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”.