Hollywood’s Fight Against AI Puts Background Actors in the Spotlight – Rolling Stone

Actor Devix Szell was no stranger to film sets when he stepped onto the lot of a major upcoming film in the fall of 2022. As with most large-scale productions, Szell wasn’t too surprised when he was told by production members they wanted to take some scans of him in costume. 

However, when he entered the trailer, he recalls being surrounded by dozens upon dozens of cameras, shooting him from every angle and direction. Although Szell says he had been scanned before for another production, this was different.  

This time, Szell says he was instructed to pose and perform different actions. There were no additional release waivers signed, he says, or further explanation of how the footage would be used. (Szell says he is not at liberty to disclose the specific production due to an NDA.) “They were directing us on top of it,” Szell explains. “It wasn’t just a random AD [assistant director]. It was a new AD, a new special AD. I was hired to be a dead soldier, now I was a living soldier being killed.”

Szell was one of 11 actors Rolling Stone spoke with who recall being pulled away from set for what was described to them as VFX purposes and additional photography. Some say they were offered extra money and given additional release forms to sign, including at least one waiver that noted those images could be used in perpetuity. Others say they weren’t given or told anything additional at all. The actors had been booked for background roles on films produced by the likes of Disney, Marvel, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate, among others. (Disney, Marvel, Lionsgate, and Warner Bros. did not return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.) 

Normally, VFX photography wouldn’t raise an eyebrow from actors. But a bombshell proposal from the ongoing contract negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of TV and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) last week has caused widespread confusion and concern when it comes to artificial intelligence and image rights in Hollywood. The AMPTP reportedly wanted to pay background actors a low daily rate to take AI scans of them, opening up a pathway to make all talent “vulnerable to having most of their work replaced by digital replicas,” according to SAG-AFTRA. (In response, the AMPTP said SAG-AFTRA had “mischaracterized” its AI proposal and it had offered protections around digital replicas.) 

The union also put forward other proposals to secure better working conditions for background actors, which the AMPTP flat-out rejected or offered substandard counters. These included having both East and West Coast background actors work under the same terms (rejected); for background actors to be compensated when they have to style their own hair and makeup (offered a $35 flat fee); increased compensation for background actors who have to deliver lines and do stand-in work for principal performers (offered a flat fee of $150); background actors to receive residuals (rejected); and more. However, the parties did come to a tentative agreement that background actors would be given at least 48 hours notice of scenes involving nudity or simulated sex acts.

But it was the AI disclosure that set the industry into a justified tailspin. Actors would have a hard time being able to tell between routine VFX scans and AI scans because it’s not necessarily about the technology used. Instead, it comes down to what rights and clearances they may have unknowingly signed away. 

“When I saw this, I immediately thought of my work for Wu Tang: An American Saga,” one New York-area background actor says. Scanned for a concert scene, the actor does recall signing release forms, but noted they were just “standard documents.” “There are no disclaimers, nothing … This was last summer, AI was not even a factor,” she adds. “Somewhere in the archives there’s scans of me that they could feed through an AI training set and use without paying me.”

With alarm bells ringing, actors began taking to social media to recount the times they were “scanned” on sets. The timing around the conversation came against the release of the newest season of Netflix’s Black Mirror, which offered a clear picture of how the technology could be abused in the premiere episode, “Joan is Awful.” 

On Friday, Succession star Brian Cox told a crowd of protesters that he was shown a list of things that an AI version of himself could say. “The AI Brian Cox was going to do animal impersonations,” he said. “I’ve never done a fucking animal impersonation in my life. Nobody is exempt in this.”  

The actors who spoke to Rolling Stone expressed confusion as to what exactly they participated in when they were scanned, citing a lack of paperwork or not having a clear explanation of what was being done and how it was to be used. Many voice their fear that those images and/or scans could be later used to train AI programs and develop full-body replicas in their likeness.  

“They’re trying to make it look like it’s going to be a benefit to everybody,” says SAG-AFTRA member Laura Ann Tull. “The reality is, it’s actually taking away a lot from a lot of people.” 

