Ariana Grande's Wicked halts filming due to SAG-AFTRA strike

Ariana Grande has been forced to stop filming 'Wicked', due to the actors' strike.

Although the 30-year-old pop-star is just days away from finishing filming on Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the musical, she is among the thousands of actors who have downed tools after their union Screen Actors Guild, voted to strike.

The strike comes after the union tried and failed to reach a deal over residuals from streaming services and an agreement that artificial intelligence wouldn’t replace actors.

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher has said that the actors guild is ready for a long strike.

She said: "Right now, we discussed what it would cost if it went for six months, so we’re looking for the long haul. The gravity of a commitment like this is not lost on any of us. It’s major. But we also see that we have no future and no livelihood unless we take this action, unfortunately.”

Earlier this week, the cast of Oppenheimer left their London premiere early to “go and write their picket signs” in preparation for the strike by the actors’ union.

Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Ramy Malek all walked out of the premiere with director Christopher Nolan revealing their reasons.

He told the audience: "You’ve seen them here earlier on the red carpet.

“Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by SAG, joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of the unions, and we support them.”