After Marvel came under fire this week for relying on artificial intelligence to create its opening credits for the Disney+ show Secret Invasion, Samuel L. Jackson shared why he’s long been apprehensive over tools that create digital likenesses of Hollywood actors.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the actor appeared surprised that many people are just now becoming outraged over the technology that makes this possible.
“People just started worrying about that? I asked about that a long time ago,” Jackson said while detailing how he’s been “scanned” while working on set. “The first time I got scanned for George Lucas, I was like, ‘What’s this for?’”
It’s unclear if Jackson was referring specifically to AI, or more broadly to computer-generated imagery, which is often used for special effects in film and television, such as sci-fi and action scenes, but may or may not involve artificial intelligence.
He continued, “George and I are good friends, so we kind of had a laugh about it because I thought he was doing it because he had all those old guys in ‘Episode I,’ and if something happened to them, he still wanted to put them in the movie.”
The “Avengers” star then recounted having similar feelings about his likeness being captured on Marvel film sets over the years.
“Ever since I’ve been in the Marvel Universe, every time you change costumes in a Marvel movie, they scan you,” the 74-year-old said. “Ever since I did ‘Captain Marvel,’ and they did the Lola project where they de-aged me and everything else, it’s like, ‘Well, I guess they can do this anytime they want to do it if they really want to.’”
Jackson acknowledged that AI “could be something to worry about.” He also shared that he always reads over his contracts and doesn’t sign anything with vague language that could allow movie studios to put him in movies after he dies.
“Future actors should do what I always do when I get a contract, and it has the words ‘in perpetuity’ and ‘known and unknown’ on it: I cross that shit out. It’s my way of saying, ‘No, I do not approve of this,’” he added.
This week, Jackson’s series Secret Invasion, in which he stars as Nick Fury, faced backlash after fans discovered the show’s opening credits were AI-generated.
On Wednesday, Twitter users slammed the show for debuting its intro as members of the Writers Guild of America strike over concerns including artificial intelligence replacing workers.