Alan Ruck and Justine Lupe are seen with members of SAG-AFTRA on the picket line on Day 6 in support of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike at Warner Bros. on July 18, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
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Stars on Strike: See Actors on SAG-AFTRA and WGA Pickets (Photo Gallery)

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The Writers Guild of America strike has been going on since May, but in July, SAG-AFTRA joined the chorus of Hollywood dissenters fed up with antiquated contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Hollywood is now officially on strike, with production on nearly every AMPTP-associated film and television project with SAG-AFTRA talent at a standstill – and actors are now picketing in unity to voice their concerns about residuals, the threat of AI, and harsh working conditions from lunch breaks to long work hours.

Now that SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP have failed to agree on a new minimum bargaining agreement after SAG-AFTRA’s contracts expired on July 12, even after an initial extension, the plaintiffs have received total stop-work orders. This means no participation in productions or promotion of one’s SAG-AFTRA Certified work, past or present, and this includes press tours, red carpets and festival appearances. (Learn more about what actors can and can’t do right now here.)

“This is a very important hour for us. I came in seriously thinking we would be able to avoid a strike,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a rousing speech announcing the strike on July 13. “The gravity of this move was not lost on me or our negotiating committee, or our board members, who voted unanimously to go ahead with a strike. It’s a very serious thing that impacts thousands if not millions of people across the country and around the world.”

IndieWire has been reporting on the strikes since day one, with actors, writers, filmmakers, and creative talent from above and below the line voicing Hollywood’s greed and expressing dismay at the AMPTP’s refusal to move on key issues they’re arguing about.

Movies are pulled from release calendars and festivals as studios scramble to open their films with no talent on hand to promote them, which is especially dire for Hollywood’s top brass as we head into film awards season and with the Emmys close on Sept. 18.

Below, see a roundup of photos of actors who were seen on the pickets this month.