Shortly before Keanu Reeves returns to cinemas as “John Wick”, he expresses his concern about new technologies in the film business. For fear of a “digital twin”, he had a clause written into his contract to prevent post-processing.
Hollywood star Keanu Reeves has clearly warned of the dangers of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and deepfake. These would have “scary implications for actors,” Reeves said in an interview with Wired.
“When you’re in a movie, you know your performance will be edited,” he said. “But you are involved. If you engage in deepfake, you have nothing more to say.” It’s about control and manipulation, the “Matrix” star continued: “The people who pay you for your art would like not to pay you for it. They are actively looking for a way to bypass you.”
With the so-called deepfake technology, a kind of “digital twin” of a person is created. With actor Bruce Willis, the mobile phone provider MegaFon did a commercial with his artificial alter ego in Russia.
Keanu Reeves explained that he protects himself from digital manipulation through a contractual clause. For years he has been preventing his work from being digitally altered without his explicit consent. The reason for his vigilance on this subject is an experience he had with a film many years ago: “In a scene afterwards, a tear was placed in my face without being discussed with me beforehand. I felt like I didn’t even have to be there.”
On March 23, Keanu Reeves returns to the cinemas with the fourth part of the successful series “John Wick”. Again directed by ex-stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski, he must defeat the High Chamber as a hitman, but first face off against a new enemy with alliances around the world. In addition to Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick and Ian McShane also play in the spectacle, which is sure to be action-packed again.
