Andrew Garfield, who plays Sam Altman in the movie Artificial, says the film examines the people directing the development of artificial intelligence and the influence they hold over the world.
The film, directed by Luca Guadagnino, premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday, October 11.
The film follows OpenAI’s growth and the events surrounding Sam Altman’s brief dismissal and return as CEO in 2023.
“I think the reason I was drawn to it was just pure curiosity and fear and really trying to understand as deeply as possible the people who are ushering us into this next phase of the world,” Garfield told Reuters.
He said the people leading major technology companies deserve close scrutiny because their decisions affect society. “It’s important that we do that because we need to know who’s in power and who’s creating our new world,” he said.
Garfield did not meet or contact Altman while preparing for the role. He said he felt compassion for Altman, who is close to his age, and described the film as an interpretation rather than a definitive account of his life.
Artificial screenwriter Simon Rich said he wrote the film to warn people about artificial intelligence. Speaking to the Press Association before the London Film Festival screening, he said AI was “just as powerful and just as dangerous as the scientists claim that it is.”
Rich said his longtime friend, an OpenAI scientist, had warned him about the technology for decades. About a year before ChatGPT launched, his friend showed him what the company was developing. Rich said the demonstration frightened him and led him to write articles, a book and, eventually, Artificial.
The film also depicts OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, played by Yura Borisov, and former chief technology officer Mira Murati, played by Monica Barbaro. Mark Rylance plays computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, while Ike Barinholtz portrays Elon Musk.
Rich said he was relieved that Neon took on the film after Amazon MGM Studios dropped it. Artificial is scheduled to open in US cinemas on December 25, 2026, and UK cinemas on January 22, 2027.
