Harriet Walter showed her support for the ongoing strikes by Hollywood writers and actors in a bold message at the Vogue World Show on Thursday.
The 72-year-old actress took to the stage at the Theater Royal Drury Lane as part of a comedy sketch with James Corden, Sienna Miller, Damien Lewis and James McAvoy.
During her brief appearance at the high fashion event, she took time to show her support for the SAG-AFTRA strikes by poking fun at artificial intelligence.
Amid growing concerns about technology’s impact on Hollywood, the Killing Eve star joked that AI could “take our jobs.”
Her comments came in a skit in which James and his fellow stars appeared on stage as theater supervisors and talked about their dreams of one day being on stage themselves.
Strikes: Harriet Walter showed her support for the ongoing strikes by Hollywood writers and actors in a bold message at the Vogue World Show on Thursday
Picket Line: Amid concerns about how technology will impact Hollywood, Harriet joked that AI will “take our jobs” (the SAG-AFTRA picket lines feature people).
Harriet then came on stage as a “stage doorkeeper” to reassure them that as long as the AI has nothing to say about it, they still have time to achieve their dreams.
She was greeted with huge cheers from the audience when she said: “There’s still time, it can still happen as long as the damn AI doesn’t take all our jobs!”
Her remark was in reference to the SAG-AFTRA strike, which is nearing its second month and has been fueled by the studio’s use of AI to replace human actors.
In a message of support to actors worldwide, she continued: “All the ushers you meet, all the ice cream vendors at intermission, all the program vendors, many of them are working actors and dancers, perhaps the writers and directors of…” the future.
“They’re all part of this ritual, performing every night at the same time across the city, across the country, in thousands of theaters… a silence of anticipation as the story begins as people walk onto that stage.”‘
Vogue World attracted a host of A-list talent as guests enjoyed live entertainment at the event – dubbed Britain’s answer to the iconic Met Gala.
Described as a “catwalk extravaganza” of actors, singers, ballerinas, supermodels and fashion designers, the event was only open to the rich and famous, with a ticket costing up to £2,521.70.
Elsewhere, numerous Hollywood stars have been on picket lines during strikes recently, including Margot Robbie, who joined just months after the release of the Barbie movie.
Hollywood actors and writers are united in their first “double strike” in more than 60 years, vowing, among other things, that they will protect every worker in the industry from being replaced by AI.
The Writers Guild of America began striking in May, followed by SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents actors, on July 14.
Supportive: Her comments came as she took to the stage as part of a comedy sketch with James Corden and other stars for Vogue World at the Theater Royal Drury Lane
Protesting: A number of Hollywood stars have been on the picket line during strikes recently, including Margot Robbie, who joined months after the release of the Barbie movie
The labor dispute threatened to decimate the entertainment industry as production of major films and television shows came to a halt.
The WGA writers and SAG-AFTRA actors agreed on many of their demands from the studios and streamers.
They are seeking fairer wages and base salaries in general, as wages for both writers and actors have not kept pace with inflation.
Streaming services are a particular target because shows and films airing on these services have minimal backlogs compared to airing on traditional television networks.
The writers also hope to get studios to agree to minimum size requirements for writers’ rooms on television shows, and both unions hope the AMPTP agrees not to use AI to replace actors or create scripts.
However, studios and streamers have apparently increased their refusal to abandon the use of AI in the future, which ironically appears to have confirmed unions’ concerns.