Lily Gladstone spent the opening day of her mega-budget epic, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” standing in the rain in Times Square picketing alongside her fellow actors.
The thespian, who has been getting Oscar buzz for her co-starring role alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Jesse Plemons and Robert De Niro, marched Friday with sign-in-hand amid the rain in New York City.
She shared the brief videos on her Instagram story feed, seemingly sans audio, which shows three moments during which the actress is clearly unphased by the weather. It’s an ironic way to spend what otherwise might have been a glamorous day of in-person interviews, zoom chats, fashion shoots and (to the extent the “Certain Women” actress cares) waiting to hear the first guestimates for opening day box office.
Her in-person activism on this specific day is not going unnoticed.
X user Connor stated bluntly “Lily Gladstone is on 3,500 screens today giving the performance of a lifetime. She’s also currently at a SAG picket line in Times Square in the pouring rain. F–king legend. Pay your f–king actors.”
Fellow X user Mitch F. Anderson noted that “on a day that could be called life-changing for her with zero hyperbole, Lily Gladstone is out on the SAG-AFTRA picket line, the realest to ever do it.”
OK, that might be a little hyperbole, but it’s the harmless, good-natured kind.
April Wolfe, who wrote the 2019 remake of “Black Christmas,” affirmed on Blue Sky that “Word is Lily Gladstone is on the SAG picket line in Times Square today while her huge movie is opening.”
Fellow Bluesky user “Michael” noted that “Lily Gladstone at the picket line the day her big movie comes out is some dope smart solidarity.”
This comes just over a week after the studios, represented by the AMPTP, stepped away from negotiations, citing differences over a proposed revenue-sharing scheme on streaming services. Since then, A-list actors like George Clooney and Scarlett Johansson have spoken to SAG-AFTRA leadership about possibly lifting the $1 million cap on union dues. That might not solve the issues plaguing the negotiating parties. However, it might help raise the living standards of working thespians who aren’t regularly employed or aren’t well-compensated movie stars.
Many on various social networks were bemoaning the fact that the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike meant that Gladstone wasn’t getting her conventional moment in the spotlight (interviews, red-carpet appearances, fashion shoots, etc.). However, she is spending Friday making an impression in a way that still counts.
For all of TheWrap’s Hollywood strike coverage, click here.
