Lisa Kudrow Criticizes Robert Zemeckis Film ‘Here’ As “Endorsement For AI”

Glenn Garner
·2-min read

Despite the nostalgia factor of Robert Zemeckis‘ Here, reuniting him with Forrest Gump stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in a multi-generational tale, its use of AI bodes for a frightening future to some.

Lisa Kudrow recently criticized the film’s use of digital de-aging to depict the cast as their characters over several time periods as “an endorsement for AI” after the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes called for efforts to regulate the technology.

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“They shot it, and they could actually shoot the scene and then look at the playback of them as younger, and it’s ready for them to see,” she explained on a recent episode of the Armchair Expert podcast.

“And all I got from that was, this is an endorsement for AI and oh, my God. It’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s going to ruin everything,’ but what will be left? Forget actors, what about up-and-coming actors? They’ll just be licensing and recycling.”

Kudrow continued, “Set that completely aside, what work will there be for human beings? Then what? There’ll be some kind of living stipend for people, you won’t have to work? How can it possibly be enough?”

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in 'Here'
Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in Here

Ahead of the movie’s premiere, Hanks previously discussed the potentials of AI. “What is a bona fide possibility right now, if I wanted to, [is] I could get together and pitch a series of seven movies that would star me in them in which I would be 32 years old from now until kingdom come,” he said on The Adam Buxton Podcast last year.

“Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deep fake technology … I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but my performances can go on and on and on,” added Hanks. “Outside of the understanding that it’s been done by AI or deepfake, there’ll be nothing to tell you that it’s not me and me alone and it’s going to have some degree of lifelike quality.”

Here is an original drama about multiple families and a special place they inhabit. The story travels through generations, capturing the human experience in its purest form. Based on the graphic novel by Richard McGuire, the film is written by Zemeckis and Forrest Gump screenwriter Eric Roth.

Also starring Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly and Michelle Dockery, the Miramax and ImageMovers film is produced by Zemeckis, Derek Hogue, Jack Rapke and Bill Block.

Hanks, Zemeckis and Roth previously won Oscars for their work on Forrest Gump, which also took the Academy Award for Best Picture.

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