Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Alien: Romulus director says late actor’s family gave blessing to resurrect him using AI

‘We did it all with a lot of respect,’ the filmmaker said

Lydia Spencer-Elliott
Friday 23 August 2024 06:03 EDT
Comments
Alien: Covenant - Trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Fede Álvarez has said Ian Holm’s family gave him permission to use the late actor’s likeness in Alien: Romulus.

The director, 46, used generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology to resurrect the Lord of the Rings star – who died in 2020 – for a cameo in the sci-fi prequel as a robot called Rook, who looks and sounds almost identical to Holm’s original Alien character, Ash.

Álvarez’ decision to artificially cast the late actor in his latest project has been slammed by critics as an aesthetic failure and has been accused of being a disrespect to his memory.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Álvarez addressed the controversy and claimed Holm’s widow, Sophie de Stempel, had given him her blessing to include her late husband in Romulus.

“In the last 10 years after The Hobbit Ian Holm felt like Hollywood had turned its back on him and his widow felt he would have loved to be a part of this. He loved this character in particular,” he said.

“We did it all with a lot of respect and always with the authorisation of his family, his children and his widow, who said, ‘We would love to see his likeness again.’”

The filmmaker confirmed that between 80 and 90 per cent of the shots of Holms were created using animatronic – a mechanical puppet – supplemented with computer generated imagery (CGI).

Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson in ‘Alien: Romulus’
Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson in ‘Alien: Romulus’ (AP)

Meanwhile, AI technology was employed to make another actor’s voice sound more like Holm.

Álvarez disputed claims using AI in filmmaking will lead to the eventual replacement of actors, noting the lengthy inconvenience of the practice.

“Doing it this way requires a team of so many people and so many parts to get it done that it’s never going to be really convenient,” he said.

Spaeny in ‘Alien: Romulus'
Spaeny in ‘Alien: Romulus' (Fox)

The debate comes after Álvarez recently revealed he was recently banned from Reddit for “impersonating” himself.

The filmmaker briefly joined a subreddit forum dedicated to discussing the Alien films, in order to interact with fans of the movie.

However, moderators flagged his account for supposedly lying about his identity, and he received a notification informing him that he was “permanently banned” from the subreddit.

“Got banned from the ALIEN subreddit for apparently trying to impersonate, myself,” Álvarez wrote on X/Twitter, alongside a laughing emoji and a screenshot of the message he was sent.

A moderator subsequently revealed that the director had been “immediately reinstated and had a very friendly conversation with us”, describing him as an “awesome guy”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in