Oppenheimer actors leave London premiere early 'to write picket signs'

The stars of director Christopher Nolan's new film Oppenheimer left the London premiere of the movie early on Thursday ahead of the Screen Actors Guild strike announcement.

Cast members Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, Josh Hartnett, and Rami Malek were all present to be photographed at the event, which began an hour earlier than had been scheduled because of the impending strike action, but the actors did not appear onstage with Nolan at Leicester Square's Odeon Luxe cinema.

Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy on the red carpet of the London premiere of 'Oppenheimer'

According to footage from the event posted on Twitter by Deadline, Nolan first praised his cast and then explained that their absence was because of the likely strike action, which the filmmaker said he also supported.

"I have to acknowledge the work of our incredible cast, led by Cillian Murphy," says the director in the clip. "The list is enormous. Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek, and so many more. And we have to acknowledge, you've seen them here earlier on the red carpet, unfortunately, they're off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by SAG, joining my guild, one of my guilds, the writers' guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of their union, and we support them."

SAG-AFTRA's national board voted unanimously to launch the guild's first strike, the union's President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland announced Thursday.

After failing to reach a deal with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP) when their June 30 contract deadline expired, the guild extended the negotiation period through July 12, but they were still unable to negotiate a contract that was agreeable to both parties. Their sister union, the Writers' Guild of America, has been on strike since May 1.

"It came with great sadness that we came to this crossroads. But we had no choice. We are the victims here," Drescher said during Thursday's press conference. "We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly. How far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they're losing money left and right while giving hundreds and millions of dollars to their CEOS. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment."

In Nolan's film, Murphy plays theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called "Father of the atomic bomb." Oppenheimer is released July 21.

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