Hollywood elder statesman Lew Wasserman, Universal Studio's chairman emeritus, has advised Screen Actors Guild president William Daniels to "tone down" his rhetoric about a possible strike, the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Monday).

Daniels, who met with Wasserman in August, told the trade paper, "He said to me, 'You know, Bill, if everybody keeps talking about a strike, there will be a strike.' ... He said, 'There's a deal to be made.'" Noting that in the past, Wasserman had often acted as a moderating force to keep labor peace in Hollywood, the Reporter noted that DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg is now attempting to play that role. "Katzenberg has been running around for weeks" trying to head off a strike, an unnamed entertainment company head told the Reporter.

Source: Studio Briefing