Oppenheimer cast walk out: Why are Hollywood actors on strike?

The cast of Oppenheimer walked out of the film's London premiere after the Hollywood actors union called a strike. Image: Getty | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Actors are the latest to join film and television writers on strike, in an effort to improve working conditions for those in Hollywood.

More than 160,000 actors unanimously voted to take action – including the cast of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer – with studios now facing their first dual work stoppage in more than 60 years.

Production on film and television sets across the world will halt, no matter how far along the project is, adding to the economic damage from the writer's walkout.

The Hollywood shutdown also means that fans eagerly anticipating films such as the new Deadpool will have to wait longer before they are released.

However, important industry figures such as Disney chief executive Bob Iger have pushed back against the strikes. He said that those on the picket line have “unrealistic” expectations, and that the strike is “very disturbing”.

But if you’re wondering why all of this is happening, we can explain.

Why are Hollywood actors on strike?

As with the Writers’ Strike, which kicked off in May, actors are demanding an increase in base pay and residuals in the streaming TV era, plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).

While some of this may be unrelatable to those of us sitting at home, actor Matt Damon has said that “actors need fair contracts”.

He said: “We’ve got to protect the people who are on the margins. Twenty-six thousand bucks (£19.8k) a year is what you have to make to get your health insurance.

“And there are a lot of people [whose] residual payments are what carry them across that threshold, and if those residual payments dry up, then so does their healthcare and that’s absolutely unacceptable. We can’t have that, so we’ve got to figure out something that is fair.”

The strike action was authorised by Sag-Aftra, the Hollywood union representing 160,000 television and movie actors, on Thursday July 13 after negotiations with studios failed.

The other aspect of the Hollywood strikes is the potential impact of AI.

Sag-Aftra wants to protect actors from being usurped by digital replicas and is seeking guarantees that AI and computer-generated faces and voices won’t replace traditional stars.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade association that negotiates on behalf of Netflix, Walt Disney and other companies, said it put forward "a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors' digital likenesses”.

The SAG-AFTRA union has confirmed that Hollywood actors will be stepping off sets on strikes after a breakdown in negotiations with studios. (Credit: AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

However, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director and chief negotiator of Sag-Aftra, disputed this claim.

He said: "They propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day's pay, and their company should own that scan of their image, their likeness, and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity.

"If you think that's a ground-breaking proposal, I suggest you think again."

What does the Hollywood strike mean for film and TV?

Even if production has wrapped and a film is all set for release as part of the industrial action, actors will not be able to promote their new and upcoming releases.

This is why the cast of Oppenheimer walked the UK premiere’s red carpet – and then left.

Stars including Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh and Robert Downey Jr all walked out of the event early due to the strike.

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

The movie’s director Christopher Nolan told the audience before the screening that "unfortunately they've left to write their picket signs".

During the London premiere for the Barbie movie, lead actress Margot Robbie said she would “absolutely stand by” a strike. This is a trend we’re likely to see continue.

If actors are unable to promote their releases, events such as award shows or Comic-Con may also be disrupted by the action.

Which movies and TV shows are impacted by the Hollywood strike?

Movies set to be released later this year, including Disney's Haunted Mansion and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, may not hold press events or premieres as a result of the strikes.

And due to the action the filming schedules and release dates for blockbusters which are in production – such as Avatar 3 and 4, Wicked, Beetlejuice 2 and Gladiator 2 – could now all be up in the air.

Upcoming Avatar films could be impacted by Hollywood strikes.

It will be an even longer wait for those eagerly anticipating the next season of their favourite TV show. Expect delays to Stranger Things, Andor, The Last of Us, Euphoria and potentially even House of the Dragon, which missed being hit by the writers’ strike from earlier this year.

What happens next?

The last time both writers and actors went on strike together was in 1960, when actors stopped working for six weeks and writers’ for 21 weeks.

Variety have speculated that the 2023 Hollywood strikes could be even lengthier due to the demands from unions.