The casts of Barbenheimer arrived in London mid-week, and on Wednesday, Barbie and Oppenheimer had dueling events – one premiere, one photocall, and a fan event. Then the SAG-AFTRA union left its negotiations with the studios and said that on Thursday, the actors would go on strike. A strike means that SAG members are not even allowed to do promotional junkets or attend premieres or Comic Con or anything like that. But… the timing was key. First a vote had to be held in LA, then the strike was called mid-morning on the west coast. So it ended up working out that the cast of Oppenheimer actually did some interviews and walked the premiere carpet in London, then halfway through the premiere, the cast went on strike.
So, here are some fashion notes from the last promotional event for Oppenheimer! Emily Blunt wore McQueen, an improvement over that ghastly mint Balmain in Paris. I don’t know if she was trying to “pout” as she posed or if that’s just what her face does now. Meanwhile, Florence Pugh wore a stunning Valentino gown with a full skirt. Her stylist matched the burnt orange color to… the color of the atomic bomb on the posters. Bombshell!
As I said, the cast did get to do some interviews – apparently, they moved up the time of the premiere just so the cast could do some last-minute interviews. The cast spoke to each other beforehand about what they would do once the strike was called, and they made a point of walking away from the premiere at the same time. Matt Damon was especially vocal about his support for his union, even though Deadline Hollywood tried to make it sound like he was against the strike. (Minor update: Deadline deleted their original tweet which was an incomplete quote from Matty D, but now they’ve updated it.)
#Oppenheimer star Matt Damon on SAG-AFTRA going on strike: “If our leadership is saying that the deal isn’t fair, then we gotta hold strong until we get a deal that’s fair for working actors. It’s the difference between having healthcare and not for a lot of actors, and we gotta… pic.twitter.com/wPjEKn9iSe
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 14, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Florence Pugh at the Oppenheimer UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 13 July 2023.,Image: 788953239, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Florence Pugh at the Oppenheimer UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 13 July 2023.,Image: 788953253, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Emily Blunt at the Oppenheimer UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 13 July 2023.,Image: 788953361, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Emily Blunt at the Oppenheimer UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 13 July 2023.,Image: 788953394, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh at the Oppenheimer UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 13 July 2023.,Image: 788954384, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh at the Oppenheimer UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 13 July 2023.,Image: 788954391, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Cillian Murphy at the Oppenheimer UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 13 July 2023.,Image: 788955568, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Cillian Murphy at the Oppenheimer UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 13 July 2023.,Image: 788955590, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
