As actors, we need to stay on top of what’s changing in our industry. You don’t have to follow every new AI tool or agree with the way it’s being used. But if a casting brief asks for your likeness, a producer wants to alter your performance, or a client wants to reuse your voice, you want to understand what’s being asked before you say yes. Here’s what Claire and I think is worth paying attention to from the past two weeks. 𝟭. 𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗬 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗞𝗜𝗦: 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗦? Andy Serkis told LBC he sees uses for AI in film but doubts a generated Gollum or King Kong would be as effective as a character shaped by an actor. He used Hamlet as an example: give the same role to two actors and you’ll get two very different performances. I think that’s exactly the point. We’ve all had a moment in rehearsal when another actor gives us something unexpected and suddenly the scene goes somewhere neither of us planned. That’s part of the work, and it’s one of the things I love seeing in our Saturday Scene Studies. Read the LBC interview, 11 November 𝟮. 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗜 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔 𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗠 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗦 In Houdini: Back from the Dead, human actors supplied the expressions, timing and pacing beneath the generated historical appearances. Chris Bellinger voiced Houdini, and a surviving recording of Houdini himself was restored for the series. The producer told Forbes the overall headcount was comparable, although some camera and sound work shifted to AI roles. The production also delivered late. Meanwhile, French director Bruno Dumont told Screen International he was making The End with generative AI, without actors or a traditional film crew. Both projects can turn up under the label “AI film”, but the label alone tells you very little about who was hired or whose work you’re seeing. Forbes on Houdini, 31 October · Screen International on The End, 6 November