“Artificial” does not reach theaters until December, but Andrew Garfield is already part of the Oscar conversation. Speaking to Variety on the red carpet at the film’s London Film Festival premiere on Sunday, Oct. 11, the two-time nominee played down the buzz. “I’m so flattered that anyone is going to see this film in the first place, let alone talk so nicely about it,” he said.
Garfield plays Sam Altman
Luca Guadagnino’s film follows the five days in 2023 when OpenAI fired and then rehired CEO Sam Altman, played by Garfield. Variety reports the film drew strong reviews after its world premiere at the New York Film Festival last week. Garfield is being campaigned in the supporting actor race, while Yura Borisov, who plays OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, is being campaigned for lead. Garfield has been nominated twice and has never won.
“As I’m getting older, I’m starting to understand that the things outside of ourselves, we just have no control over,” Garfield told Variety. “And the only consistent thing for me is trying to make work that I feel proud of.” Borisov, who was nominated for his supporting role in “Anora,” added: “It’s a miracle!”
The cast and the timing
Monica Barbaro plays former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, Ike Barinholtz plays Elon Musk, and Mark Rylance plays Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “Godfather of AI.” The screenplay is by Simon Rich. Garfield said the film’s subject feels current: “It’s here, it’s now,” he said, pointing to the tech leaders who are “in the news right now.” Guadagnino told the London crowd it was “the most complicated movie to imagine” because Silicon Valley is “the least seductive visually.”
Garfield also said he once auditioned to play Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network,” where he ultimately played Eduardo Saverin. He said he began preparing for the role before being told someone else was a better fit.
Behind the release
Variety notes that Amazon MGM Studios dropped the film in June, shortly after Amazon invested $50 billion in OpenAI. Neon picked it up and is running the awards campaign, which the Daily Mail says will push both Garfield and Rylance in the supporting actor category. Altman told Vanity Fair last week that he did not speak to anyone at Amazon about dropping the movie. He also said parts of it were filmed outside his house, and that Garfield got his walk and “quirky mannerisms” right. Garfield told Variety he does not recall seeing Altman while shooting.
Sources: Variety, Daily Mail, Parade. Featured image is an editorial illustration, not a photo from the film or the premiere.
