Former Arrow star Stephen Amell condemns SAG-AFTRA strike: ‘I do not support striking’

Stephen Amell is not a fan of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

The actor, who currently stars on Heels on Starz and rose to fame as Oliver Queen on The CW’s Arrow (and appeared on numerous crossover series, including the final season of The Flash), spoke out against the ongoing labor action while appearing at GalaxyCon in North Carolina over the weekend.

When a fan asked him about the strike, he took a moment to make a statement in opposition to it while still emphasizing his support for the guild as a whoel. “I support my union, I do, and I stand with them,” he said. “I do not support striking. I don’t.”

Stephen Amell

Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage Stephen Amell

The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the union that represents all performers on film and television, is currently on strike against the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP) after their negotiations failed to produce a contract that was amenable to both parties.

“I think that it is a reductive negotiating tactic, and I find the entire thing incredibly frustrating,” Amell continued. “And I think that the thinking as it pertains to shows like the show that I’m on that premiered last night, I think it’s myopic.”

EW has reached out to representatives for Amell.

Amell was referring to Heels, which made its season 2 premiere on July 28. He did reiterate his support for his union in the last moments of a fan-captured video on Twitter, but the remainder of his remarks were not captured on video.

Actors are not currently permitted to promote anything that is designated as “struck work,” which means any television shows and movies made under the prior contract agreement with the AMPTP. This entails any type of promotion, including red carpets, premieres, or interviews about the project.

Thus, Amell was denoting his frustration with his inability to promote Heels.

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Amell’s appearance at GalaxyCon itself is a grey area when it comes to strike rules. The SAG-AFTRA strike website expressly forbids appearances at conventions “on behalf of or to promote companies we are striking against.”

It does, however, allow for appearances at conventions operated independent of the struck companies. “These are often, but not always, multi-fandom events you have been invited to based on your body of work, not as a contractual obligation to the producer or distributor of a project,” the website explains of the nature of conventions that fall in the permissible category.

The rules further advise that if union members plan to participate in a panel or Q&A akin to the live Q&A Amell participated in here, they should follow careful guidelines and stipulate ahead of time what they would be comfortable answering. “General topics are fine, such as about your process, why you wanted to be an actor, what you like/dislike about working in the industry, and the like are fine,” the rules state. “You should avoid discussing characters you played on struck work or your work for struck companies.”

Amell’s appearance at GalaxyCon seems to fall within these parameters, but it’s unclear if other remarks, including those alluding to Heels, violate these guidelines. Representatives for SAG-AFTRA did not immediately respond to EW’s request for clarification.

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