Andrew Garfield discussed the responsibility attached to playing Sam Altman in the upcoming film Artificial. Garfield portrays the OpenAI co-founder and CEO during the company’s five-day leadership crisis that ended with Altman returning to his position.
The Amazing Spider-Man and The Social Network actor said he had never met Altman. Instead, he relied on the screenplay, interviews, court transcripts and other research while preparing for the role.
Andrew Garfield says Sam Altman’s position comes with enormous responsibility over AI
Garfield told Esquire portraying Altman required him to consider the responsibility involved in leading a company developing technology with far-reaching consequences.
“I don’t know this person, to be clear,” Garfield said. “I don’t know Sam Altman. I’ve never met him. I was going off of the script and court transcripts and interviews and research, and we were telling a story.”
He then addressed how he viewed Altman’s position within the AI revolution.
“But I think anyone who takes on that level of responsibility for a company or a technology that you know is going to do a hell of a lot of damage to the soul of humanity [must have] a certain ability to dissociate,” Garfield said.
Garfield also explained that he does not usually seek out characters of this kind. Playing the role required him to examine traits he would normally distance himself from.
“There’s something there for me to integrate, because I’m so afraid of being it,” he said.
Luca Guadagnino directed the Artificial movie, which focuses on the period when OpenAI removed Altman as CEO before reinstating him five days later.
Amazon MGM Studios originally developed and financed the Sam Altman biopic but later stepped away from distributing it. The decision came after the company announced a $50 billion partnership and investment involving OpenAI. Amazon MGM said the project would “be better served if it were released by a different studio.”
Neon later acquired the film after Netflix, A24 and Focus Features reportedly passed. The studio plans to release Artificial later this year to qualify for the upcoming Oscar race.
