Marvel Studios Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu recently hit the picket lines outside Amazon, where Deadline Hollywood asked the MCU star about his thoughts on the ongoing strike.
Recently, more and more actors have emerged to voice their displeasure with the strike or proclaim that they view themselves as a neutral party, however, don't count Liu among their number.
"I'm striking because I've been there. I've spent time as a background actor. I've spent time in that gig economy- the endless gig to gig, not knowing when your next paycheck is going to come [and] not qualifying for healthcare. It's a really rough spot to be in."
"What the AMPTP is suggesting is that the livelihood of these working-class actors is lowered even more with new guidelines around artificial intelligence and new guidelines around replication. I remember, not just myself, but all the background actors and performers that I knew, whose livelihood depended upon the ability to go in to work [those days] really haven't been that long [ago] for me."
"To be in this privileged position now, I think there's a real responsibility to stand in solidarity with each and every member of SAG."
Elsewhere, the AMPTP and WGA recently met on Friday in an effort to end the writer's strike which is rapidly approaching 100 days. Not much headway was made on the negotiation front, as the WGA and AMPTP appear to be deadlocked on the issue of "minimum staffing levels in episodic TV and a guaranteed minimum number of weeks of employment," per Variety.
The WGA also broached the subject of extending health care benefits to striking writers, who may fail to meet the minimum earnings threshold to qualify as a result of the strike. Under the current agreement, 50% of guild member health benefits are paid by the WGA, while the studios within the AMPTP finance the other 50%.
Variety also reported that WGA representatives indicated that even if a deal is reached with the AMPTP, they will likely remain on strike until a deal is also reached with SAG-AFTRA. As you can guess, this did not go over well with the AMPTP.
The lone positive takeaway is that both sides agreed that they expect to meet again in the coming week, as opposed to the 90+ days that elapsed before yesterday's meeting.