Hailee Steinfeld’s Immersive ‘Asteroid’ Producers Say ‘Synthetic Actors’ Can’t Replace Real Ones: ‘Why Do That?’

Not many people have seen Hailee Steinfeld’s latest film.

The “Sinners” star appeared in “Asteroid,” an outer space thriller that’s half movie and half interactive experience, using Google’s Gemini AI and a 180-degree field of vision enabled by the soon-to-be-released Android XR Samsung headset to bring the story to life.

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A key element of “Asteroid” is two AI-powered interactive elements, which bookend the film by Doug Liman. It’s that AI aspect that brought Jon Zepp, head of entertainment, content and platforms at Google, and Jed Weintrob, president of 30 Ninjas, which produced the film with Liman, to TheGrill, TheWrap’s annual business, media and technology conference, to talk about the technology and filmmaking.

While on the panel, both addressed the hot topic of the town: the so-called “AI actress” known as Tilly Norwood, which made headlines when its creator claimed it would be signed by an agent “in the coming months.” Zepp’s Google, after all, has placed a high priority on the advancement of AI.

But even as “Asteroid” embraces AI, those involved with the film don’t necessarily support the narrative that AI actors are automatically the future.

“I think that this is all evolving, but it’s not clear that just synthetic actors are adding utility of itself, so why do that?” Zepp said. “If there’s ways to extend the experience where that actor would not otherwise have been available, OK, that’s an additional layer of utility that’s added … So, we kind of look at what’s the added benefit for the consumer or the overall process. That becomes more interesting than just doing it for the sake of doing it.” You can watch the full clip below.

The critical read of the situation adds to the chorus of backlash that erupted after the idea of Norwood obtaining representation came out this weekend. Thus far, talent agencies like Gersh and WME (which confirmed its stance at TheGrill) have underscored that the signing wouldn’t come from their companies.

“Asteroid” doesn’t use AI actors, but it does use AI to extend a performance. In “Asteroid,” the filmmakers feel they’ve found that added benefit. While the main short film is directed by Liman, “Asteroid” offers viewers interactive opportunities on either side — including a pre-movie chat with a Gemini-generated version of Metcalf (playing himself) and a post-movie experience where viewers can once again interact with the NFL player to suss out what went wrong on the space journey.

Zepp spoke with TheWrap’s Roger Cheng and “Asteroid” creator/30 Ninjas partner Jed Weintrob about the experience — and AI filmmaking as a whole — ahead of the film’s launch when the Samsung XR headset is released in October.

“You go where the consumer is going and wants to be, and to another degree you don’t sacrifice your key creatives’ vision to get there,” Weintrob said of the integration of immersive tech in filmmaking. “In this case, it didn’t mean making an interactive film, which we’ve done in the past, you know, we were very much integrating AI into our work flow, into our experiences. We very much believe that our future is going to continue to be led by visionaries, storytellers and creatives telling their stories through their perspectives, and that these new technologies are really exciting ways for audiences to engage further, to personalize and customize.”

Steinfeld and Metcalf star in “Asteroid” alongside Ron Perlman, Rhenzy Feliz, Leon Mandel and Freida Pinto. Zepp and Weintrob both underscored the importance of taking a strong, creator-driven concept from Liman and ensuring that their experiential tech was additive, not tech for tech’s sake.

“What we always strive for in the whole experience is authenticity,” Zepp said. “You want to feel like it’s a really good movie, and then the utility of the conversation is adding value. If it feels canned, if it feels not authentic to DK and how he might interpret the question with context, it will fall flat.

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