Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon has said she continues to lose out on work in Hollywood because of her vocal support for Palestinians, even as public opinion in the United States has shifted on the conflict in Gaza. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, where she is promoting her latest film The Echo Chamber, the 79-year-old said agencies are actively advising against hiring her.
"I've still had movies taken away recently because there are agencies that are telling people not to hire me still," Sarandon told reporters on the sidelines of the festival. She said the resistance was particularly pronounced among major studios, adding that she was not alone in facing such professional consequences. At the same time, she acknowledged a broader change in public awareness. "The narrative has completely changed in terms of the historical relevance of Palestine and the ties of Zionists with America and our politics," she said, noting that many Americans had been surprised to learn the scale of US financial support for Israel.
Sarandon, best known for her Academy Award-winning role in Dead Man Walking and for films such as Thelma and Louise and Bull Durham, was dropped by her long-standing talent agency UTA in 2023. The split followed remarks she made at pro-Palestinian rallies held in the weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel in October of that year, when she said Jewish people were "getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country" — comments that drew widespread criticism. US opinion polls conducted since the start of the Gaza war have shown sympathy for Palestinians rising and support for Israel softening among the American public.
Despite the professional setbacks, Sarandon said she felt welcomed internationally and expressed gratitude to Andrea Pallaoro, the director of The Echo Chamber, for casting her. "I found my family, I found my people and I'm OK," she said, drawing prolonged applause from those gathered at the news conference. In The Echo Chamber, adapted from the final screenplay by Italian film-maker Bernardo Bertolucci, Sarandon plays an ageing singer who hires a music producer recovering from drug addiction for a comeback album. The film is among 21 competing for Venice's top prize, the Golden Lion, to be awarded on 12 September.
The broader tensions surrounding the conflict have also touched the festival itself, with activists calling on organisers to fly the Palestinian flag in recognition of Palestinian directors whose films are screening at the event. The festival's artistic director, Alberto Barbera, has said this is not possible because Italy does not formally recognise the state of Palestine, though he noted that several films being shown at the Lido depict the lives of ordinary Palestinians.