Thousands of Hollywood actors are joining screenwriters on strike in what is set to cause the biggest shutdown of the industry in decades.

Filming is expected to grind to a halt after the actors’ and screenwriters’ unions failed to reach a deal with studios and streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon.

The guild representing 160,000 performers is pushing for better pay and conditions, and limits on the use of artificial intelligence.

Stars Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt had been attending the London premiere of biographical thriller Oppenheimer and reportedly left in solidarity as the strike was called on Friday (AEST).

“If they call it, we’ll be leaving together as cast in unity with everyone … We are gonna have to. We are gonna have to. We will see what happens,” Blunt told Deadline.com earlier.

Actor Matt Damon called for a fair deal for writers and actors, especially those “living on the margins”.

Matt Damon (left) voiced his support for the strike and actors Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy reportedly walked out of the London premiere of Oppenheimer. Also pictured is Florence Pugh. Photo: AAP

Film and television writers have been on the picket lines since May and will be joined by actors.

It’s the first dual work stoppage in 63 years, expected to halt many productions across the US and abroad.

The twin strikes will add to the economic damage from the writers walkout, delivering another blow to an industry struggling with changes to its business.

The unions involved are SAG-AFTRA – Hollywood’s largest union, representing 160,000 film and television actors – and the Writers Guild of America.

They are demanding increases in base pay and residuals in the streaming TV era plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence.

The actors’ union announced on Friday morning (AEST) that the strike would begin at midnight after its national board voted unanimously to authorise the walkout.

Fran Drescher, former star of TV’s The Nanny and president of SAG-AFTRA, called the studios’ responses to actors’ concerns “insulting and disrespectful”.

“I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us,” Drescher said at a press conference at the SAG-AFTRA headquarters.

“I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things, how they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions to their CEOs. It is disgusting.”

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that negotiates on behalf of Netflix, Walt Disney and other production companies, said it was “deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations”.

The group said it had offered “historic pay and residual increases” and “a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses”.
Actors are worried that their digital images will be used without their permission or proper compensation.

“Rather than continuing to negotiate, SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods,” the AMPTP said.

The strike by roughly 11,500 writers has sent late-night television talk shows into endless re-runs, disrupted most production for the northern hemisphere autumn TV season and halted work on big-budget movies.

The walkout by SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors from bit-part players to Hollywood’s biggest movie stars, will effectively shutter the studios’ remaining US-based productions of film and scripted television.

It will also hamper many overseas shoots involving SAG-AFTRA talent, such as Paramount Pictures’ sequel to Gladiator, which director Ridley Scott has been shooting in Morocco and Malta.

Some production work not involving SAG-AFTRA performers can proceed, such as location scouting or certain kinds of post-production editing.

But the loss of actors, who will also not do any promotional work for the film and television productions while on strike, will put more pressure on media companies to find a resolution.

Hollywood has not faced simultaneous strikes since 1960 when members of the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild both walked off the job in a fight over residuals from films sold to TV networks.

Members of the Writers Guild of America have been on the picket lines since May. Photo: Getty

Bob Iger, whose contract as Disney’s CEO was this week extended to the end of 2026, told CNBC on Thursday (local time) that the writers’ and actors’ unions had unrealistic expectations.

“It’s very disturbing to me,” Mr Iger said, noting the entertainment industry’s ongoing recovery from the disruption of the COVID pandemic.

“This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption.”

Actors say the rise of the streaming era has made it harder to earn their livelihoods, especially for the many thousands of SAG-AFTRA members who are not household names.