Former “Arrow” and current “Heels” star Stephen Amell is attempting to walk back recent comments he made about the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Amell appeared on a panel at GalaxyCon in North Carolina on the weekend where he said: “I support my union, I do, and I stand with them. I do not support striking. I don’t” before going on to call it “myopic” and strikes being a “reductive negotiating tactic”.
Those comments have drawn a harsh backlash from many corners, including some of Amell’s former “Arrow” guest stars including Kirk Acevedo who tweeted “This f—ing guy” and Matt Letscher who tweeted: “Still waiting on that comprehensive list of totally non-reductive negotiating tactics we get to employ now. Thank god for superheroes! Any second now…”
Today, Amell sought to clarify his thoughts in a lengthy Instagram post explaining every sentence of his original comments. Here’s an excerpt:
“I’m an actor and I was speaking extemporaneously for over an hour. I emote, but I certainly don’t think these issues are simple. Our leadership has an incredibly complicated job, and I am grateful for all that they do.
Despite some of my terrible early acting work, I assure you, I’m not a robot. From an intellectual perspective, I understand why we are striking, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t emotionally frustrating on many levels for all involved.
…I’m simply sad that we don’t have a chance to celebrate a show that all of us figuratively and I literally, broke my back for… However, at least for the foreseeable future, I choose to stand with my union. When you see me on a picket line please don’t whip any hard fruit.”
For the full posting, head over to Instagram.
The comments come as Deadline reports that the simultaneously ongoing writer’s strike is finally on the verge of a breakthrough with the studios reportedly creating committees to examine the issues.
The outlet indicates “there’s a drive, particularly from the legacy media companies, to get this sorted out sooner rather than later”. That strike will be approaching the 100-day mark next Wednesday.
