“Rebel Moon” Actor Reveals It’s “Still a Struggle” to Get Paid in Hollywood

After 118 days of striking against the Alliances of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the actors reached a tentative agreement with some of the biggest studios in Hollywood. One of the big points that actors were fighting for in their strike was a liveable wage and residuals.

In an interview with Business Insider at the London premiere of Zack Snyder’s science-fiction epic “Rebel Moon–Part One: A Child of Fire,” Hounsou revealed that he has noticed little has changed in the industry since the SAG-AFTRA strike began in March 2023.

Despite the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA ending its lengthy strike over minimum pay, streaming service residuals, and the use of artificial intelligence, the growing pains of the new deal can be felt in the industry.

While SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher wrote on the union’s website that she feels “pretty confident in saying this [deal] is a paradigm shift of seismic proportions!” and the AMPTP agreeing that the deal “gives SAG-AFTRA the biggest contract-on-contract gains in the history of the union” (via CNBC), we might discover who the new deal benefits in the upcoming months.

Hounsou revealed what it is like to be offered a role from his perspective, saying to the Guardian, “They always come at me with a complete low ball: ‘We only have this much for the role, but we love you so much and we really think you can bring so much.'”

Hounsou has not commented on his experience working on the new Zack Snyder movie. At the “Rebel Moon” premiere, Hounsou did talk about the preparation he had to undergo for the action-packed film.

“It was a lot of hard work and little that I knew that Zack Snyder’s films came with a certain level of military training,” said Hounsou. “And so in that respect, early on, some of the members did not really want to train but in the end, we all felt like it was quite instrumental to do the training for the film.”

Hounsou added to his comment that the training each day on set “brought a certain strong connection between the characters, which I think really helped.” The “Rebel Moon” cast includes Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Doona Bae, and Anthony Hopkins.

“Rebel Moon” tells the story of Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former member of the Imperium, who is on a mission of revenge against the leadership of the oppressive government in the Motherworld. She recruits warriors from across the galaxy to help build a team that can stand against the Motherworld forces.

“Rebel Moon–Part One: A Child of Fire” is the latest collaboration between Snyder and Netflix. The two last came together to release the zombie heist movie, “Army of the Dead” in 2021. “Rebel Moon” will be landing in select theaters on Dec. 15.

The big battle between the rebels and the Imperium might not happen in this first “Rebel Moon.” Since “Rebel Moon–Part One: A Child of Fire,” is setting up the world and the groundwork for the epic battles to come, fans of the film won’t have to wait long for the sequel.

There are a lot of exciting movies being released this year, including a few epics from Snyder, but it is important to note that there is a real struggle that people are facing on set. It has not been made clear if there were any payment disputes on the “Rebel Moon” production.