Over the past several years, productions’ use of VFX has increased dramatically, especially on action or fantasy-heavy projects. Even in the early 2000s, duplicating frames for birds-eye shots or to enlarge the size of a crowd was commonplace when there’s no feasible way to coordinate gathering and filming thousands of people in a space. 

Still, background actors — previously called extras — are needed for productions. They are called in to help bring films and television shows to life, filling up background scenes and forming crowds that can later be built upon using VFX. The work offers a chance for many to break into Hollywood, and learn the ropes of how a set works. Not to mention: the extra money can help supplement income, and the work creates jobs in other production departments, such as hair/makeup and costumes. 

In conversations with Rolling Stone, what some actors describe during their scans seemed to be standard VFX imaging. Dariush Seif-Amirhosseini, who worked on Disney’s Cruella in 2019, says production members selected him to be scanned to make additional background actors for a crowd scene. “It just felt like it was just another aspect of the job,” Seif-Amirhosseini says. “It didn’t feel like I was given a choice. It just felt like, ‘OK, you’ve done those shots. Come and do this thing, [then] go back to set.’” 

“In general, they do not explain much of what’s going on production-wise to the background artists,” a second Cruella source adds. 

But as technological advances and terminology is adapted and expanded to cover an umbrella of terms surrounding digital imaging and AI scanning — those ambiguities and vague explanations could create very serious problems. Already, actors believe they’ve been in positions where they were subjected to scenarios that could lead to the duplication of their likeness. 

New York actress Melodie Wolford says she was offered $100 to do additional image scans while on the set of a movie production around two years ago. However, when not enough people volunteered, the money was increased. “A lot of people went,” Wolford says, yet she didn’t budge. “I thought to myself, ‘Unless they offered me $10,000 and then I would never do background again.’”

L. M. Davis, an Atlanta-based writer and director, has previously done background work and says she was confronted with a situation in 2021 where she refused to sign a release form for a project that was sent to her after the fact. “The costuming and makeup was such that I refused to sign the paperwork because I knew what they were asking,” Davis explains. “They could take me and plug me into anything, anywhere, anytime.” 

Background actress Holly Brennan says she recalls being on set in 2019 when production members asked for volunteers to enter into a tent to have additional photos taken, saying she believes there was a $30 stipend offered. It felt like a very streamlined process, Brennan recalls, and inside the tent were a few dozen cameras that quickly took several images of her. “I don’t remember if I ever read the paper or if I just signed it,” she explains. “I just thought, ‘Oh, new technology, how cool!’ I never thought of the implications of it… At that time, you didn’t really know what AI was. They just said it was digital imaging and testing out this new technology.” 

Matthew Kershaw, Vice President of Commercial Strategy for AI firm D-ID, tells Rolling Stone he understands the concerns around the use of AI when it comes to making sure talent are confident that their images and rights are protected. “I suppose it’s a bit like the invention of the motorcar – no one was going to go back to horses,” Kershaw says, pointing to the implementation of traffic lights, street crossings, and safety provisions to help navigate the change. “What is going to be liberating also needs to be thought through, and you need to have safeguards and protections around it,” he adds. 

Kershaw says AI technology is still a ways off from being able to take a full-body scan and successfully make full-body movements look entirely realistic. Right now, AI imaging for videos is best suited for shoulder-up animations. However, like anything in the age of technology, things can develop rapidly. What is crucial, Kershaw says, is making sure AI companies, studios, and even agents are acting ethically, clearly explaining the process and making sure people are aware of what they are consenting to. 

“Everyone’s lining up for a future that everyone sees,” Kershaw adds. “It’s just about how we negotiate our way into that future and who gets what, who gets control, who gets power.”

It would be naive to ignore the impending wave of AI. Already the technology is being implemented in a number of industries and sectors. Hollywood is just one of the first major arenas where workers are gearing up for a fight to ensure they have protections in place against its rollout. 

Davis, who is a filmmaker, acknowledges it will be something both directors and actors will have to accept at some point. “I understand that sometimes that might be the choice that you have to make,” she concedes. “But we can think about these things and also factor in some sort of ethical strategy for using people’s images. Art is for me a distillation of the human experience. So, if we give too much over to things that are not human, either in the conception or in the execution, we’re going to lose something.” 

