Tom Hanks Was Once Very Worried About Technology Eventually Replacing Actors
Actor Tom Hanks has enjoyed one of the longest and most successful careers in the film industry. But Hanks was once concerned that his and other actors’ careers would be cut short thanks to the evolution of technology in movies.
Tom Hanks wasn’t sure how actors could defend themselves against technology
The growth of technology has contributed to many significant changes in the film industry. Studios and production companies have been able to utilize modern tech to maximize CGI in films. Sci-fi and fantasy movies have benefited greatly from the process, making it easier to film the impossible. This has also benefited actors as well.
Motion capture has allowed actors to transform into larger than life creatures, like James Cameron’s alien Avatar race the Na’vi. Or the apes from Matt Reeves’ Planet of the Apes films. This has given these performers more of an ability to shape-shift into their roles.
But not everyone felt that these changes were good for the film industry. Forrest Gump star Hanks felt this could’ve actually threatened actors’ jobs instead.
“I am very troubled by it,” Hanks once told The New York Times (via New York Post). “But it’s coming down, man. It’s going to happen. And I’m not sure what actors can do about it.”
Tom Hanks recently touched on A.I technology completely replacing actors
Hanks noticed that technology has taken yet another leap over the years. With the use of A.I, actors can be replaced in movie or television scenes altogether. Deep Fake videos have already been used to insert superstars in projects they weren’t in before. This technology has even been used to replicate the voices of musical artists, demonstrating its potential.
Hanks is more than aware that he could use this technology for his own future film projects.
“What is a bona fide possibility right now, if I wanted to, 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,” Hanks told The Adam Buxton podcast not too long ago.
Hanks asserted that A.I would even allow his own acting performances to outlive him.
“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,” he continued.
Hanks was offered the comfort that a hypothetical A.I version of himself wouldn’t be able to deliver the same performances as Hanks himself. But the Oscar winner felt that would’ve been little concern to audiences.
“Without a doubt people will be able to tell, but the question is, will they care? There are some people that won’t care, that won’t make that delineation,” Hanks theorized.
Tom Hanks reveals that legal action is already being prepared against A.I usage
Hanks shared that the film industry wasn’t completely blindsided by the rapid growth of A.I technology. The actor had already voluntarily lent his likeness to the technology in its earlier stages for a 2004 animated project.
“This has always been lingering,” Hanks said. “The first time we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer — literally what we looked like — was a movie called The Polar Express.”
Because of this, the entertainment industry has already started figuring out how to maneuver around A.I going forward.
“I can tell you that there [are] discussions going on in all of the guilds, all of the agencies, and all of the legal firms in order to come up with the legal ramifications of my face and my voice and everybody else’s being our intellectual property,” Hanks said.
