Succession star Brian Cox says Hollywood strike could last until end of 2023 and actors may have to ‘go to the brink’
Succession star Brian Cox has told Sky News the Hollywood actors’ strike could get “very unpleasant” and may not be resolved until the end of the year.
The industry looks set to effectively shut down after actors decided to join an existing walkout by writers.
It means many hit TV shows and movies will have to stop production, while actors will also stop promoting films they have already made.
Cox told Sky News: “It’s a situation that could get very, very unpleasant. It could go on for quite some time. They’ll take us to the brink and we’ll probably have to go to the brink.
“So it may not be solved… until towards the end of the year.”
The strike is over pay, conditions and concerns over the use of artificial intelligence (AI) – something Cox compared to the “boogeyman”.
Cox, 77, familiar to millions for his role as media mogul Logan Roy, said the technology could lead to a fall in standards.
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Margot Robbie says she would join actors’ strike
He said the strike was mainly in support of Hollywood writers because without them “we have nothing… That’s why we have shows like White Lotus, like Succession…”
Scriptwriters have been striking for the last few months, seeking concessions such as higher minimum pay.
The Screen Actors’ Guild decision to join them means it’s the first time in 63 years both have walked out at the same time.
An estimated 160,000 performers – many of them low-level jobbing actors – are expected to take part – with no end date set.
Cox said one of the main reasons actors are striking is over the residual payments they receive when shows and films are repeated.
Read more:
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It is a particular concern given the growth of streaming services, which pay less for residuals than broadcast TV, and where many shows are constantly available for repeat viewing.
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Matt Damon and Oppenheimer cast react to strikes
Cox said the system had been “failing rapidly” and these payments were vital for funding actors’ healthcare.
“If our residuals go down it means our health insurance isn’t going to be met,” said Cox.
He added: “In a way, the streaming services have shot themselves in the foot because they’ve said ‘oh, we’re going very well on this front’.
“And when we called them to task and said ‘what about our residuals, what about our money?’, everything kind of closes down and… you know, it’s not going to happen.”
Brian Cox played Logan Roy in Succession
With AI now able to convincingly imitate actors’ appearance and voice – a theme taken to the extreme in a recent Black Mirror episode – stars are concerned over unauthorised use of their likeness.
It is another of the reasons why they have decided to down tools.
Stars including Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves are among those who have been the subject of widely viewed ‘deepfakes’.
“One of the problems is we really don’t know enough about it,” Cox told Sky News.
“We don’t know the extent to which it [AI] can operate. It’s the boogeyman, it really is the boogeyman.”
Cox added that it would be “unacceptable” if streaming services used AI to generate whole shows, saying “there would never be an original voice” and “the standard immediately drops”.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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