Actor Devix Szell was no stranger to film sets when he stepped onto the lot of a major upcoming film in the fall of 2022. As with most large-scale productions, Szell wasn’t too surprised when he was told by production members they wanted to take some scans of him in costume. 

However, when he entered the trailer, he recalls being surrounded by dozens upon dozens of cameras, shooting him from every angle and direction. Although Szell says he had been scanned before for another production, this was different.  

This time, Szell says he was instructed to pose and perform different actions. There were no additional release waivers signed, he says, or further explanation of how the footage would be used. (Szell says he is not at liberty to disclose the specific production due to an NDA.) “They were directing us on top of it,” Szell explains. “It wasn’t just a random AD [assistant director]. It was a new AD, a new special AD. I was hired to be a dead soldier, now I was a living soldier being killed.”

Szell was one of 11 actors Rolling Stone spoke with who recall being pulled away from set for what was described to them as VFX purposes and additional photography. Some say they were offered extra money and given additional release forms to sign, including at least one waiver that noted those images could be used in perpetuity. Others say they weren’t given or told anything additional at all. The actors had been booked for background roles on films produced by the likes of Disney, Marvel, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate, among others. (Disney, Marvel, Lionsgate, and Warner Bros. did not return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.) 

Normally, VFX photography wouldn’t raise an eyebrow from actors. But a bombshell proposal from the ongoing contract negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of TV and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) last week has caused widespread confusion and concern when it comes to artificial intelligence and image rights in Hollywood. The AMPTP reportedly wanted to pay background actors a low daily rate to take AI scans of them, opening up a pathway to make all talent “vulnerable to having most of their work replaced by digital replicas,” according to SAG-AFTRA. (In response, the AMPTP said SAG-AFTRA had “mischaracterized” its AI proposal and it had offered protections around digital replicas.) 

The union also put forward other proposals to secure better working conditions for background actors, which the AMPTP flat-out rejected or offered substandard counters. These included having both East and West Coast background actors work under the same terms (rejected); for background actors to be compensated when they have to style their own hair and makeup (offered a $35 flat fee); increased compensation for background actors who have to deliver lines and do stand-in work for principal performers (offered a flat fee of $150); background actors to receive residuals (rejected); and more. However, the parties did come to a tentative agreement that background actors would be given at least 48 hours notice of scenes involving nudity or simulated sex acts.

But it was the AI disclosure that set the industry into a justified tailspin. Actors would have a hard time being able to tell between routine VFX scans and AI scans because it’s not necessarily about the technology used. Instead, it comes down to what rights and clearances they may have unknowingly signed away. 

“When I saw this, I immediately thought of my work for Wu Tang: An American Saga,” one New York-area background actor says. Scanned for a concert scene, the actor does recall signing release forms, but noted they were just “standard documents.” “There are no disclaimers, nothing … This was last summer, AI was not even a factor,” she adds. “Somewhere in the archives there’s scans of me that they could feed through an AI training set and use without paying me.”

With alarm bells ringing, actors began taking to social media to recount the times they were “scanned” on sets. The timing around the conversation came against the release of the newest season of Netflix’s Black Mirror, which offered a clear picture of how the technology could be abused in the premiere episode, “Joan is Awful.” 

On Friday, Succession star Brian Cox told a crowd of protesters that he was shown a list of things that an AI version of himself could say. “The AI Brian Cox was going to do animal impersonations,” he said. “I’ve never done a fucking animal impersonation in my life. Nobody is exempt in this.”  

The actors who spoke to Rolling Stone expressed confusion as to what exactly they participated in when they were scanned, citing a lack of paperwork or not having a clear explanation of what was being done and how it was to be used. Many voice their fear that those images and/or scans could be later used to train AI programs and develop full-body replicas in their likeness.  

“They’re trying to make it look like it’s going to be a benefit to everybody,” says SAG-AFTRA member Laura Ann Tull. “The reality is, it’s actually taking away a lot from a lot of people.” 

