Mark Hamill calls rise of AI actors 'terrifying', questions ethics of digital resurrection

Mark Hamill. Pic/AFP

Hollywood actor Mark Hamill has been in the industry for nearly five decades, and is speaking from his experience about the usage of AI actors in cinema, something that could change the way industry functions. The actor questioned the usage of AI and its ethical implications.

Asked about Tilly Norwood, the AI-generated female actor reportedly in talks to be signed by talent agencies, he said, "It's terrifying. After I pass away, are they going to go to my family and say, ‘We'll pay you all this money so we can do him at age 28' or whatever they do?" He compared the development to ads featuring deceased performers, such as Gene Kelly, as he said, "Would Gene have wanted to be a spokesman for a vacuum cleaner? I don't know. It's too many unanswered questions."

He also spoke about his role in Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck, which won the Toronto International Film Festival Audience Award in 2024 before being acquired by Neon. The actor insisted he's still learning to disappear. He shared, "The definition of a character actor is an actor that disappears, and you see only the character."

In Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's novella, Hamill plays an aging accountant, an intimate and surprising departure from the larger-than-life characters that made him famous, such as Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars series. The film, which stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Karen Gillan, explores memory, mortality, and the marks we leave behind.

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