'Not appropriate to move forward': Viola Davis confirms G20 is on pause

Viola Davis has stepped back from 'G20' during the ongoing actors and writers strikes.

The 57-year-old actress insisted it would not "be appropriate" to continue working on the movie - in which she plays US president Taylor Sutton, who has to help save the world when terrorists take over the G20 summit - despite producers having secured a waiver to keep filming from SAG-AFTRA because the project was being made by MRC, who are not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Viola - who is also a producer on the movie via her and husband Julius Tennon's JuVee company - told Deadline in a statement: “I love this movie, but I do not feel that it would be appropriate for this production to move forward during the strike.

“I appreciate that the producers on the project agree with this decision. JuVee Productions and I stand in solidarity with actors, SAG/AFTRA and the WGA.”

Since SAG-AFTRA announced their strikes earlier this month, they have handed out over 100 interim agreements to allow films and TV series to keep shooting, including the likes of 'The Gray House', 'Tehran', 'The Summer Book' and 'Mother Mary'.

Meanwhile, Viola previously slammed Hollywood "escapism" for "destroying our art form".

The 'Suicide Squad' actress believes the expectations of films now to create unrealistic entertainment and to capitalise on commercial opportunities is ruining the opportunity to craft complex characters.

She said at the Produced By conference: “Social media has taken over the defining of this art form. I think that the word ‘escapism’ is something that is interesting — the goal all of us have is to sit in a movie with the popcorn and Sour Patch Kids and forget about our lives — but, literally, it destroys our art form.

“Every time you’re in a room selling a narrative, it’s about how much you can create a story that allows us to escape.

“The characters then become a Mr. Potato Head, become Bobble Heads. We forget who these people are really until a movie comes along and blows our mind.”

The 'How To Get Away With Murder' star - who stressed she is a fan of commercial fare such as Marvel movies - explained she and her husband created their production Company JuVee Productions to help explore more realistic stories.