‘A pivotal moment,’ says Will Smith on Hollywood strikes

Actor Will Smith has shown his support for the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. He took to his social media handles and wrote a long post in which he mentioned the importance of this moment for both guilds, as reported by Variety.

“I wanna talk for a second about ACTING,” Smith wrote. “As some of y’all mighta heard, my guild, @SAGAFTRA are on strike along with our writer colleagues in the WGA. It’s a pivotal moment for our profession.”

As per Variety, the WGA has been on strike since April and SAG-AFTRA since July 14, calling for negotiations with studios for fairer contracts. The SAG-AFTRA Foundation replied to Smith with “Thank you for your support Will!”

Will Smith also recalled his journey in the entertainment industry and expressed gratitude to a mentor of his, Aaron Speiser.

“33 years into my career as an actor and there are still some days when I feel like I’m that kid from Philly who’s on borrowed time, even though I know I’ve been extraordinarily blessed and lucky to have worked as an actor all this time,” Smith continued. “It’s thanks to my friend, my teacher and my mentor @aaronspeiser whom I fondly refer to as ‘coach’ that those days when I feel like I don’t belong are fewer and further between.”

According to Variety, the accompanying photo shows Smith posing alongside students at The Screen Acting Studio, where he dropped in on a class. Speiser works at The Screen Acting Studio and also hosts Coach The Podcast.

“Coach invited me to acting class the other day and I met a group of our talented next generation of actors and they amazed and inspired me!” Smith wrote. “I’m grateful to coach for continuing to support these talented hopefuls in this art-form that I love and have been lucky enough to work in for three decades of my life! Thanks COACH!” he concluded, reported Variety.