Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan has said he will not work on another film until the ongoing Hollywood strikes have been resolved.
Thousands of members of the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) union have joined writers in taking industrial action over pay, conditions, and the implications of AI technology.
The strike action was announced ahead of the premiere of Oppenheimer, which meant that its stars - including Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt - took part in some promotional stuff, but walked out before the movie was shown.
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Murphy, who plays the titular character, was tight-lipped, telling the reporters: “I stand by my colleagues that’s all I can say to you really, thank you.”
While his co-star Pugh was a bit more forthcoming, explaining: “It’s been a really really tense few days for a lot of people, not just for actors but for everybody in the industry who is going to be affected by this decision but affected by a decision that is necessary.
She continued: “Equally, premieres aren’t just for us.
"They are to honour a movie, to honour the crew that made them, so we feel lucky that we got to squeeze this in and also lucky that we get to stand by our peers in the decision that is made, and we hope that something comes of it soon.”
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Now, Nolan, the movie’s critically acclaimed director, has shared his thoughts on the strikes and his decision not to work while they’re ongoing.
When asked if he’d be penning any scripts during the strike, he told the BBC: "No, absolutely not.. It's very important that everybody understands it is a very key moment in the relationship between working people and Hollywood.
"This is not about me, this is not about the stars of my film. This is about jobbing actors, this is about staff writers on television programmes trying to raise a family, trying to keep food on the table."
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Speaking after the stars left the London premier early, Nolan said: “You’ve seen them here earlier on the red carpet.
“Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of the unions, and we support them.”
Featured Image Credit: Alan Chapman/Samir Hussein/Dave Benett/WireImage/GettyTopics: Celebrity, Cillian Murphy, TV and Film, Christopher Nolan