Nicolas Cage isn’t looking to adapt to the rise of artificial intelligence in Hollywood anytime soon.
The Oscar winner spoke out against the technology in an interview with “The Orchid Thief” author Susan Orlean for The New Yorker. Orlean’s nonfiction book served as the basis for Charlie Kaufman’s meta film “Adaptation,” starring Cage as screenwriter Kaufman (and his fictional twin brother Donald) and Meryl Streep as Orlean.
Cage explained to Orlean that, right after the interview, he had to undergo a “scan” for his upcoming Prime Video series “Noir,” in which Cage reprises his role as the animated web-slinger from “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” this time in live-action. He expressed concerns about how that scan of his image could ultimately be further manipulated by artificial intelligence technology.
“They’re going to have to put me in a computer and match my eye color and change — I don’t know,” Cage said. “They’re just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital AI. God, I hope it’s not AI. I’m afraid of it. I’ve been very open about it.”
The “Longlegs” actor continued: “It’s [really scary]. And it makes me wonder, you know, where is the truth of the artists going to end up? Is it going to be replaced? Is it going to be transfigured? Where is the heartbeat going to be? I mean, what are you going to do with my body and my face when I’m dead? I don’t want you to do anything with it!
Late stars like Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Laurence Olivier, all part of the golden age of cinema that Cage told The New Yorker he admired, have recently been resurrected thanks to AI audio company ElevenLabs. According to the AI company, their heirs have given ElevenLabs legal permission to recreate the actors’ voices so they can narrate on the Reader app. Users can hear the deceased actors read books, articles and essays. Garland’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, released a statement in support of the initiative.
