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STORY: Hollywood productions could soon be grinding to a halt.

The biggest actors union, representing some 160-thousand people, has unanimously recommended that they strike after labor talks with Hollywood studios failed to yield an agreement.

The SAG-AFTRA actors union has been battling the likes of Netflix and Walt Disney over base pay and residuals from streaming services.

They're also calling for more safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Actors want assurances that their digital images will not be used without their permission.

The union's national board is set to meet on Thursday (July 13) to vote on a strike.

If approved, actors would join film and television writers who walked off the job in early May.

A-list stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep have said they are ready to walk out.

Some actors joined the striking Hollywood writers at the picket line on Wednesday, as the deadline for their own talks loomed.

Actor and union member Mike C Nelson was among them:

"Without the actors, you can't film a thing going forward. You can't even promote stuff, which is a big hurt, you know... It hurts them that they can't even promote the stuff they have filmed. So yeah, it hasn't happened since 1960 that both of us (writers and actors) have been walking out together. So yeah, I think together... plus everybody in the industry, it's like everyone's hurting."

The writers' strike has sent late-night television talk shows into endless reruns, disrupted most production for the fall TV season and halted work on big-budget movies.

An actors' strike would force the remaining U.S.-based productions from Hollywood studios to shut down.

And put more pressure on media companies to find a resolution.