Andrew Garfield, the star of Artificial, Luca Guadanigno’s film about Sam Altman and OpenAI, has given an exclusive interview to Variety about why Amazon decided not to release the film and Neon decided to pick it up. Emphasizing that they made a far more uncomfortable and complex film than Amazon would be comfortable with.
A film that has ruffled feathers
On that point, Garfield has held nothing back, even if he does so while still keeping things cordial. “I think there are certain things that fit in certain places and not in others, and they [Amazon] did nothing but support us and encourage us while we were making the film,” implying that, as has been reported on previous occasions, the film proved uncomfortable for OpenAI, an important business partner of Amazon, because of its portrayal of Altman.
As for his role, he has argued that “there are so many interviews. There is a huge amount of visual material, audio and reporting. I, of course, would’ve loved and would still love to meet Sam,” stressing that “I’m playing the version of the character that was written in the script, and I think that, even if you want to be as faithful to that as possible, you’re still never going to fully understand anyone”. Defending his work and how they have portrayed OpenAI’s CEO.
After Neon acquired the nearly completed film for $40 million, it seems that we will get to see it after all, even if we don’t have a release date. But it seems that, from these comments, it’s clear that relations with Amazon haven’t soured. And that the portrayal of Altman in the film certainly isn’t flattering.
