Lisa Kudrow Criticizes Tom Hanks MovieHereas 'Endorsement of A.I.': 'What Work Will There Be for Human Beings?'

Mar. 15, 2025

Lisa Kudrow, Tom Hanks in ‘Here’.Photo:Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Sony Pictures

Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Sony Pictures

Lisa Kudrowis sharing her thoughts onTom Hanks' latest filmHere, which she’s calling an “endorsement for A.I.”

TheFriendsalum appeared on a Dec. 9 episode of Dax Shepard’sArmchair Expertpodcast, where she criticized the project from directorRobert Zemeckisand the technology used to de-age Hanks and costarRobin Wright, who all previously worked together onForrest Gump.

For the film, aspreviously reported, A.I. company Metaphysic’s Metaphysic Live tool was tapped to de-ageHere’s stars without any need for VFX or further work, with the plot taking place over a number of decades. Zemeckis previously said in early 2023 that he had “always been attracted to technology that helps me to tell a story” and that the film “wouldn’t work without our actors seamlessly transforming into younger versions of themselves.”

“It’s going through time,” Kudrow, 61, said of the film, which released in November. “They shot it and they could actually shoot the scene and then look at the playback of them as younger and it’s ready for them to see.”

Lisa Kudrow attends the December 2024 premiere of Netflix’s ‘No Good Deed’ in Hollywood.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

“All I got from that was, this is an endorsement for A.I. and oh my God,” she added. “It’s not like it’s going to ruin everything… What will there be left for, forget actors, but what about up-and-coming actors? They’ll just be licensing and recycling.”

Kudrow then asked: “What work will there be for human beings?”

“And then what, so there’ll be some kind of living stipend for people? How can it possibly be enough,” she asked.

Hanks previously spoke with PEOPLE in October about the “kooky” process of digital de-aging while at the movie’s world premiere at AFI Fest in Los Angeles. “That was like the gimmicky kind of aspect of it, because you could do that with regular makeup if you want to do that," he said. “But because we have this other super fast-filter computer that happened right then and there, we don’t have to wait for the post-production process to view [ourselves as young].”

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright attend the October 2024 premiere of ‘Here’.VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The Oscar winner has spoken out against artificial-intelligence versions of his likeness in the past — specifically those that had been used without his consent. After hewarned his followers on Instagramabout a promotional video for a dental plan using a computer-generated image of him in September 2023, he issued another “public service announcement” from his official Instagram account nearly a year later about another use of his likeness without permission.

In August, Hanks revealed that there were “multiple ads over the internetfalsely using my name, likeness, and voice promoting miracle cures and wonder drugs.”

“These ads have been created without my consent, fraudulently and through AI,” Hanks said, without naming specific scams. “I have nothing to do with these posts or the products and treatments, or the spokespeople touting these cures.”

During an appearance onThe Adam Buxton Podcastin May, Hanks also said that the use of A.I. in creative industries had “always been lingering.”

“I can tell you that there [are] discussions going on in all of the guilds, all of the agencies, and all of the legal firms in order to come up with the legal ramifications of my face and my voice — and everybody else’s — being our intellectual property,” Hanks said.

source: people.com