As reported by Deadline, Academy Award winner Viola Davis has announced her decision to step away from the upcoming action/thriller project, G20 amid the actors and writers ongoing strikes. Though the film was granted the SAG-AFTRA waiver which allowed the movie to keep going with production, the EGOT winner made it clear that she wasn't comfortable continue to work on G20 at this time.
The Patricia Riggen directed action thriller follows President Taylor Sutton (played by Davis) as she uses her statecraft and military experience to protect her family, fellow leaders, and the rest of the world after terrorists take over the G20 Summit.
The film was written by Noah and Logan Miller (with revisions done by Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss). Producers for the upcoming film include Andrew Lazar (via Mad Chance) Davis, and Julius Tennon (via JuVee).
In an exclusive statement to Deadline, The Woman King star said:
I love this movie, but I do not feel that it would be appropriate for this production to move forward during the strike. I appreciate that the producer on the project agree with this decision. JuVee Productions and I stand in solidarity with actors, SAG/AFTRA and the WGA.
Viola Davis Stands in Solidarity With Actors, SAG/AFTRA & the WGA"
It was only recently that the SAG-AFTRA stated on its website that G20 has been approved to continue production amid the ongoing strike. Though the movie involves Amazon Studios, it was still given the go ahead because G20 is a MRC film and will only be distributed by Amazon.
Since going on strike, the America labor union has given out over 100 interim agreements which allowed some films and shows to continue moving forward. So far the waivers have been granted to projects including Apple TV+'s series Tehran, Ishana Night Shyamalan's directorial debut The Watchers, Glenn Close's The Summer Book, A24's Mother Mary and Death of a Unicorn, and Civil War spy drama show The Gray House which is produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman.
The How to Get Away with Murder star's announcement comes just one week after actor Tobias Menzies told the outlet that he stopped working on Joseph Kosinski's Formula One film, Apex. While talking to Deadline, The Crown actor stated that he wanted "to support SAG-AFTRA and the strike they're on." He continued, "It feels like a really important point and moment in our industry."
Discussing the current status of the upcoming film which stars Brad Pitt, Menzies stated, "They're not shooting with any SAG actors, so I'm stood down." The actor additionally noted that "Brad is on strike too." While Menzies admitted that he's a "lucky person in that in the immediate future it doesn't affect me" the You Hurt My Feelings actor declared that he fully supports "the people who are working paycheck to paycheck." He added, "That's what unions are about. It's about the collective and the group, not the individual."