Maggie Gyllenhaal took an unexpected creative risk while working on her new short film, Flesh Impact. The director tried to use artificial intelligence to replace Dakota Johnson with Marilyn Monroe. But the experiment failed to deliver the emotional impact she was looking for. Gyllenhaal ultimately chose Johnson’s real performance over the AI version.
Maggie Gyllenhaal explains why Dakota Johnson’s real Marilyn Monroe performance beat her AI experiment
Speaking at a Venice symposium, Gyllenhaal explained that Flesh Impact follows a 100-year-old Marilyn Monroe through flashbacks to her younger years. Johnson plays Monroe in her 30s. According to Variety, the project’s commissioners asked Gyllenhaal to experiment with AI. She said the technology used licensed material from Monroe’s films rather than OpenAI.
Gyllenhaal said she decided to give the experiment a chance out of curiosity. The team trained the technology using Monroe’s likeness and placed her face over Johnson’s performance. But Gyllenhaal said the final result lacked the qualities that made Johnson’s acting powerful. “What was coming through Dakota playing Marilyn Monroe was so much more moving, human, alive,” she said.
The filmmaker eventually scrapped the AI version and kept Johnson’s natural performance. “It fundamentally did not work,” Gyllenhaal said of the experiment. She added that AI “killed off” the reasons behind making the project in the first place. The technology wasn’t up to the level of the humanity Johnson brought to the role, for her.
Gyllenhaal also raised concerns about AI’s environmental impact and the growing number of data centers. She referenced discussions about data centers in South Memphis and said filmmakers should acknowledge those issues. The director also referenced Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “Godfather of AI”, and his concerns about AI. She questioned what it would mean to program AI with a “maternal instinct,” as Hinton has suggested.
The filmmaker also pushed back on claims that AI will democratize filmmaking by making movies cheaper. She said studios could cease to invest in traditional productions if they can produce commercial films with AI for a fraction of the cost. “Who’s gonna give you $10 million to do it the old way?” she asked, adding that the possibility “concerns” her.
Originally reported by Ayusi Adhikari for Reality Tea
