Nicolas Cage: Longless actor 'terrified' of his likeness being used by AI

• Nicolas Cage has come out against his likeness being used by AI.
• Star had to be ‘scanned’ during production of his upcoming Spider-Man spin-off TV show.
• Cage doesn’t want “you to do anything” with his body and voice after his death.

Hollywood legend Nicolas Cage is “terrified” of his likeness being used by artificial intelligence (AI) after his death. The Oscar winner spoke out against the current tech world obsession while on the press tour for his new film ‘Longlegs’. 

Cage, speaking to ‘The Orchard Thief’ author Susan Orlean in The New Yorker, spoke of his fear of his “body” being stolen by “digital AI”. It came after discussing how he had to be scanned for his upcoming Spider-Man spin-off show ‘Noir’, which is due to release on Amazon’s Prime Video. 

The silver screen icon said: “They have to put me in a computer and match my eye color and change — I don’t know. They’re just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital AI. God, I hope not AI. I’m terrified of that. I’ve been very vocal about it.”

He continued: “It is [really scary]. And it makes me wonder, you know, where will the truth of the artists end up? Is it going to be replaced? Is it going to be transmogrified? Where’s the heartbeat going to be? I mean, what are you going to do with my body and my face when I’m dead? I don’t want you to do anything with it!” 

Cage’s concerns about his likeness being used after death comes as AI audio company ElevenLabs ‘resurrected’ golden age Hollywood stars such as Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds, and Laurence Olivier. The company says that the actors’ estates gave permission to recreate their voices and use them to narrate on the Reader app. Garland’s daughter, Liza Minelli, has publicly backed the venture. 

Nicolas Cage can next be seen on the big screen in ‘Longlegs’ alongside Maika Monroe, Alicia Witt and Blair Underwood. It will be released in cinemas in the UK on Friday (12 July). 

For those wanting to hear Nic Cage talk more about his upcoming horror film, AP has a long interview with him about the role. The 16-minute clip can be watched on YouTube.