At a SAG-AFTRA rally in New York City called Rock the City for a Fair Contract, Breaking Bad Emmy winner Bryan Cranston let it rip at the studios against which actors and writers are striking.
According to Variety, Oscar winners Brendan Fraser and Jessica Chastain also took to the stage at the event on Tuesday, July 25, as did BD Wong, Chloë Grace Moretz, Succession‘s Corey Stoll and Emmy/Tony winner Christine Baranski, among others.
According to the trade, Cranston said there was one thing that performers and The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) agree on: “Our industry has changed exponentially.”
“We are not in the same business model we were even 10 years ago. And yet…they are fighting us tooth and nail to stick to the same economic system that is outmoded, outdated!” Cranston said.
“They want us to step back in time. We cannot and we will not do that,” he added.
Cranston specifically called out Disney CEO Bob Iger, whose comments that striking writers and actors were not “realistic” came just as SAG-AFTRA voted to strike. “…[T]hey are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive,” Iger also said.
Cranston countered, “We’ve got a message for Mr. Iger….We don’t expect you to understand who we are. But we ask you to hear us, and…listen to us when we tell you we will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots.”
He added in part, “We will not have you take away our right to work and earn a decent living. And lastly…we will not allow you to take away our dignity!”
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