Known shady entity Hollywood is now, ironically enough, living in unprecedentedly dark times; with writers and actors striking together for the first time in 60 years, we’re likely going to be seeing a marked stagnation in film and television before long unless the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers can somehow manage to attach itself to reality and pay the most important people in this industry what they’re owed.
Of course, there are some folks out there who will be quicker to blame the writers and actors before Hollywood itself, and if these same people truly love movies and fear the thought of what might happen to them if this continues, then the knee-jerk emotional reaction is going to be aimed towards the people who are choosing not to work.
Though it may be an understandable reaction, it doesn’t make it right, and if Christopher Nolan – who I’d bet my next paycheck loves movies more than any of those hypothetical complainants – can be as loudly pro-strike as he is, then there’s definitely no excuse.
At the United Kingdom premiere for his upcoming biographical epic Oppenheimer, Nolan took to the stage to announce that the cast of the film, which includes Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh, left the event in accordance with the Screen Actors Guild strike, further cementing his place as the high-profile pro-union powerhouse of a filmmaker that he is.
Twitter’s response, heart-warmingly enough, was one of unabashed respect.
I’ll say it again; if Christopher Nolan, known film lover and man who tends to rely on actors quite a bit for his work, can support the SAG-AFTRA strike without hesitation, then so can you.
Oppenheimer releases to theaters on July 21.
