Lisa Kudrow Criticizes Tom Hanks' AI-Driven Film 'Here' as Threat to Acting Profession

Lisa Kudrow Calls Tom Hanks' De-Aging Movie 'Here' an 'Endorsement of AI'

Lisa Kudrow condemned Robert Zemeckis' Here, a film that uses digital aging technology, in a recent episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. Kudrow references Zemeckis' film, which reunites Forrest Gump stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, and calls the time-jumping film "an endorsement for AI." "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," the actress said on the podcast. "All I got from that was, this is an endorsement for AI. 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." Here, which draws inspiration from Richard McGuire's graphic novel of the same name, films from a single vantage point and follows the film's co-stars Hanks' Richard and Wright's Margaret from high school sweethearts to their 80th birthday. Artificial intelligence protections became a hot button issue during the summer-long actors and writers' strikes in 2023. And ahead of Here's release, which de-ages both Hanks and Wright's characters, it received some backlash from critics. "Set that completely aside, what work will there be for human beings? Then what?" Kudrow continued. "There'll be some kind of living stipend for people, you won't have to work? How can it possibly be enough?" Hanks previously told the New York Times that every film he has worked on with Zemeckis featured digital technology, including Forrest Gump, adding, "There's all kinds of stuff that they say, will movies ever be the same again because of this thing? And the answer is yes, of course, because in the sensibilities and I guess in some ways the morals of the filmmaker, it's plainly evident what the final product is."

Lisa Kudrow blasts Tom Hanks' de-aging movie 'Here' as...

Lisa Kudrow isn't happy about Tom Hanks' latest movie. The "Friends" actress, 61, recently slammed Hanks' reunion film with Robin Wright, "Here," claiming the movie -- which shows the pair decades younger in certain scenes thanks to de-aging technology -- was an "endorsement for AI." "Here" was released in Nov. and flopped at the box office, bringing in $13 million worldwide, according to Variety. "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," Kudrow criticized the movie on Dax Shepard's podcast, "Armchair Expert." "All I got from that was, this is an endorsement for AI. 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," she continued. The actress -- whose Netflix series "No Good Deed" was released last week -- expressed her concern over the technology. "Set that completely aside, what work will there be for human beings? Then what?" Kudrow asked. "There'll be some kind of living stipend for people, you won't have to work? How can it possibly be enough?" Last year, Hanks discussed AI, revealing that the technology would make it possible for him to continue acting long after his death. "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 performances can go on and on and on and on," the Oscar winner said in May 2023. "Outside the understanding of AI and 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. That's certainly an artistic challenge but it's also a legal one," he explained. Hanks shared that "all of the guilds, all of the agencies and all of the legal firms" were discussing "the legal ramifications of my face and my voice and everybody else's being our intellectual property." He added, "Without a doubt people will be able to tell [that it's AI], but the question is will they care? There are some people that won't care, that won't make that delineation." The Robert Zemeckis directorial film "Here" made headlines when it was revealed that Hanks and Wright would reunite for the first time on the big screen in 30 years following the success of their 1994 blockbuster "Forrest Gump." The stars revealed they jumped at the chance to work together again. When Bob [Zemeckis] mentioned getting the band back together, I was like, yes, for sure," Wright said of the reunion. "And he's like, this has never been done before. I said, let's go, let's take the ride. We have such faith in him because his imagination is pretty incredible." "We were making jokes when we were doing it because a lot of these scenes, they only last like two minutes or, you know, and our job was to make them as lively as possible and real as possible. And I said, well, look, if, look, if it gets boring, Bob will just have a stegosaurus walk by the window," Hanks shared. "Here" is a story about families, loss and love. The movie uses digital effects to show Hanks and Wright at different ages to create a sense of time passing. The Post's movie critic, Johnny Oleksinski, called the movie a "nauseating bomb."

Lisa Kudrow says Tom Hanks movie Here is 'an endorsement for AI'

Tom Hanks' new film Here has been criticised as "an endorsement for AI" by former Friends star Lisa Kudrow. Kudrow was discussing the implications of ageing with host Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast and pointed to Here as the harbinger of crisis for the film industry. "All I got from [the film] 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." Here, directed by Robert Zemeckis, features Hanks and his Forrest Gump co-star Robin Wright, as a married couple who are part of a series of characters occupying a single location whose history is told over time. The film makes extensive use of an AI-driven tool called Metaphysic Live to de-age and face-swap actors. Kudrow alludes to the near-simultaneous facility of AI tools to show the results via an immediate playback, saying: "They could actually shoot the scene, then look at the playback of them as younger and it's ready for them to see." "Set that completely aside, what work will there be for human beings? Then what? There'll be some kind of living stipend for people, [as] you won't have to work? How can it possibly be enough?" In 2023 Metaphysic, the company behind Metaphysic Live, announced it had made an agreement with leading talent agency CAA to "develop generative AI tools and services". Zemeckis endorsed the company, saying: "Having tested every flavour of face replacement and de-aging technology available today, Metaphysic are clearly the global leaders in feature-quality AI content." Here's production visual effects supervisor Kevin Baillie said: "It is incredible to see Metaphysic's AI-generated content flawlessly integrated into a shot live on set. The actors can even use the technology as a 'youth mirror' - testing out acting choices for their younger selves in real time." Metaphysic was previously responsible for the AI-generated replica of late actor Ian Holm that appeared in Alien: Romulus. However, fears over unchecked exploitation of AI formed part of the grievances behind the writers' and actors' strikes, with protections included as a key element in the resolution of both - though complaints remain as to how strong these protections are against what Stranger Things star Matthew Modine described as "the AI tsunami crashing upon the shores of the entertainment industry".