NEW YORK: Holly­wood A-listers, including Emmy winner Bryan Cranston and a group of Oscar winners, led a large rally of striking actors and writers in New York’s Times Square on Tuesday, as the stalemate with studios and streamers dragged on.

Academy Award winners Brendan Fraser, Jessica Chastain and Murray Abraham were among the stars joining the mass of demonstrators.

Movie and television production has effectively shut down in the United States since thousands of members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) walked off the job on July 14, joining writers who have been on strike for weeks.

Both guilds are demanding better pay and job security, as well as safeguards against the threat posed by artificial intelligence as they pursue the first industry-wide walkout in 63 years.

“We will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots,” Breaking Bad star Cranston told attendees, referring to fears about AI being used to recreate an actor’s likeness.

Surrounded by Times Square’s giant screens, which often advertise the latest movies and streaming series, Cranston delivered a message to Disney boss Bob Iger, the target of the actors’ ire.

“We will not have you take away our right to work and earn a decent living and, lastly and most importantly, we will not allow you to take our dignity,” he bellowed, wearing a SAG-AFTRA t-shirt and raising his fists.

“I know, sir, that you look through things through a different lens,” Cranston said.

“We don’t expect you to understand who we are, but we ask you to hear us. And beyond that, to listen to us when we tell you, we will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots,” he added.

Iger angered members of the actors union this month by saying their demands for a labor contract with higher pay and limits on use of artificial intelligence were “unreasonable.”

‘Good for America’

Abraham, best known for winning an Academy Award for his starring role in the 1984 movie, Amadeus, said unionism was “good for America”.

“We’re fighting for integrity, respect, and honour,” said the 83-year-old, who recently featured in television hit series The White Lotus. Steve Buscemi and Christian Slater were also among the protesters.

The SAG-AFTRA union represents actors from mega-stars to day-players who take small roles on television series. It represents about 160,000 people, including stuntmen and dancers.

The industrial action not only prohibits actors from filming but also from promoting their productions in person or on social media.

Actors are concerned that Hollywood studios could use their digital images without permission or deploy synthetic actors created with AI to star in movies and TV shows.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2023