Oppenheimer cast walks out of UK premiere in support of actors’ strike: ‘They’re off to write their picket signs’-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro

The Oppenheimer cast left their premiere early (Picture: PA)

The cast of Oppenheimer has walked out of their UK premiere in solidarity with the actors’ strike.

Florence Pugh, Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, and more all star in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming war/drama movie.

And rather than hang around at their London celebrations ahead of the film’s release next week, they chose to leave prematurely to show support for the actors’ union Sag-Aftra.

‘You’ve seen them here earlier on the red carpet,’ Nolan announced to the cinema’s audience.

‘Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by Sag, joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of the unions, and we support them.’

The cast were all in high spirits ahead of their exit, chatting to fans on the red carpet, getting stuck into interviews, and posing for photos.

Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, and Florence Pugh all showed their support for ‘working actors’ (Picture: AFP)

Actor Damon expressed his support for the actors’ strike in an interview with Variety.

‘We talked about it,’ Damon said on tonight’s carpet.

‘Look, if it’s called now, everyone’s going to walk obviously in solidarity.

‘Once the strike is officially called, [we’re walking].

‘That’s why we moved this [red carpet] up because we know the second it’s called, we’re going home.’

He added that the strike is about supporting ‘working actors’ as many struggle to qualify for health coverage, which is $26,000 (£19.8k).

The strike was officially called today (Picture: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

‘A lot of people are on the margins and residual payments are getting them across that threshold. This isn’t an academic exercise. This is real life and death stuff,’ he stressed.

‘Hopefully we get to a resolution quickly. No one wants a work stoppage, but we’ve got to get a fair deal.’

The historic dual strike – the first of its kind since the 1960s – was recommended after talks between the US actors union and Hollywood’s collective were unsuccessful.

Following 12 days of turbulent negotiations, an agreement on a new contract has not been reached, triggering a strike vote by the Sag-Aftra National Board on Thursday morning (July 13).

The union directed all its members to immediately stop working on all scripted film and TV around the world.

This has a domino effect on countless TV shows and films, with actors and crew members having to down tools and either stop production or promotional activities.

Consequently, the likes of Doctor Who, Emily in Paris, House of the Dragon, The White Lotus, and more huge 2023/2024 projects are likely to be impacted.

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