Gillian Anderson: ‘I’ll find something else to do if AI takes my job’

‘That there is an AI actress who has made her appearance at the same time this film is coming out… I think is ironic,’ says Gillian Anderson.

The star of The X-Files, The Crown and Sex Education is not only talking about her new movie, Tron: Ares, the lavish third in the sci-fi franchise that started with 1982’s landmark Tron. She’s also alluding to Tilly Norwood, the just-unveiled artificially-created ‘actress’ that’s left Hollywood stars up in arms.

In Tron: Ares, Anderson plays Elizabeth Dillinger, mother to tech whizz Julian (Evan Peters), who creates a sophisticated, military-grade AI security program, Ares (Jared Leto), capable of emerging in our world in human form.

The world of artificial intelligence has never been more pertinent than it is now, admits Anderson. ‘It is so in our present, all of the things that are being discussed in this film, and the potential consequences.’

How does she feel about the inevitable arrival of AI tech? ‘I’m excited by what AI has done and seems to continue to be doing in the worlds of science and medicine, and also obviously helping many people on many levels.

‘I’m also nervous about it, just in terms of safety, and hope that at some point the grown-ups in the conversation have serious conversations about regulations and safeguarding.’

Maybe Tron: Ares is just the warning sign that we need. ‘That’s the whole cautionary tale, I think, of this film,’ says Peters, the 38-year-old American star famed for appearances in the Marvel universe and playing real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the Netflix show Dahmer.

‘It could be used for good or evil, but it’s in the hands of Dr. Frankenstein,’ he adds, calling the blockbuster ‘a leap into the future, which is now our present day’.

Mother-of-three Anderson, 57, admits it’s impossible not to worry about the future, and the way her kids engage with the digital universe.

‘As a mother, whether it’s for my sons or my daughter, there is a degree of fear. And sometimes I struggle. I have to compartmentalise quite a lot. And as a parent, you need to let your kids explore their dreams and allow them to do that despite your own fear. And sometimes that’s easy, and sometimes it’s one of the hardest things ever.’

What about the emergence of Tilly Norwood? Fellow actress Emily Blunt called the creation ‘terrifying’, and there seems to be genuine fear around her emergence. Is Anderson equally fearful for her livelihood?

‘I have not seen any visuals of Tilly yet,’ says Anderson, cautiously. ‘So I can’t really comment. I mean, I’ve got no control over it. I have to hope and imagine that there’ll still be a desire for human beings as actors. And if not…then I’ll find something else to do!’

She’s not the only one. ‘To be frank, I am opposed to AI actors,’ says Greta Lee, the Past Lives actress who co-stars as tech genius Eve Kim, a rival to the Dillingers.

‘I don’t think I need to be shy about that. I am a human actor. I would like to remain a human actor. I would like to continue to have the privilege of this job that I have, but I really passionately believe that it’s imperative to protect a certain humanity in what we do. Movies are all about connecting people all over the world.’

Norwegian-born Tron: Ares director, Joachim Rønning, shrugs at the idea. ‘I mean, first off, it almost didn’t feel new anymore. I feel I’ve seen AI actresses already. It almost felt a little tabloid, the whole news thing about that.’

Would he consider using an AI actor? ‘As of now, I would not use AI actor. Not without proper guardrails and proper deals intact, where a human artist, in some way, is compensated. I know everybody is so impressed by AI, and maybe I’m arrogant, but I am not that impressed yet.’

While Tron: Ares didn’t use any AI tech in its creation, it didn’t need to when the production had Jared Leto in its midst. ‘Jared’s attention to detail is unparalleled,’ says Peters.

The Oscar-winning star and frontman for band Thirty Seconds To Mars is a Method actor, fully immersed in character. On set, nobody referred to him as Jared but as Ares. ‘I’d heard that Jeff Bridges was able to call him ‘Air ’as a sort of cheeky nickname,’ says Lee. ‘I certainly was not given that privilege.’

Everyone is clearly in awe of Bridges, the legendary star of the original 1982 Tron, who here reprises his role briefly as programmer Kevin Flynn.

‘Just being in the same room as Jeff Bridges…let alone to be a part of this franchise that basically is Jeff Bridges…[that] was a dream come true,’ says Peters. Anderson is almost relieved she shared no scenes with him. ‘If I was sat across the table from Jeff Bridges…[I] might just be sitting there [dumfounded] and not being able to listen to what conversation was happening!’

The other big score as far as Tron: Ares is concerned is, well, the score. While it doesn’t eclipse the operatic thunder of Daft Punk’s music for 2010’s Tron: Legacy, Oscar-winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, here as Nine Inch Nails, provide the electro-tunes.

‘They are, for me, the industry standard in terms of film scoring,’ says Lee. ‘And then to receive the news that they would be doing it as Nine Inch Nails…I mean, [we knew] this will feel like a rock concert.’

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine AI producing something as unique as a NIN score. Rønning is of the belief that, right now, the movie industry isn’t going to adopt AI in any major way.

With the artistry humans can offer, ‘You can’t really compete, except on budget. So when I’m lucky enough to make a movie that has the resources, it’s a no brainer.

‘We didn’t use AI…but I’m old school.’ Then comes the clanger. ‘But who knows in a couple of years where we will be?’ You have been warned.

Tron: Ares is in cinemas from October 10.

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