Susan Sarandon said Sunday that she continues to lose film roles over her public support for Palestine, telling reporters at a Venice Film Festival press conference that agencies are actively discouraging productions from hiring her. “I’ve still had movies taken away recently because there are agencies that are telling people not to hire me still,” she said. “But that’s the power structure.”
The 79-year-old actress spoke while promoting “The Echo Chamber,” director Andrea Pallaoro’s new film adapted from a script by Bernardo Bertolucci, in which she plays an aging singer working with a music producer in recovery on a comeback album. Sarandon thanked Pallaoro directly for casting her despite what she described as pressure against the decision. “If it’s a major studio, I think there is — not just with me, but with other people — been told that that is impossible,” she said, adding that Pallaoro “didn’t listen to the warnings.”
Asked whether attitudes in Hollywood have shifted regarding the war in Gaza, Sarandon argued public opinion has moved even as industry gatekeepers have not. She pointed to wider awareness of U.S. financial support for Israel as a driver of that shift among ordinary audiences. “There has been a change in terms of the general public, but there are still positions in my industry that are held by Zionists who have not relaxed their feelings towards me,” she said. She added that she has found community internationally despite the professional friction at home.
United Talent Agency dropped Sarandon in November 2023 after she made remarks at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York’s Union Square, comments that drew criticism for comparing the current climate for Jewish people to the experience of Muslims in America.
Since losing that representation, she has continued working, appearing in films including “The Fabulous Four,” “The Six Triple Eight” and “Nonnas.” She has also spoken previously about feeling shut out by parts of the industry over her calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, framing her position as a matter of conscience rather than a stance she plans to soften.
