Several Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul cast members joined the picket line on Tuesday as a show of solidarity with fellow striking actors and writers.
“We’re here in solidarity with all of us, with all of our brothers and sisters who are affected by this, and the WGA and SAG,”
Bryan Cranston addressed a crowd gathered outside Sony Pictures Studios.
“We are all the backbone of our business.”
The actor went on to add,
“We’re not making them [studios and streamers] the enemy, they’re not villains. These are people we all will be working with once again at some point. We just want them to see reality and fairness and come back to the table and talk to us.”
@THR tweeted a short clip where four of the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul stars can be seen together picketing outside the Sony Pictures Studio:
The #BreakingBad team @BryanCranston, @AaronPaul_8, @Betsy_Brandt, @PeterGould Jesse Plemons and more come together to picket outside the Sony lot for the #ActorsStrike and #WritersStrike pic.twitter.com/iggjIwmPTY
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 29, 2023
Cranston, who played Walter White on the sensational Sony series, told The Hollywood Reporter that all he wants is an “equitable contract” so that actors can earn a living while working in the industry.
“Something that makes the working actor able to pay their bills, pay their rent, buy food for their families,” he elaborated. “I mean, it’s really to that point. It’s a watershed moment.”
@BryanCranston explains to @THR in a short 1-minute clip about the struggles faced by artists and urges the AMPTP to open up for negotiations:
.@BryanCranston describes the daunting issues facing artists amidst the #ActorsStrike and #WritersStrike, and makes a plea to the AMPTP to negotiate pic.twitter.com/mBXVA0rc5c
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 29, 2023
While there are numerous critical problems for actors centered around the contract between SAG-AFTRA and studios and streamers, one of the prime negotiating points for Cranston is the employment of artificial intelligence in Hollywood.
“This contract will have a sentence in there that states, ‘Actors must be human beings.’ This is mind-boggling, but that’s what it will say, and the same thing with the Writers Guild contract: ‘Must be written by a human being,”
He remarked,
“We’ve never had to imagine that before but that’s here right now. It’s possible of happening right now and we have to step in and say, ‘You are dehumanizing the workforce and it cannot continue.”
Breaking Bad star @BryanCranston tells @THR how Hollywood is dehumanizing its workforce by unjustly employing AI in the industry:
"You are dehumanizing the workforce" – #BreakingBad star @BryanCranston shares his sincere concerns about studios using AI pic.twitter.com/xXvK52OAsl
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 29, 2023
Jesse Plemons, who played Todd on Breaking Bad, stated that, in addition to protections from AI, residuals were another important concern for him. “I started acting quite a while ago and that’s how people survive when they’re not working,” he further added.
Jesse Plemons, @BryanCranston and @Betsy_Brandt casually parodying Breaking Bad if it employed the use of AI:
Jesse Plemons, @BryanCranston and @Betsy_Brandt joke about what #BreakingBad would have been like if it was written by AI pic.twitter.com/nen8OL9I4C
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 29, 2023
After failing to negotiate an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, both the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA went on strike. The writers began taking to the pick lines in early May, followed by actors who joined them in July.
@THR shared a short clip where @BryanCranston and co-star @AaronPaul_8 are shown protesting outside the Sony Pictures parking lot along with other behind-the-scene crew members of the series:
.@BryanCranston tips his hat while picketing for the #ActorsStrike and #WritersStrike alongside his #BreakingBad co-star @AaronPaul_8 outside the Sony lot pic.twitter.com/5xErlydmLj
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 29, 2023
As the ongoing strike persists, SAG-AFTRA Takes Bold Stand by facilitating independent projects as long as compliance with the guild’s demands are met.
