With Dwayne Johnson, Matt Damon or Nicole Kidman, they gave 15 million to the solidarity fund.
A few days ago, the leaders of SAG-AFTRA, the guild of Hollywood actors, thanked Dwayne Johnson for his historic 7-figure donation. Since then, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Nicole Kidman and George Clooney have also donated at least a million dollars to this kitty. Which amounts to 15 million in all.
A large sum, which will allow the poorest actors attached to the union to receive a minimum pay for the duration of the strike. Which could continue until 2024.
Dwayne Johnson has made a ‘historic donation’ to the actors’ union relief fund
Like screenwriters, who are demanding a base salary, better remuneration in general and a framework for the use of artificial intelligence, American actors would like to be considered more by Hollywood studios/streaming services.
Because contrary to what one might think, millionaire stars are not the norm in this industry. Fran Drescher, the star actress of the series A nanny from hellwho is now the president of SAG-AFTRA, provided the New York Times evocative figures: of the 160,000 union members, 86% earn less than 26,000 dollars per year (about 24,000 euros). “Thanks to the donations collected since the start of the strike, actors in need will not lose their homes, will be able to pay their expenses, buy food for their families, obtain vital medicines, pay their doctor’s fees and many other things. “other things”explained Courtney Vance in the press release where he personally thanked Johnson for his historic donation.
Since the start of the strike, several personalities have taken the floor to talk about their struggles at the start of their career, such as Tatiana Maslany (she hulk), Bryan Cranston (breaking Bad) or Seann William Scott (American Pie). They speak about their own experiences in the hope that this will improve the living conditions of all industry players.
Seann William Scott only earned $8,000 to play Stifler in American Pie
