Hollywood Elite Including Willem Dafoe, Joaquin Phoenix, and Adam Driver Pen Letter Calling For “Radical Transformation” Of Society

Jorge Arenas |

May 10, 2020

Joker actors Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix, Green Goblin actor Willem Dafoe, Star Wars actor Adam Driver, and Thor: Ragnarok’s Cate Blanchett are among the two hundred plus Hollywood celebrities and scientists who have signed their names to an editorial demanding radical changes to society after the Covid-19 crisis.

In the op-ed published to French paper Le Monde earlier this week, the Hollywood elite make clear they want to radically transform society in order to address “the ongoing ecological catastrophe.”

It calls this “ongoing ecological catastrophe” as a “direct existential threat” that will “have immeasurable consequences.” One of those consequences they claim is “the massive extinction of life on Earth.”

The group of signers claim the “pursuit of consumerism and an obsession with productivity have led us to deny the value of life itself.” The letter also stated, “Pollution, climate change, and the destruction of our remaining natural zones has brought the world to a breaking point.”

Thus they want to radically transform society which includes “a profound overhaul of our goals, values, and economies.” They also detail the “radical transformation we need – at all levels – demands boldness and courage.”

In their editorial they demand that the citizens of all nations call on their leaders, and push them to re-engineer society for the sake of the environment, “We must act now. It is a as much a matter of survival as one of dignity and coherence.”

Some of the more prominent signees include Star Wars actor Adam Driver, James Bond actor Ralph Fiennes, Die Hard actor Jeremy Irons, Joker actor Joaquin Phoenix, and Inception’s Marion Cotillard.

Deadline provided a translation of the editorial which is titled “No To A Return To Normal.”

“The Covid-19 pandemic is a tragedy. This crisis is, however, inviting us to examine what is essential. And what we see is simple: “adjustments” are not enough. The problem is systemic.

The ongoing ecological catastrophe is a meta-crisis: the massive extinction of life on Earth is no longer in doubt, and all indicators point to a direct existential threat. Unlike a pandemic, however severe, a global ecological collapse will have immeasurable consequences.

We therefore solemnly call upon leaders — and all of us as citizens – to leave behind the unsustainable logic that still prevails and to undertake a profound overhaul of our goals, values, and economies.

The pursuit of consumerism and an obsession with productivity have led us to deny the value of life itself: that of plants, that of animals, and that of a great number of human beings. Pollution, climate change, and the destruction of our remaining natural zones has brought the world to a breaking point.

For these reasons, along with increasing social inequalities, we believe it is unthinkable to “go back to normal.”

The radical transformation we need – at all levels – demands boldness and courage. It will not happen without a massive and determined commitment. We must act now. It is as much a matter of survival as one of dignity and coherence.”

The Daily Wire provided a full list of all the signees:

“Lynsey Addario, senior reporter

Isabelle Adjani, actress

Roberto Alagna, lyric singer

Pedro Almodovar, director

Santiago Amigorena, writer

Angèle, singer

Adria Arjona, actress

Yann Arthus-Bertrand, photographer, director

Ariane Ascaride, actress

Olivier Assayas, director

Josiane Balasko, actress

Jeanne Balibar, actress

Bang Hai Ja, painter

Javier Bardem, actor

Aurélien Barrau, astrophysicist, honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France

Mikhail Baryshnikov, dancer, choreographer

Nathalie Baye, actress

Emmanuelle Béart, actress

Jean Bellorini, director

Monica Bellucci, actress

Alain Benoit, physicist, Academy of Sciences

Charles Berling, actor

Juliette Binoche, actress

Benjamin Biolay, singer

Dominique Blanc, actress

Cate Blanchett, actress

Gilles Bœuf, former president of the National Museum of Natural History

Valérie Bonneton, actress

Aurélien Bory, director

Miguel Bosé, actor, singer

Stéphane Braunschweig, director

Stéphane Brizé, director

Irina Brook, director

Peter Brook, director

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, actress, director

Khatia Buniatishvili, pianist

Florence Burgat, philosopher, research director at Inrae

Guillaume Canet, actor, director

Anne Carson, poet, writer, Academy of Arts and Sciences

Michel Cassé, astrophysicist

Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel Prize in chemistry

François Civil, actor

François Cluzet, actor

Isabel Coixet, director

Gregory Colbert, photographer, director

Paolo Conte, singer

Marion Cotillard, actress

Camille Cottin, actress

Penélope Cruz, actress

Alfonso Cuaron, director

Willem Dafoe, actor

Béatrice Dalle, actress

Alain Damasio, writer

Ricardo Darin, actor

Cécile de France, actress

Robert De Niro, actor

Annick de Souzenelle, writer

Johann Deisenhofer, biochemist, Nobel Prize in chemistry

Kate del Castillo, actress

Miguel Delibes Castro, biologist, Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences

Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, director

Claire Denis, director

Philippe Descola, anthropologist, CNRS gold medal

Virginie Despentes, writer

Alexandre Desplat, composer

Arnaud Desplechin, director

Natalie Dessay, lyric singer

Cyril Dion, writer, director

Hervé Dole, astrophysicist, honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France

