Adil Hussain supports Hollywood actors’ strike: It has delayed my work, but it is a legitimate cause

As a member of SAG-AFTRA, Adil Hussain is standing in solidarity with the ongoing SAG AFTRA strike, expressing concern around the growing use of AI and demanding fair earnings distribution. The actor reveals the strike has pushed some of his shoots, but he is not fretting about it.

“I stand in solidarity with the people sitting on strike. I am supporting them for the simple reason — I believe in the reasons they are standing up for,” Hussain tells us.

Hussain’s work plans in the West did go for a toss after the strike, but he is looking at the bigger picture.

“It has delayed some work, people are hoping the work will happen during the winter season. It gives me breathing space and I can spend time at home with my family. But it is not the case for everybody, especially for people in dire need of money. They will suffer. But what can we do? It is happening because nobody is listening to the demands. I hope it gets resolved soon,” he shares.

Hollywood is in shutdown mode with a host of big names taking to the picket line to ‘walk in solidarity’ with fellow actors and writers in support of the strike. Earlier this month, actors joined writers who have been on strike since May 2 when their union authorised the strike amid concerns over the use of artificial intelligence, and streaming residuals. It is the largest industry strike in the West in the last 60 years.

Talking about the reasons, he says, “The writers don’t get a lot of things which the actors get. In India, we get a one time fee, apart from a few stars who are producers and get profit sharing. Others charge a certain amount of money after that even if the film makes a huge amount you are not part of that. Even though you also contributed in the process of making money for the producer. Like, in the West the contract is executed through SAG executive, because of which we get residue. For example, I acted in Star Trek, and we get residuals every two or three months. The writers also want that”.

“The writers are the foundation of a project and I completely support that. Also, now, actors have to join in because the big studios don’t want to commit to the fact that they will not use AI for the likeness of the actors. Like if Adil is not doing a project, they might just use Adil’s AI. It is a very legitimate and valid strike. Hollywood can’t function till they sign in”.

Opening up about the concern of AI, the actor shares, “We are a market society and we don’t care about excellence. We are okay with mediocre content across the globe. In India, we consume below mediocre content. AI can produce a script, and any director can shoot it. It is killing one section of the society who do it because they love what they do. We need to take care of these concerts and discuss them in public. We need this conversation in India as well”.

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