Bryan Cranston Takes Aim at Disney Boss Bob Iger in Star-Studded SAG-AFTRA Strike

As SAG-AFTRA members swarmed the streets of Times Square Tuesday morning raising #SAGAFTRASTRONG signs, lifting their guild member cards, and chanting for a fairer contract, Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, and The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas stood alongside them in solidarity. SAG-AFTRA, made up of 160,000 members, joined the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) monthslong fight on July 14, and held its biggest and most star-studded rally in New York asking for adequate healthcare, fair compensation, AI protections, and more.

Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston took to the stage to give a message aimed at Disney CEO Bob Iger, who recently called writers and actors’ demands “not realistic.”

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“I know, sir, you look at things from a different lens,” Cranston said. “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 have our jobs taken away and given to robots.”

The fear of studios scanning background actors using artificial intelligence and owning their identity in perpetuity was a fiery topic of discussion. (The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has disagreed with this assessment.) Of the 160,000 SAG-AFTRA members, about 32,000 have worked as a background actor at least once last year and are the lowest-paid workers. As Buscemi stepped to the lectern, he noted that he had worked with many SAG-AFTRA members in the crowd and stood strong with WGA members.

He added that the union’s demands were not unreasonable but essential, and named off proposals such as retirement benefits, a fair casting process, AI protections, and revenue sharing. Residuals, or payments for rerun shows and films, have greatly diminished since audiences shifted to streaming, and subscription-based services have subsequently raked in the rewards. Netflix recently reported $8.2 billion in revenue and 5.9 million additional subscribers in the second quarter of 2023.

“Nobody wanted this but we are here because so much is at stake,” Buscemi said.

Despite having rallied actors and actresses from Orlando to Hollywood, A-list figures have largely been absent from the actors’ strike. In June, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, and Rami Malek were among the signatories to a letter informing union leadership they were prepared to strike but have yet to join the picket lines. Those that have marched on the streets have not gone unnoticed by paparazzi: Aubrey Plaza, Bowen Yang, Jeremy Allen White, Lupita Nyong’o, Quinta Brunson, and Bob Odenkirk, to name a few.

Other familiar faces who attended Tuesday’s strike included Chloë Grace Moretz, Brendan Fraser, Jessica Chastain, Stephen Lang, Lea DeLaria, Hill Harper, Wendell Pierce, Michelle Hurd, and Lauren Ambrose. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined a SAG-AFTRA strike in New York Monday along with She-Hulk’s Tatiana Maslany.

Although Colón-Zayas, who plays Tina in The Bear, says she’s worked tirelessly for decades to reach streaming stardom, a 10-episode model, few acting opportunities, and unfair residuals makes the future of TV seem uncertain.

“I love my job. I love the people I work with,” Colón-Zayas, who can no longer promote The Bear during the strike, told Rolling Stone. “I work with the best people, they’re outstanding, but until this settles, nothing can happen.”

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