South African actress turned Hollywood star Thuso Mbedu has shown her solidarity for the Hollywood writers’ strike and joined the picket line.
The multi-award-winning actress, since making her Hollywood debut, has flown the South African flag high on all the major movies she has made.
Mbedu earned her biggest break yet when she made her feature film debut alongside Viola Davis in the critically acclaimed Hollywood blockbuster ‘The Woman King.’
Renowned fashion house Christian Dior unveiled her as the face of a campaign for Gris Dior, its leading gender-neutral fragrance under the La Collection Privée.
Most recently, L'Oréal Paris announced Mbedu as the new brand ambassador and spokesperson for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mbedu posted on her Instagram Stories, a picture of herself holding a SAG-AFTRA on strike board and tagged her location as Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood.
The action began in May after 11 000 unionised TV and movie writers declared a strike after failed negotiations with production companies.
The Writers Guild of America’s decision to carry out the first industry-wide strike since 2007 comes after the collapse of weeks-long negotiations with production companies over writer compensation and other issues, such as the use of artificial intelligence in scripts.
Writers have been reported picketing outside 10 major studios in and around Los Angeles.
Mbedu follows in the footsteps of other Hollywood celebrities who have shown support such as Drew Barrymore and Vin Diesel.
Barrymore stepped down as host of the 2023 MTV Movie and TV Awards.
Other A-list actors that have shown solidarity include Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Gad, Yvette Nicole Brown, Keke Palmer and Mark Ruffalo.