Mark Ruffalo is encouraging fellow actors and writers to work together to cut out Hollywood’s “fat cats” by making independent films and shows.
His comments follow the start of the actors’ strike that last week brought the entire industry to a halt.
George Clooney, Susan Sarandon, Jason Sudeikis, and thousands of other actors joined screenwriters for Hollywood’s biggest walkout in over six decades.
“How about we all jump into indies now?” tweeted Ruffalo over the weekend.
Tens of thousands of Hollywood actors have joined writers in taking industrial action because they want streaming giants to agree to a fairer split of profits and better working conditions.
The Screen Actors Guild also wants to protect actors from being usurped by digital replicas.
On Sunday, the world premiere of Disney’s star-studded film Haunted Mansion became the first major Hollywood event to go ahead without its actors, which include Danny DeVito and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Avengers and Spotlight star Ruffalo went on to say that while actors and screenwriters have “made great content”, the business brains behind them had “created an empire of billionaires”, who are “laughing like fat cats” and “believe we are no longer of value”.
In a statement shared with the PA news agency, Clooney said: “This is an inflection point in our industry. Actors and writers in large numbers have lost their ability to make a living.
“For our industry to survive that has to change. For actors that journey starts now.”
Orange is the New Black star Kimiko Glenn posted on Instagram that she earned just $27.30 in a royalties statement for residual payments, for streaming of the hugely popular show.
Other big names like Halle Berry, Alec Baldwin, and Olivia Wilde have also expressed their support for the strike which will see actors picket US studios again on Monday.
Disney CEO Bob Iger, however, has called the action “very disruptive” and having arrived at the “worst time”, while also describing the expectations of the writers and actors as “just not realistic”.
The striking actors are joining writers who walked out in May, concerned about pay, working conditions, and the industry’s use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Brian Cox, the lead actor on HBO’s Succession, told the BBC the strike could last “until the end of the year”.
Source- BBC
