“G20” may be among the projects that got an interim waiver from SAG-AFTRA to continue amid Hollywood’s double strike, but the film’s star Viola Davis still won’t be participating.
“I love this movie, but I do not feel that it would be appropriate for this production to move forward during the strike,” Davis said in a statement received by TheWrap. “I appreciate that the producers on the project agree with this decision. JuVee Productions and I stand in solidarity with actors, SAG/AFTRA and the WGA. “
Though the movie is set to be distributed by Amazon Studios — one of the many that SAG-AFTRA and the WGA are striking right now — it earned a waiver because that’s the extent of Amazon’s involvement. MRC, which is not affiliated with the AMPTP, is responsible for the movie in the grand scheme of things, and Davis was not only set to star in the movie, but produce it as well.
Per SAG-AFTRA, the union’s interim agreements allow awarded “productions to continue working during a strike provided that the producer agrees to abide by the terms that SAG-AFTRA is seeking from the AMPTP. In that case, the ‘Interim Agreement’ would largely be conformed to the AMPTP agreement on a going-forward basis once the membership ratifies successor agreements with the AMPTP.”
Deadline first reported the news of Davis stepping back.
Davis is not the first actor to support ignoring waivers to stand in solidarity with those on strike though. Both Bob Odenkirk and Sarah Silverman have publicly encouraged actors to fully pause their work, even if a waiver was granted.
“Don’t,” Odenkirk told TheWrap bluntly, outside Paramount studios on Wednesday. “It’s a strike. Strike. You lose. We lose. Everybody loses. That’s tough s–t.”
For all of TheWrap’s Hollywood strike coverage, click here.
