Lisa Kudrow, Tom Hanks. Getty Images (2)
Lisa Kudrow has some concerns about the use of AI in Tom Hanks’ film Here.
“You know the movie Here [with] Tom Hanks, Robin Wright [and director] Robert Zemeckis?” Kudrow, 61, asked Dax Shepard during a recent episode of Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast. “It’s going through time and they shot it, and they could actually shoot the scene and then look at the playback of them as younger [people], and it’s ready for them to see.”
Shepard, 49, shared he was surprised by that but jokingly questioned if the cast “wanted to make this movie for the rest of their lives.”
“All I got from that was, this is an endorsement for AI and oh my god,” she reflected. “It’s not like, ‘Oh it’s going to ruin everything,’ but what will there be left? Forget actors, what about up-and-coming actors? They’ll just be licensing and recycling.”
The use of AI technology to de-age actors has become a popular tool in filmmaking over the past few years — and Tom Hanks and Robin Wright’s upcoming film Here is just the latest example. The duo, who are reuniting after costarring in 1994’s Forrest Gump, portray Richard and Margaret in the romantic drama, a […]
Here reunites Hanks, 68, and his former Forrest Gump costar. The movie, which premiered in November, follows the pair as they meet, fall in love, begin a family and live the rest of their lives together. Instead of using younger actors to portray Hanks and Wright’s characters through the years, the film utilized a digital de-aging program by the company Metaphysic to portray their characters across different time periods.
“Set that completely aside, what work will there be for human beings?” the Friends alum said. “Then what? There’ll be some kind of living stipend for people, you won’t have to work? How can it possibly be enough?”
When Here was announced in January 2023, Zemeckis shared his excitement to partner with the tech company to use the AI software.
“I’ve always been attracted to technology that helps me to tell a story,” Zemeckis said in a statement per Variety. “With Here, the film simply wouldn’t work without our actors seamlessly transforming into younger versions of themselves. Metaphysic’s AI tools do exactly that, in ways that were previously impossible! Having tested every flavor of face replacement and de-aging technology available today, Metaphysic are clearly the global leaders in feature-quality AI content and the perfect choice for this incredibly challenging, emotional film.”
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This isn’t the first time Metaphysic has used its programs in the entertainment industry. The company was featured in a 2022 episode of America’s Got Talent where they created a realistic avatar of Elvis Presley singing on stage.
While Kudrow bashed the use of the software, Hanks previously explained that he didn’t feel the technology took anything away from the creative process.
“From an actor’s perspective, all it is is a tool, because we still had extensive makeup tests,” the Oscar winner said in a November interview with NPR alongside Zemeckis. “We sat in a hair and makeup chair for hours for each one of our looks. So that was coupled with the big-time wingding fandango that is a magnificent tool of how to do the rest of it in order to make it motion picture quality.”
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