Margot Robbie joins the picket line as SAG-AFTRA strike approaches its second month
Following the global success of Barbie, Margot Robbie has become one of Hollywood’s most powerful women, and now the Australian is taking her star power to the picket lines.
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Australia’s “It girl” Margot Robbie, one of the most powerful women in Hollywood following the success of Barbie, is the latest A-list actor to front the picket lines of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
With Barbie now the highest grossing film of 2023, earning $US1.34 billion ($A2b) and counting at the box office, Robbie now wields great influence in the film world as one of its brightest stars in front of the camera and astute businesswomen behind the scenes.
As the actors’ strike enters its third month – Hollywood’s writers stopped work in May – Robbie’s presence on the picket line sends a potent message to the studio bosses that their A-list stars are digging in on their demands.
The 33-year-old traded out the Barbie pink for an oversize white SAG-AFTRA T-shirt, brandishing holding a poster as she marched from Netflix to Paramount Studios in West Hollywood.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), which represents more than 150,000 actors, in July moved to join the screenwriters union to strike following lengthy negotiations over work conditions and pay.
Robbie and Gerwig’s blockbuster was released days before the industry pulled stumps to fight various issues, among them the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and the erosion of residuals – being the amount of money actors are paid in royalties from the number of streams their shows receive.
Top actors like Robbie still earn millions, but most SAG-AFTRA members are barely getting by, according to the unialf of members make less than US$26,000 a year from acting, according to CBS News.
Meanwhile, the runaway success of Barbie at the worldwide box office resulted in a massive payday for its producer and star.
The Australian ‘It Girl’ was paid US$12.5 million for the role, according to Variety, but took home a US$50 million payday including box office bonuses.
The strike means that any member of SAG-AFTRA or the Writers Guild of America isn’t allowed to work on or promote any upcoming productions.
This has led to a massive disruption in film and television release schedules for 2023 and beyond.
However Robbie marched in good spirits as she was spotted with fellow Australian actress Samara Weaving, who was seen wearing green shorts and a white cap.
Potentially because she joined the picket lines fresh off a holiday with producer husband Tom Ackerly in Greece.
While the strikes got underway, the Barbie and Babylon star soaked up the sun in an off-white one piece swimsuit reportedly from American designer Norma Kamali as the pair put on an affectionate display of kissing and frolicking in the water.
She joins other notable celebrities who have publicly joined strikes in New York and Los Angeles, including George Clooney, Kevin Bacon, Jason Sudeikis, Joey King, and Allison Janney.
Meanwhile, negotiations to reach a new deal with production studios haven’t made much progress.
Streaming services are a particular target, and actors want streaming giants to agree to a fairer split of profits and better working conditions.
Meanwhile, Drew Barrymore shocked the Hollywood community this week when she announced that her daytime talk show would continue production despite the strike and without its WGA writers.
However, she defended her decision on why she chose to resume production on her chat show.
“I made a choice to walk away from the MTV, film and television awards because I was the host and it had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios, streamers, film, and television,” Barrymore wrote on Instagram.
“It was also in the first week of the strike and so I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers. And to be clear, our talk show actually wrapped on April 20th so we never had to shut down the show.
“I own this choice. We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind.”
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Originally published as Margot Robbie joins the picket line as SAG-AFTRA strike approaches its second month
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