Maggie Gyllenhaal Was Asked to Use AI to Recreate…

Director Maggie Gyllenhaal recently revealed she was commissioned to use artificial intelligence to recreate Marilyn Monroe for her short film Flesh Impact. Despite utilizing licensable AI trained on licensed film footage to map Monroe's likeness onto actress Dakota Johnson, Gyllenhaal ultimately discarded the AI-generated version in favor of Johnson's human performance.

What happened

The project, a 17-minute short film serving as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, involved an attempt to synthesize the icon's face onto Dakota Johnson, who portrays the star at the height of her fame. Gyllenhaal noted that the technology was trained using licensable AI rather than OpenAI, pulling from licensed Monroe films. However, upon reviewing the results, Gyllenhaal determined that the AI-generated version failed to capture the humanity and emotion conveyed by the live-action performance. She stated that the AI version killed off the very reasons the project was conceived, ultimately finding Johnson’s portrayal far more moving and alive. The final project, produced with the blessings of the Monroe estate, featured Johnson and Ellen Burstyn playing different versions of the icon without the AI face-mapping elements. During a panel at the Venice Film Festival, Gyllenhaal expressed broader concerns about the industry's push for AI in filmmaking, questioning the motivation behind cost-cutting narratives and the potential impact on future creative funding.