Hollywood Strike – We will not allow you to take away our dignity: Bryan Cranston to Disney’s head

Actor Bryan Cranston speaks during the SAG-AFTRA “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” rally in Times Square on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, in New York
| Photo Credit: Charles Sykes

With a passionate strike speech in New York on Tuesday, Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston addressed Disney boss Bob Iger. 

Speaking at the ‘Rock the City for a Fair Contract’ SAG-AFTRA rally, the actor said, “We’ve got a message for Mr Iger: I know, sir, that you look through things through a different lens. We don’t expect you to understand who we are. But we ask you to hear us, and beyond that to listen to us when we tell you we will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots. We will not have you take away our right to work and earn a decent living. And lastly, and most importantly, we will not allow you to take away our dignity!”

This comes after the Disney head’s recent comments where he called the strikers “not realistic” while attending a billionaires’ retreat. Cranston was one of many celebrities who took the stage at the rally for pushing studios to give actors a share of the streaming subscription revenue and establish guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence, among other demands.

Succession star Arian Moayed told the audience, “It’s like these people haven’t seen Succession! — it’s about you. The most important thing we can do right now as a unit, as a group, is to keep together. … United we will beat them.”

Stephen Lang of Avatar and Don’t Breathe fame, while speaking about SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher’s speeches and reasoning for the walkout, said, “Two qualities stood out quite starkly: First, a moral and altogether well-earned sense of righteous indignation at the purposely obtuse, disrespectful, uncaring and irresponsible attitude of those sitting across the negotiating table.” He added, “‘Shame on them,’ she said. Shame, indeed. The other quality was her profound sense of sadness that it has come to this. So many lives will be damaged, so many careers stalled or shattered; families already working hard to make ends meet enduring further harm and degradation … all of them caught up in this maelstrom of inequality brought about by organized corporate greed … at this moment in time, we are civilization’s rational voice.”

Joely Fisher, known for starring in Ellen told, “The last time the writers and actors went on strike it was in 1960, and we got a little thing called residuals and a health plan and a pension plan, so I expect big things from this time around. We do not take this lightly. We are on the right side of history. Hey, (studio negotiators), we’re ready to rumble. You will not bleed us out! Let us know when you come to your senses. Here’s to a hot guild summer.”