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The SAG-AFTRA strike remains unresolved, with more and more celebrities, like Sons of Anarchy alum Ron Perlman, stepping up to voice their discontent. The strike originally began on July 14, 2023, to raise concerns about the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) for its unfair pay scales and its use of technology to replace artistic endeavors.
Coinciding with the WGA strike, consisting of screenwriters from all over Hollywood, this has become the biggest halt in production since the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also already resulted in several delays in films and television shows, which are likely to be affected even if the dispute is resolved immediately.
However, as pointed out by many veterans like Bryan Cranston earlier, this dispute is far from over, with most big studios still refusing to bend backward.
Ron Perlman, best known as Clay Morrow in Sons of Anarchy and Hellboy in both Hellboy (2004) and its sequel, was the latest to step up with a fiery speech after he joined Martin Sheen and the cast of The West Wing in a rally on August 22. In his passionate speech, Perlman said:
"I was born in 1950 and I have been a union man my entire motherf***ing woke life... My parents were union people, lower middle class, New York city, didn’t have a summer home or a yacht, didn’t have anything but love and humor, that’s what got me here today ... [Studios] somehow feel that they deserve all the toys."
Ron Perlman did not hold back at all as he erupted in a rage-fuelled speech that got a lot of applause from the crowd.
"It’s just a f*cked up model, don’t blame me for that"- Ron Perlman on studios at SAG-AFTRA strike rally
Though other members of Martin Sheen's troupe spoke out diligently about the strike and the oppressive behavior from the studios, no one was quite as vocal as Ron Perlman, who seemed completely ready to take down any studio standing in the way.
Perlman said:
"The f*cked up thing is however much they take, will never be enough, so what they need to do is make us feel small, devalue us, gaslight us with the thought that if we don’t walk in line lockstep, we can be replaced, because any motherf*cker can do what we do.
"I don’t think there’s anybody here that wants a golden parachute or even knows what the fuck that is, or wants stock options or wants to buy one company and then fire 15,000 people, so two companies with less workers looks better. What we want to do is tell stories about human beings."
He added:
"How the f*ck can we tell stories about humanity, which is what we all do, which is what many of us do for free if they want to dehumanize us. It doesn’t make any sense. All that money that’s engendered every year by the work that you all do, there’s plenty of that to go around. If they’re claiming that they’re losing money, it’s just a f*cked up model, don’t blame me for that,"
Apart from Ron Perlman, Martin Sheen and Kerry Washington also spoke out passionately at the rally and received a thunderous response.
As of now, the strike continues to rage on with no resolution in sight.