Over the past several years, productions’ use of VFX has increased dramatically, especially on action or fantasy-heavy projects. Even in the early 2000s, duplicating frames for birds-eye shots or to enlarge the size of a crowd was commonplace when there’s no feasible way to coordinate gathering and filming thousands of people in a space. 

Still, background actors — previously called extras — are needed for productions. They are called in to help bring films and television shows to life, filling up background scenes and forming crowds that can later be built upon using VFX. The work offers a chance for many to break into Hollywood, and learn the ropes of how a set works. Not to mention: the extra money can help supplement income, and the work creates jobs in other production departments, such as hair/makeup and costumes. 

In conversations with Rolling Stone, what some actors describe during their scans seemed to be standard VFX imaging. Dariush Seif-Amirhosseini, who worked on Disney’s Cruella in 2019, says production members selected him to be scanned to make additional background actors for a crowd scene. “It just felt like it was just another aspect of the job,” Seif-Amirhosseini says. “It didn’t feel like I was given a choice. It just felt like, ‘OK, you’ve done those shots. Come and do this thing, [then] go back to set.’” 

“In general, they do not explain much of what’s going on production-wise to the background artists,” a second Cruella source adds. 

But as technological advances and terminology is adapted and expanded to cover an umbrella of terms surrounding digital imaging and AI scanning — those ambiguities and vague explanations could create very serious problems. Already, actors believe they’ve been in positions where they were subjected to scenarios that could lead to the duplication of their likeness. 

New York actress Melodie Wolford says she was offered $100 to do additional image scans while on the set of a movie production around two years ago. However, when not enough people volunteered, the money was increased. “A lot of people went,” Wolford says, yet she didn’t budge. “I thought to myself, ‘Unless they offered me $10,000 and then I would never do background again.’”

L. M. Davis, an Atlanta-based writer and director, has previously done background work and says she was confronted with a situation in 2021 where she refused to sign a release form for a project that was sent to her after the fact. “The costuming and makeup was such that I refused to sign the paperwork because I knew what they were asking,” Davis explains. “They could take me and plug me into anything, anywhere, anytime.” 

Background actress Holly Brennan says she recalls being on set in 2019 when production members asked for volunteers to enter into a tent to have additional photos taken, saying she believes there was a $30 stipend offered. It felt like a very streamlined process, Brennan recalls, and inside the tent were a few dozen cameras that quickly took several images of her. “I don’t remember if I ever read the paper or if I just signed it,” she explains. “I just thought, ‘Oh, new technology, how cool!’ I never thought of the implications of it… At that time, you didn’t really know what AI was. They just said it was digital imaging and testing out this new technology.” 

Matthew Kershaw, Vice President of Commercial Strategy for AI firm D-ID, tells Rolling Stone he understands the concerns around the use of AI when it comes to making sure talent are confident that their images and rights are protected. “I suppose it’s a bit like the invention of the motorcar – no one was going to go back to horses,” Kershaw says, pointing to the implementation of traffic lights, street crossings, and safety provisions to help navigate the change. “What is going to be liberating also needs to be thought through, and you need to have safeguards and protections around it,” he adds. 

Kershaw says AI technology is still a ways off from being able to take a full-body scan and successfully make full-body movements look entirely realistic. Right now, AI imaging for videos is best suited for shoulder-up animations. However, like anything in the age of technology, things can develop rapidly. What is crucial, Kershaw says, is making sure AI companies, studios, and even agents are acting ethically, clearly explaining the process and making sure people are aware of what they are consenting to. 

“Everyone’s lining up for a future that everyone sees,” Kershaw adds. “It’s just about how we negotiate our way into that future and who gets what, who gets control, who gets power.”

It would be naive to ignore the impending wave of AI. Already the technology is being implemented in a number of industries and sectors. Hollywood is just one of the first major arenas where workers are gearing up for a fight to ensure they have protections in place against its rollout. 

Davis, who is a filmmaker, acknowledges it will be something both directors and actors will have to accept at some point. “I understand that sometimes that might be the choice that you have to make,” she concedes. “But we can think about these things and also factor in some sort of ethical strategy for using people’s images. Art is for me a distillation of the human experience. So, if we give too much over to things that are not human, either in the conception or in the execution, we’re going to lose something.”