Nicolas Cage attended the 25th Newport Beach Film Festival on Sunday and urged up-and-coming actors from giving into pressure from studios opting to use artificial intelligence (AI) to alter or otherwise manipulate their performances. His concerns about the use of AI in film and TV productions are not unfounded. As Deadline reported, Cage believes that as AI technology becomes more advanced, filmmakers may rely less on real actors, resulting in fewer opportunities for young talents.
The actor also discussed the importance of protecting young actors from the negative aspects of the industry. He emphasized the need to create a safe environment where young actors can develop their craft without worrying about being exploited or taken advantage of. “Film performance, to me, is very much a handmade, organic, from-scratch process,” the award-winning actor said while uplifting young thespians. “It’s from the heart, it’s from the imagination, it’s from thoughts and detail and thinking and honing and preparing.”
“There is a new technology in town. It’s a technology that I didn’t have to contend with for 42 years until recently.” He continued, “but these young actors, this generation, most certainly will be, and they are calling it EBDR. This technology wants to take your instrument. We are the instruments as film actors. We are not hiding behind guitars and drums.”
Nicolas Cage’s comments come after the release of several films and TV shows that used AI technology to create realistic-looking characters. His reference here to EBDR is Employment-based digital replica, one of two digital replicas permitted by the SAG-AFTRA deal struck with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, or studios, after the conclusion of the dual Hollywood strikes in fall 2023.
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“The studios want this so that they can change your face after you’ve already shot it — they can change your face, they can change your voice, they can change your line deliveries, they can change your body language, they can change your performance,” Cage cautioned.
Cage also referenced his recent cameo appearance in 2023’s The Flash was an example of EBDR. “I’m asking you, if you’re approached by a studio to sign a contract, permitting them to use EBDR on your performance, I want you to consider what I am calling MVMFMBMI: my voice, my face, my body, my imagination — my performance, in response,” he concluded. “Protect your instrument.”
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Cage has been very vocal about these concerns for a while now. During a July interview with The New Yorker, he said, “God, I hope not A.I. I’m terrified of that. I’ve been very vocal about it. And it makes me wonder, you know, where will the truth of the artists end up? Is it going to be replaced? Is it going to be transmogrified? Where’s 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!”
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