Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ spoke out about the pending SAG-AFTRA strike authorization during the New York premiere of her new film “You Hurt My Feelings.”
When the Emmy winner was asked if she will join the picket lines if the union calls for a stike, she told Variety on the red carpet, “You bet your fucking ass.”
“I voted yes for the strike authorization,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus further explained before entering the screening at the DGA theater in Manhattan. “By the way, that doesn’t mean we’re striking. It just gives the board the ability to strike if they need to and I’m in favor of that. The issues that the Screen Actors Guild is facing are very similar to what the Writers Guild is facing; and even the DGA for that matter to certain extent…it’s time for us to stand up and get what we so rightfully deserve, which is a living wage, and particularly for the middle class in the Screen Actors Guild not to be squeezed out of the system all together.”
Louis-Dreyfus, who holds the record for the most Screen Actors Guild Awards with nine statuettes to her name from leading roles on ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Veep,’ is now starring in “You Hurt My Feelings,” the new comedy from filmmaker Nicole Holofcener.
The movie, about a novelist whose marriage is suddenly shaken up when she overhears her husband give his honest reaction to her latest book, is a reunion for Louis-Dreyfus and Holofcener after their 2013 hit, “Enough Said.”
“I feel awful for people who are having to struggle because of the new platforms and the new ways for screening movies and not being paid enough,” Holofcener stated. “It’s not commensurate with what’s happening with the studios, you know, they’re billionaires. And there’s a lot of freelance writers out there who are not getting paid enough and can’t live comfortably.”
At the “You Hurt My Feelings” screening, the film’s entire cast also made appearances including Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins, Amber Tamblyn, David Cross, Arian Moayed, Owen Teague, and Jeannie Berlin.
“What’s happening is people you love on film and television can’t afford health insurance because they’re not planning on residuals now,” Watkins told Variety. “If we all are suffering that would be one thing, but we’re not. We’re not all suffering. And we know who’s not suffering and we know whose salaries are going up exponentially.”
“You Hurt My Feelings” is in theaters.
