Chicago Med trio Steven Weber, Kristen Hager and S. Epatha Merkerson are all standing in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA strike.
To use its full name, the Screen Actor Guilds – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists was originally calling for better pay and increased safeguarding around artificial intelligence rights, but its 160,000 members received an official greenlight to strike by the national board last week after Hollywood studios failed to meet these demands.
This is the first US-based actors’ walkout in over 40 years.
Posting an impassioned message on Instagram yesterday (July 16), Dean Archer actor Weber wrote next to a sarcastic quote: “I have acted alongside background artists (formerly referred to as “extras”) for the 40 years I have been fortunate enough to work as an actor (and been a background artist myself).
“It can be fun and engaging but it is mostly a challenging job requiring extreme patience and skill. Background artists are essential to television and film production. It is truly incomprehensible that “management” is putting every human element it can find in the crosshairs in order to maximise profit.
“It’s cruel, stupid and a bad business model, except if your business is a goddamn pyramid scheme. And guess what: this will not be confined to the entertainment industry,” he continued, before urging AI designers to use their creations for space exploration, a cure for cancer and dealing with pollution.
Meanwhile, over on their pages, Sharon Goodwin and Stevie Hammer duo Merkersen and Hager uploaded their own support for the strike.
Merkersen shared the SAG-AFTRA logo alongsides the SAG-AFTRA logo with ‘STRONG’ underneath, and Hager echoed these words with: “Day 1. Out here in the heat, bringing the heat! Babies and all. UNITED WE STAND. Let’s go @sagaftra #unionstrong #sagaftrasgrong,” next to a picture of a busy picket line.
