DUBAI: Part-Middle East actress Yara Shahidi was spotted this week on the picket lines of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists’ strike.
The SAG-AFTRA labor action, which started in mid-July, is by Hollywood actors and screenwriters who are protesting about pay and working conditions.
Shahidi took to Instagram to share pictures and wrote: “If you’re able to join check out sagaftrastrike.org for locations near you and your local SAG Instagram page.”
Over the past few weeks, the actress has been supporting her peers on social media.
In July, the Grown-ish” actress, who is Iranian American, wrote on Instagram: “PROTEST IS A FORM OF OPTIMISM. I stand alongside my peers in SAG who hold a deep belief that more equitable solutions must be created to continue on.”
Actress Jameela Jamil has also been on the picket lines in Los Angeles. Taking to Instagram and sharing pictures of herself from the strike action, she called for the “basic equity of the people who make our beautiful industry.”
This week, she joined the strike with the “The Good Place” cast.
“This show was one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives. Because of EVERY member of the crew on that set,” she captioned her post. “What is being proposed reduces and eventually destroys this craft, this community and this work, because nothing created on a computer can ever embody the humanity of people working as one.”
The strike has resulted in most Hollywood film and television productions being shut down, from the “Gladiator” sequel to the live action “Lilo & Stitch.” But some independent films and television productions are being granted waivers by the union that will allow them to continue, with artists from SAG-AFTRA.
Several of Hollywood’s highest-earning stars, including George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts and Oprah Winfrey, have each contributed $1 million or more to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s support fund, it was revealed last week.