‘Oppenheimer’ Cast Walk Out Of Their Own Premiere In London

The cast of Oppenheimer left the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square Theater on Thursday night during their film’s premiere.

After recognizing the hard work of the war film’s cast, the director of Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan, announced that they had left the premiere to participate in the SAG-AFTRA strike.

“We have to acknowledge [that] you’ve seen them here earlier on the red carpet,” Nolan told the audience. “Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by SAG.”

Two months ago, the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike to fight for fair wages. Now, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, most commonly known as SAG-AFTRA, are also on strike. Television and film entertainers have staged a walk-out to defend their rights against issues ranging from AI technology to compensation.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher announced the strike on Thursday, which began just after midnight on Friday, July 14.

“I hope everyone makes a fair deal, and we’re here to just celebrate this movie and if they call it, we’ll be leaving together as a cast, in unity with everyone,” Emily Blunt told Deadline on the red carpet.

Blunt plays Katherine Oppenheimer, the wife of Cillian Murphy’s character as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, in the anticipated film.

“Nobody wants the work stoppage but if our leadership is saying that the deal isn’t fair, then we gotta hold strong until we get a deal that’s fair for working actors,” said Matt Damon, who plays Leslie Groves in Oppenheimer.

Other cast members who were also at the premiere and left for the strike were Florence Pugh and Robert Downey Jr., among others.

Oppenheimer will be out in theaters on July 21.