How Val Kilmer Became an AI Actor From Beyond the ‘Grave’

If you’ve seen the trailer for the forthcoming picture “As Deep as the Grave,”you might at first think that it’s standard-issue independent filmmaking, starring actors who weren’t as famous as they once were (Abigail Breslin, Tom Felton) with a niche plot revolving around two archaeologists who excavated the remains of the Native American civilization, the Native Puebloans, around a century ago.However, the biggest name in the cast is none other than Val Kilmer, who is playing a Catholic priest called Father Fintan, with a particular link to Native American culture. Something of a coup, you might think, for the film’s writer-director Coerte Voorhees to have hired a household name like Kilmer. All the more so, because the actor died last year, without having shot a single second of footage for the movie.His presence in “As Deep as the Grave,” then, represents the first time that a recently living A-list actor has been resurrected through AI technology to appear in a mainstream picture. Mr. Voorhees has stated that Kilmer, who himself had Cherokee roots on his father’s side, was hired for the part five years ago, but ill health prevented him from taking on the role. “It was very unfortunate that his health at the time prevented him from playing this role which spoke to him spiritually and culturally,” Mr. Voorhees said. According to the director, the film exists as a loving homage to him, rather than a cynical attempt to cash in on his fame.It has the support of Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes, who has said that her father, “always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.” Of course, Kilmer’s estate will have been compensated for the use of his likeness and his AI-recreated voice, but watching the late actor in the film’s trailer is a strange experience.Anyone who watched Kilmer in his last decades will have mourned the shift from the youthful, handsome figure who captivated audiences in “The Doors” or “Top Gun” into a heavier, coarser presence, both on and off-screen. When Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, forcing him to undergo several painful surgeries, his performances were compromised, until his triumphant and moving swan song in the “Top Gun“ sequel. It cleverly blurred the lines between the character on-screen and the actor, even down to the playful relationship between him and Tom Cruise, who fought for Kilmer’s inclusion in the film.“Top Gun: Maverick”would have been a fitting finale to Kilmer’s career, but it was not to be. Instead, he will be appearing in “As Deep as the Grave,”and after that who knows what else? Granted, the AI technology has restored him to full vigor, but at the cost of realism. Although — from the shots of him in the preview — his recreated likeness has all the hallmarks of the actor’s style, there is a strangeness to seeing him on screen that cannot overcome the expense and effort that has gone into his resurrection. We know we are watching a dead man on screen, and it is oddly chilling. No wonder that the trailer’s final line, “Don’t fear the dead, and don’t fear me,” lands home in a way it would not have done had Kilmer lived.Whatever the fate of “As Deep as the Grave,” it will only continue the debate that has been going on in Hollywood over the past few years as to whether AI is a blessing or a curse for the film industry. The limitations of the technology were clear to see when Peter Cushing was recreated via oddly soulless CGI to reprise his Grand Moff Tarkin role in the “Star Wars” prequel “Rogue One.” But that film was released a decade ago, and generative AI has replaced vastly expensive special effects in Hollywood. Theoretically, any late actor can now appear in a film, so long as their family and estate agree to it. Undoubtedly contracts are now being drawn up for new pictures that give rapacious studios the right to reproduce their stars’ images and likeness until the end of time. Once, the industry might have panicked at the thought of a Hollywood without Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in it. No longer.Of course, actors and filmmakers are generally opposed to AI, which they decry as exploitative and limited. The major exception so far has been the Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, who used it in his forthcoming documentary”John Lennon: The Last Interview,” and has described the technology as “a tool [that] will eventually find its place.” His fellow Oscar-winner Peter Jackson made similar use of it in his Beatles documentary “Get Back.” It has been understood – albeit reluctantly – that the industry cannot simply ignore its rise. But the wholesale recreation of late actors and, potentially, directors is another matter altogether.I do not rule out the idea that, before long, AI will be able to recreate some of the great unmade films of history, such as David Lean’s “Nostromo” or Stanley Kubrick’s “Napoleon.” The famous missing reels of Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons” are being recreated by the Amazon-backed AI-streaming start-up Fable Studio, using this technology, and after that, who knows what might happen? If actors’ images pass out of copyright, theoretically anyone with access to AI software might be able to use them, although heaven knows where this might lead: “Casablanca” redone as a porn film, perhaps, or “Gone With The Wind” reimagined as a blaxploitation flick, with Mammy taking names and kicking ass, “Django Unchained” style.This is all potentially intriguing. But for anyone who loves film, the precedent, established by the resurrection of Kilmer is also terrifying. Once, actors could look at the body of work they put together in their lifetime and think that that would be the end of it. Now, they could be compelled to work, in virtual form, forever and ever. Kilmer’s character may instruct his co-star, and by extension the audience, not to fear him, but it is hard too not to fear what this could — and almost certainly will — lead to in the future.

How Val Kilmer Became an AI Actor From Beyond the ‘Grave’

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