Catherine Zeta-Jones Rejects AI Actors as She Backs Real Human Talent

Catherine Zeta-Jones has made her feelings about AI actors clear, saying she would rather watch real performers on screen and see opportunities given to undiscovered human talent.

The Kill Jackie star was discussing the changing entertainment industry when she was asked about actors choosing to work with artificial intelligence companies. While she stressed that the decision belongs to individual performers, Zeta-Jones made clear that synthetic actors are not what she wants to see replacing human talent.

“There’s so many actors already, who have given themselves over to an AI company, and that’s everyone’s choice,” she told the Associated Press. “But I like going to the theater and seeing real people talk.”

Catherine Zeta-Jones wants audiences to discover actors

For Zeta-Jones, the appeal of watching a film or television series also comes from not necessarily knowing everything about the people appearing on screen.

She said she enjoys going to movies without knowing the actors personally and being able to discover them through their performances. That makes the prospect of AI-generated performers particularly different, because there is no human actor behind the character waiting for audiences to discover.

Her comments also point towards a wider concern about what happens to emerging performers if synthetic actors become increasingly common. Hollywood has a constant supply of actors looking for their breakthrough, and Zeta-Jones’ preference is clearly for those performers to be given the chance to build careers.

The comments come as studios and technology companies continue experimenting with AI-generated characters, digital likenesses and synthetic performances, making the question of where human actors fit into that future increasingly difficult to ignore.

The actress is currently starring in Kill Jackie

Zeta-Jones is currently leading Prime Video thriller Kill Jackie, playing Welsh art dealer Jackie Price.

The series premiered in the UK and several other territories on 2 October, with the actress using her native Welsh accent for the first time in her screen career. It is also available in the US on AMC+.

Her comments therefore arrive while she is promoting a series built around a conventional human performance, with Zeta-Jones at the centre of the story.

The debate over AI actors is likely to become more complicated as the technology improves, but Zeta-Jones’ position is uncomplicated: she wants audiences to see real people on screen and believes there is still enormous value in discovering what human performers can bring to a role.