love, those one liners, they came from humans, and they came from human trauma, honestly. All the pain, the joy. It’s what we love to watch.”
The strike also means the red carpet events, the press junkets and the film premieres will stop – almost overnight. If it continues for weeks or even months, as many here think it will, the impact on the local economy could amount to billions of dollars.
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Margot Robbie would join actor strike
I ask John Patrick Daley, an actor, how long he’s willing to be on strike. “As long as it takes, I’m an actor,” he says, “You chose the wrong group to mess with in terms of not being employed because we are good at this.”
It is clear from the rhetoric that both sides remain very far apart on key issues. Hollywood is still recovering from the pandemic and an economic crisis. It is an uncomfortable time for workers and for the studio. It will now be a case of who blinks first.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.
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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.
The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.
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