Susan Sarandon has said she continues to lose film roles because of her outspoken support for Palestine, telling a press conference at the Venice Film Festival that agencies are still advising against hiring her. The actress said the broader public narrative around US support for Israel has shifted in recent months, but that entrenched attitudes persist among power-brokers in the film industry, meaning major studios remain effectively closed to her.

Sarandon was speaking to promote The Echo Chamber, a Golden Lion contender directed by Andrea Pallaoro in which she stars alongside Luca Marinelli and Alicia Vikander. She was dropped by talent agency UTA in 2023 after attending pro-Palestine rallies, and referenced the US House of Representatives' July approval of the National Defense Authorization Act, whose Section 219 expands US-Israel defence cooperation, as evidence of growing public awareness of the two countries' ties. Her comments come amid wider tension in Hollywood over the Israel-Gaza conflict, including Paramount's accusation that Mark Ruffalo used "antisemitic tropes" in criticising the Paramount-WBD merger, and a row at Venice over calls to fly the Palestinian flag, which festival director Alberto Barbera has refused on the grounds that Italy does not recognise Palestinian statehood.