He can become the man of your dreams and nightmares as in Dream Scenarioin an action hero, case Ghostland Prisonersincarnate as Dracula himself in Renfield or interpret yourself in The unbearable weight of an enormous talent. Nicolas Cage He has gone from being meme fodder to being idolized by many moviegoers, participating in the most shocking and low-budget films. And keeping track of all his releases is not easy. In a couple of years there must have been a dozen movies released with Cage as the protagonist or in the cast.
His most recent release in our cinemas is, as a supporting role, but with a disturbing role with a lot of crumbs, in the gloomy and demonic thriller Longlegs. Genius and figure, Cage has also been the prominent presence this Sunday, October 20 at the Newport Beach International Film Festival and, via deadlinewe learn that you have taken advantage of the opportunity to warn, especially younger actors, about the risks of Artificial Intelligence. And more specifically about the digital replica technology called EBDR (Employment-Based Digital Replica) that allows studios obtain digital replicas of the actors and manipulate them as you wish. Cage himself was already a “victim” of this for a cameo, as Superman, in Flash.
The EBDR is, at least for now, one of two digital replicas currently allowed after the strikes that paralyzed Hollywood in the fall of 2023, by agreement between the SAG-AFTRA union and the Alliance of Film and Television Producers.
“Film acting, for me, is a very artisanal, organic process, starting from scratch. It comes from the heart, from the imagination, from thoughts and details and reflection and refinement and preparation”the actor began by saying. “There’s a new technology in town. It’s a technology I didn’t have to deal with for 42 years until recently. But these 10 young actors, this generation, will definitely have to, and they call it EBDR. This technology wants to take over your instruments. We are the instruments as film actors. We are not hiding behind guitars and drums.”.
Cage warned that “The studios want this so they can change your face after you’ve shot: they can change your face, they can change your voice, they can change your lines of dialogue, they can change your body language, they can change your performance”. And he continued with a proposal: “I ask that if a studio approaches you proposing to sign a contract that allows them to use EBDR in your performance, that you consider what I call MVMCMCMI: my voice, my face, my body, my imagination, my interpretation as a response”to conclude with a forceful proclamation: “Protect your instrument.”
Nicolas Cage’s bad ‘Flash’ experience
And here, instead of ending with the plea of the protagonist of the Oscar-winning protagonist of Leaving Las Vegaswe open a parenthesis to remember that precisely on the occasion of his cameo in Flash of Andy Muschiettiin a scene that it should be a tribute to the frustrated project of Tim Burton with Cage, with long hair, in the skin of the Kryptonian superhero, was already shown totally disappointed with the final result. In statements for Yahoo! Entertainment He even said that he had never done what was seen on the screen. “I literally went to film a scene for maybe an hour in the suit, watching the destruction of a universe and trying to convey feelings of loss, sadness and terror in my eyes. That’s all I did”.
However, to his surprise, when he went to see it at the cinema he found that “I was fighting a giant spider. I didn’t do that. That’s not what I did.”. Therefore, at that moment, he was neither short nor lazy. by stating that “It’s a nightmare. There is nothing more inhuman than artificial intelligence”. And, by the way, Tim Burton didn’t like that scene at all either.
The issue of the use and abuse of AI remains hot, potentially altering or even replacing interpretations. ¿Will it be used, more than for other purposes, to reduce costs? Will it mean cutting jobs for actors? To make everything more… artificial? The human element is key and, without a doubt, the debate continues and will continue for a longer time, more open than ever.
Do you want to be up to date with all the latest movie and series news? Sign up for our newsletter.
