The practice of deepfakes is still pretty much in its infancy, but it’s already taken horrifyingly convincing steps forward. Many popular actors know this all too well, and Robert Pattinson is one such party, as the DC movies star has been a subject to that very practice in recent times. His reaction to this trend is one of a worried opinion, and it comes with a pretty prudent question on the whole matter.
Speaking with the Evening Standard, the face of The Batman saga voiced his concerns over the ability some may possess to make it look like he’s doing something he’s not. Robert Pattinson even shared the following story, in which his own friends were duped by such efforts:
I know, it’s terrifying. The amount of people who know me quite well and will still be like, ‘Why are you doing these weird dancing videos on TikTok?’ It’s really bizarre. You just realize that we’re two years away from it being indistinguishable from reality — and what on Earth am I going to do as a job then?
Deepfakery has had its moments of humor and fulfilling lighthearted “what if” scenarios. On the brighter side of the coin is the fact that there’s been several classic James Bond scenes showing what Henry Cavill would look like as 007. With those exercises, the intent is usually known and stated clearly, and all anyone needs to do is have fun with watching the likes of Jim Carrey becoming Commander Bond or even Millie Bobby Brown as the new Princess Leia in the Star Wars saga.
However, the opposing side of the issue is the same territory that sees actors’ likenesses used without their express consent, hence Robert Pattinson’s worries about those TikTok videos. The waters certainly don’t get any clearer on the matter with reports of actors allegedly selling the rights to their likeness for future productions.
For a moment, it looked like Bruce Willis did just that, only for the report to be walked back. But this issue isn’t going anywhere any time soon, especially when it’s related to Robert Pattinson. His next film, Mickey 17, will undoubtedly see plenty of questions about the usage of this technology, as Pattinson is playing a series of clones in a sci-fi future involving space colonization.
It’s a concept that could use some of these very tools Robert Pattinson is worried about to enhance his performance. It’s also almost certain that it’s going to be a hot topic once the Bong Joon-ho film makes the press rounds, especially if the TikTok community starts to go overboard with the Pattinson deepfakes. It would be a shame if Robert Pattinson was put out of business by… Robert Pattinson.
Mickey 17 is currently in production for a March 29, 2024 release, so it’ll probably be a while before we get another look at the project. Though if you want to watch Robert Pattinson’s non-deepfaked performance in The Batman, an HBO Max subscription is your one-way ticket to the latest version of Gotham City.