Adam Driver, actor

Jacques Dubochet, Nobel Prize in chemistry

Diane Dufresne, singer

Thomas Dutronc, singer

Lars Eidinger, actor

Olafur Eliasson, plastic artist, sculptor

Marianne Faithfull, singer

Pierre Fayet, member of the Academy of Sciences

Abel Ferrara, director

Albert Fert, Nobel Prize in physics

Ralph Fiennes, actor

Edmond Fischer, biochemist, Nobel Prize in medicine

Jane Fonda, actress

Joachim Frank, Nobel Prize in chemistry

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, actor

Marie-Agnès Gillot, star dancer

Amos Gitaï, director

Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu, director

Timothy Gowers, Fields Mathematics Medal

Eva Green, actress

Sylvie Guillem, star dancer

Ben Hardy, actor

Serge Haroche, Nobel Prize in physics

Dudley R. Herschbach, Nobel Prize in chemistry

Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize in chemistry

Rob Hopkins, founder of Cities in Transition

Nicolas Hulot, Honorary President of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation for Nature and Man

Imany, singer

Jeremy Irons, actor

Agnès Jaoui, actress, director

Jim Jarmusch, director

Vaughan Jones, Fields Mathematics Medal

Spike Jonze, director

Camélia Jordana, singer

Jean Jouzel, climatologist, Vetlesen Prize

Anish Kapoor, sculptor, painter

Naomi Kawase, director

Sandrine Kiberlain, actress

Angélique Kidjo, singer

Naomi Klein, writer

Brian Kobilka, Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Hirokazu Kore-eda, director

Panos Koutras, director

Antjie Krog, poet

La Grande Sophie, singer

Ludovic Lagarde, director

Mélanie Laurent, actress

Bernard Lavilliers, singer

Yvon Le Maho, ecophysiologist, member of the Academy of Sciences

Roland Lehoucq, astrophysicist

Gilles Lellouche, actor, director

Christian Louboutin, creator

Roderick MacKinnon, Nobel Prize in chemistry

Madonna, singer

Macha Makeïeff, director

Claude Makélélé, footballer

Ald Al Malik, rapper

Rooney Mara, actress

Ricky Martin, singer

Carmen Maura, actress

Michel Mayor, Nobel Prize in physics

Medina, rapper

Melody Gardot, singer

Arturo Menchaca Rocha, physicist, former president of the Mexican Academy of Sciences

Raoni Metuktire, Raoni’s Indian chief

Julianne Moore, actress

Wajdi Mouawad, director, author

Gérard Mouroux, Nobel Prize in physics

Nana Mouskouri, singer

Yael Naim, singer

Jean-Luc Nancy, philosopher

Guillaume Néry, freediving world champion

Pierre Niney, actor

Michaël Ondaatje, writer

Thomas Ostermeier, director

Rithy Panh, director

Vanessa Paradis, singer, actress

James Peebles, Nobel Prize in physics

Corine Pelluchon, philosopher

Joaquin Phoenix, actor

Apple, singer

Iggy Pop, singer

Olivier Py, director

Radu Mihaileanu, director

Susheela Raman, singer

Edgar Ramirez, actor

Charlotte Rampling, actress

Raphaël, singer

Eric Reinhardt, writer

Resident, singer

Jean-Michel Ribes, director

Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist monk

Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize in medicine

Isabella Rossellini, actress

Cecilia Roth, actress

Carlo Rovelli, physicist, honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France

Paolo Roversi, photographer

Ludivine Sagnier, actress

Shaka Ponk (Sam and Frah), singers

Vandana Shiva, philosopher, writer

Abderrahmane Sissako, director

Gustaf Skarsgard, actor

Sorrentino Paolo, director

Sabrina Speich, oceanographer, Albert Defant medal

Sting, singer

James Fraser Stoddart, Nobel Prize in chemistry

Barbra Streisand, singer, actress, director

Malgorzata Szumowska, director

Béla Tarr, director

Bertrand Tavernier, director

Alexandre Tharaud, pianist

James Thierré, director, dancer

Mélanie Thierry, actress

Tran Anh Hung, director

Jean-Louis Trintignant, actor

Karin Viard, actress

Rufus Wainwright, singer

Lulu Wang, director

Paul Watson, navigator, writer

Wim Wenders, director

Stanley Whittingham, Nobel Prize in chemistry

Sonia Wieder-Atherton, cellist

Frank Wilczek, Nobel Prize in physics

Olivia Wilde, actress

Christophe Willem, singer

Bob Wilson, director

Lambert Wilson, actor

David Wineland, Nobel Prize in Physics

Xuan Thuan Trinh, astrophysicist

Muhammad Yunus, economist, Nobel Peace Prize

Zazie, singer.

With the world still reeling from the current pandemic, what do you think of these demands by some of Hollywood’s most well-known actors? Does it make sense at all, or is this just an opportunistic move?