Before the official announcement that theSAG-AFTRA would be instigating strike actionamong its actors arrived, the cast of Christopher Nolan’sOppenheimerhad already made their stance clear by leaving the London premiere of the movie early. The premiere was moved forward slightly from its original time to allow the stars of the movie including Cillian Murphy,Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh to pose on the red carpet for photos and speak to the press ahead of the movie’s premiere, but Nolan was then left to walk out on stage without his entourage of stars.
Nolan spoke about his support for both the WGA and SAG strikes, and praised his actors for their work on the movie. He told the audience:
“I have to acknowledge the work of our incredible cast, led by Cillian Murphy… the list is enormous Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh… and so many more. And we have to acknowledge, you’ve seen them earlier on the red carpet. Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be imminent strike by SAG, joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of their union, and we are supporting them.”
Related:Oppenheimer’s First Reactions Anticipate Another Masterpiece from Christopher Nolan
Matt Damon Expressed His Views of The Impending Strike
While appearing on the red carpet before theOppenheimerpremiere, Matt Damon was asked about the impact the strike would have if it went ahead. Although he noted that it will cause some tough times for many, including his own company, he was in full support of the action that was at that point inevitable. As reported byDeadline, Damon said:
“Ben [Affleck] and I have just started our little independent studio and we are three and a half movies in, we’re shut down on one of them right now, we were just waiting for everything to resolve. It’s brutal for our sister unions and it’s going to be tough for 160,000 actors. Nobody wants a work stoppage but…If our leadership is saying that the deal isn’t fair then we gotta hold strong for working actors…It’s the difference between having healthcare & not for a lot of actors & we gotta do what’s right by them.”
With the strike now in place from midnight, moviemaking is about to come to a halt again for the second time in three years. While everyone is hoping that this shutdown does not last as long as the Covid shutdowns, everything relies on the right people making the right choices about how to break a deadlock that is putting Hollywood in turmoil once again.
