SAG actors’ strike – latest: Mark Ruffalo condemns ‘billionaires’ in Hollywood who are ‘laughing like fat cats’

Devon Sawa has joined the throng of actors sharing horror stories from the industry amid the SAG-AFTRA union strike, which has ground Hollywood to a halt.

Final Destination star Sawa, 44, reportedly took to Twitter on Friday (14 July) to allege that he was never paid for his cameo in Final Destination 5 (2011).

Sawa’s character Alex Browning – the lead in the original 2000 Final Destination film – briefly makes an appearance in the franchise’s fifth instalment using footage from the first film.

‘Final Destination’ lead also claimed he wasn’t told he was in the movie despite being invited to the premiere

Among the stars seen holding banners have been Thelma & Louise actor Susan Sarandon and Jason Sudeikis, star and creator of comedy Ted Lasso.

Allison Janney, Timothy Olyphant, Josh Gad, Ben Schwartz, Sean Astin, Charlie Barnett, Joey King, Chloe Fineman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Patton Oswalt, Marg Helgenberger, Jake McDorman, Constance Zimmer and Michelle Hurd have also all been spotted showing solidarity in LA and New York.

Parks and Recreation co-creator Mike Schur told Deadline: “Now a thousand very attractive people have shown up and joined the lines, it’s an enormous amount of wind in our sails.”

Orange Is the New Black star Kimiko Glenn has opened up about how little the cast was paid amid the Hollywood actors’ strike over poor working conditions.

The 34-year-old joined Netflix’s groundbreaking drama in its second season as inmate Brook Soso, who is thrown into prison for illegal activism.

After appearing in 44 episodes of its nine-season run, Glenn claimed she only made $27.30 (£20) in 2020 from streaming residuals

Kimiko Glenn, who starred as Brook Soso on Netflix’s groundbreaking series, said, ‘We couldn’t afford cabs to set’

Former Paramount and 20th Century Fox CEO Barry Diller warned that the industry could face an “absolute collapse” if the Writers’ and Screen Actors Guild joint strike extends into the fall.

“What will happen is, if in fact, it doesn’t get settled until Christmas or so, then next year, there’s not going to be many programs for anybody to watch. So, you’re gonna see subscriptions get pulled, which is going to reduce the revenue of all these movie companies, television companies, the result of which is that there will be no programs,” Diller said on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday (16 July).

“And at just the time, [the] strike is settled that you want to get back up, there won’t be enough money.”

Diller said he believes a settlement deadline of 1 September should be agreed upon by everybody to prevent “devastating” effects on the entertainment industry.

“I think there should be a settlement deadline because… this actually will have devastating effects if it is not settled soon,” he said “This is a huge business, both domestically and for world exporters.”

Diller added: “It sounds like I’m crying to the skies but these conditions will potentially produce an absolute collapse of an entire industry.”

At a special screening of his film Oppenheimer, director Christopher Nolan compared the rapid development of AI technology (a key issue in the labour dispute) with the events in his movie about the creation of the atomic bomb.

One of the reasons actors are striking is because of fears around AI replacing them and using their likenesses in perpetuity.

“The rise of companies in the last 15 years bandying words like algorithm – not knowing what they mean in any kind of meaningful, mathematical sense – these guys don’t know what an algorithm is,” Nolan said. “People in my business talking about it, they just don’t want to take responsibility for whatever that algorithm does.

“Applied to AI, that’s a terrifying possibility. Terrifying. Not least because, AI systems will go into defensive infrastructure ultimately. They’ll be in charge of nuclear weapons. To say that that is a separate entity from the person wielding, programming, putting that AI to use, then we’re doomed. It has to be about accountability. We have to hold people accountable for what they do with the tools that they have.”

He added: “With the labour disputes going on in Hollywood right now, a lot of it – when we talk about AI, when we talk about these issues – they’re all ultimately born from the same thing, which is when you innovate with technology, you have to maintain accountability.”

When big names walked out of the ‘Oppenheimer’ premiere this week, it signalled the start of historic industrial action in Hollywood. The persistent assumption that acting pays is finally beginning to look less viable, writes Claire Allfree

While the demand for fair wages and higher streaming residuals remain at the forefront of the actors’ and writers’ strike, protections against artificial intelligence (AI) are also among the chief demands. But what exactly are they worried about?

Concerns emerge over AI proposal that could allow studios to use scans of actors in perpetuity

The writer’s strike had already kneecapped the entertainment industry, taking late night talk shows off air and making awards shows virtual or unscripted.

With the added weight of tens of thousands of actors, Hollywood is effectively in limbo until an agreement with production companies can be reached.

SAG-AFTRA announcement means both actors and screenwriters are on strike simultaneously for the first time since 1960