Simu Liu says that the actors’ strike is not for him and other celebrities but for those most disadvantaged by the system

The labor strike of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which began on July 14 of this year, has remained firm to defend the interests of approximately 160,000 professionals in the field of cinema. film and entertainment in the United States, against the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (TAMPTP). Among their demands are higher compensation, better residual rights, staffing requirements, protection against job interference from Artificial Intelligence, and more.

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Various well-known personalities from the Hollywood entertainment industry have joined the protests, including Mark Ruffalo, Fran Drescher, Tatiana Maslany, Bob Odenkirk and more. Others, such as Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh, have shown their support by joining the negotiations, giving visibility in digital media or absent from some premieres, as was the case with the cast of Oppenheimer – 95%

Simu Liu, actor of Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings – 95% (2021) and the recent blockbuster, Barbie – 88% have supported both the sit-ins and social networks, since the strike touches them in a very personal way. This was what he commented on August 2 to the magazine Deadlinemedium that published a short video of the actor, while he was in a plato outside the Amazon facilities.

I’m on strike because I’ve been there, you know? I’ve spent time as an extra, I’ve spent time in those kinds of jobs. You know, going through job after job endlessly not knowing when your next paycheck will come, not qualifying for health care, and that in itself is a very difficult place to be. And what the MPTP is suggesting is that the quality of life for these working class actors be further lowered. With new guidelines on Artificial Intelligence, guidelines on replication. Personally, I remember not only myself, but all the extras and actors I met and whose stability depended on their ability to work. It really hasn’t been that long for me and being privileged to be in this position today I believe there is a real responsibility to be in solidarity with each and every member of SAG-AFTRA.

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One of the actors’ union’s biggest concerns was the use of Artificial Intelligence in background actors. The big studios wanted to scan the faces of the extras, pay them for a day’s work and be able to use their image in perpetuity, without prior consent and without additional payment in future productions, which would further violate the precarious conditions in which a large number of them work. of actors.

It is these types of issues that have made simu liu show solidarity with the union strikes, which have not been an impediment for productions such as Barbie (2023), enjoy great success and position him as one of the most promising actors in Hollywood. Ken’s interpreter has shown in various interviews (such as one conducted by Now This) who stands in a firm understanding of the union’s vital position as an advocate for the rights and benefits of all those who work on set, not just actors. He has also commented (via Discussing Film), that the strike defends the most disadvantaged professionals in the media.

What people often don’t understand is that the average SAG actor is not the lead on a TV show and makes any amount of money a year (…) They really go from job to job and struggle and we have to make sure that that the conditions of the industry are such that they are not exploited.

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