Los Angeles - Some of Hollywood's most famous actors have appealed to their colleagues to reject a call from union officials to authorize a strike action that could paralyze movie and film production in the entertainment mecca starting next month.

The strike ballots will be sent out at the start of January by the Screen Actors Guild, which needs 75 per cent of members to approve the measure in order to be able to call the strike.

The actors have been working without a contract since June, and are pressing for increased payments for work distributed over the internet and better benefits.

But the producers' umbrella group, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, claims the actors should accept the same terms that their colleagues in the writers' and directors' guilds have accepted, especially given the shaky economic climate.

The imbroglio has split the actors, with stars such as Tobey Maguire, Tom Hanks, Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, Heather Graham and Eva Longoria Parker urging their colleagues to reject the strike call.

"We don't think that an authorization can be looked at as merely a bargaining tool," said the stars in a letter sent out to the 120,000 plus members of the Screen Actors Guild. "We do not believe in all good conscience that now is the time to be putting people out of work."

The union responded to the letter with a "solidarity campaign" backing the strike authorization vote supported by Mel Gibson, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter and Martin Sheen among others.