Photo by Neon Tommy, cropped (CC BY-SA)
The Lowdown
Terrence Howard isn’t fighting the robots. Asked about Hollywood’s production slowdown at an event for his new movie, A Good Hand Wasted, the Empire star told TMZ that acting jobs are on their way out as artificial intelligence takes over, and that the industry should accept it (TMZ; Rolling Out).
Key Takeaways
- Howard spoke to TMZ in Los Angeles on Tuesday (TMZ).
- He compared this moment to the end of the silent-film era (TMZ; Rolling Out).
- He said “you can’t compete with inevitability,” according to TMZ (TMZ).
- He pointed to Netflix’s reported $587 million purchase of Ben Affleck’s AI company InterPositive as a sign of where things are going (TMZ; Rolling Out).
- His advice: support independent filmmakers and artists (TMZ; Rolling Out).
What He Said
According to TMZ, Howard said the industry is watching an era end, and that some major talent will be left behind as studios lean on AI. He didn’t frame it as a disaster, telling the outlet that change is coming whether actors like it or not (TMZ).
There is pushback built into the system already. Actors won protections on digital replicas in the 2023 strike deal, and Netflix has pitched its AI spending as a way to help human filmmakers rather than replace them, as Rolling Out points out (Rolling Out).
Howard has a complicated history with the business. He said he was quitting acting back in 2019, then kept booking roles, and he has been in a legal fight with his old agency over what he was paid on Empire (Rolling Out). In a separate TMZ interview in New York last week, he joked, or maybe didn’t, about running for president (TMZ).
The Pit Take
In our opinion, Howard is half right. The economics are real, and the AI edits of Quavo and Takeoff taking over TikTok show how fast synthetic performance is getting good enough for the internet. But “inevitable” is doing a lot of work. Unions, audiences and lawyers still get a vote. His indie-film advice is the most useful part. More in Movies.
The Background
Howard is best known as Lucious Lyon on Empire (Rolling Out; TMZ).
Our photo shows Howard arriving at the 2014 SAG Awards.
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Ben Affleck is an American actor and screenwriter whose roles include Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
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