“I don’t like them vs us”: Oscar Winner Jamie Lee Curtis Plays Diplomacy Card to Stay on Studios’ Good Side, Won’t Take Sides in Writers Strike
Jamie Lee Curtis is a well-known and talented actress who is not hesitant to express her opinions and thoughts on issues that many celebrities prefer to avoid as much as possible. Curtis has opinions to offer about being a member of the industry’s nepo baby circle or the current SAG-AFTRA strike, and she will.
The Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild are currently on strike, effectively halting the whole industry. Whereas 11,500 writers went on strike in May, members of the Screen Actors Guild went on strike on July 14 after failing to reach a deal with studios on a new three-year contract. Jamie Lee Curtis has her stand on the situation.
Jamie Lee Curtis hopeful for a common ground result
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who has been gracing the screen for years and never misses a chance to impress the audience with her exceptional acting skills, appeared at Project Angel Food’s ceremony for The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Campus in Los Angeles, where she shared her opinions on the on-going SAG-AFTRA strike.
She said, “I’m hopeful that we can all see all sides. I’m more Switzerland. I’m not a polarized person here. I don’t like the rhetoric on both sides. Any settlement means nobody’s happy. So there will be a settlement and not everyone will be happy. I don’t like them vs. us. The fact that there’s a them and an us bothers me.”
The actress further said that it’s all one industry and she hopes that all sides can recognize the oneness of the industry and that they are all interdependent and that AI is not interdependent. She added, “Human beings are and at the end of the day our interdependency with each other will prevail.”
When speaking to Collider, she said, “I have a movie out in a week, and I have a TV show on the air right now and I can’t talk about them. Now, these are communities of people that I’ve worked with. Hundreds and thousands of people come together to make art for you to enjoy on television and in movies. And we’re not talking about it because we are at a crossroads in our industry.”
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Is Jamie Lee Curtis being diplomatic?
Even though Curtis was one of the first celebrities who spoke in favor of the strike, fans pointed out that it seems that the actress has been playing a diplomatic card as she wants to stay in the good books of the studios since she has projects lined up; waiting for release.
This was pointed out after her recent comments where she mentions that she does not like studios vs. actors/writers as she never picked a side and simply said that they are all interdependent. But on Tuesday, the actress made it clear that she is not doing anything to make the studios like her as she posted a video of a picket line in NYC with the caption, As Long As It Takes.
Back in July, the actress posted on her social media, “I see a strike in my crystal ball. The souls of ghosts of performers long past urging us in this modern moment to fight for our rights to exist as creators.” This goes on to show that she is not playing the diplomacy card but she is genuinely hopeful for a result that suits both, the parties.
Disney CEO Bob Iger calls the demands ‘not realistic’
During an interview with CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the ongoing strike is very disturbing to him as everyone is aware of the disruptive forces on the business and all the challenges everyone faced during the pandemic. He noted,
“This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption. I understand any labor organization’s desire to work on behalf of its members to get the most compensation and be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver. We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the Directors’ Guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors.”
However, he lastly added that the demands of the actors and writers are not realistic and they are simply adding to the set of challenges that the business already faces.
Source: Variety
