Kevin O’Leary delivered one of his first promotional plugs for A24’s “Marty Supreme” in typically business-minded fashion. The investor and “Shark Tank” host, who gives his debut feature film acting performance in the upcoming Timothée Chalamet vehicle, suggested that movies like his own could “save millions of dollars” by replacing background actors with AI-generated stand-ins.
In an interview on the Oct. 16 episode of The Hill’s “World of Travel: The Podcast,” O’Leary discussed his own investments in AI and used “Marty Supreme” as an example to discuss the technology’s potential implementation in the film industry.
“Almost every scene had as many as 150 extras. Now, those people have to stay awake for 18 hours, be completely dressed in the background. [They’re] not necessarily in the movie, but they’re necessary to be there moving around. And yet, it costs millions of dollars to do that,” O’Leary said. “Why couldn’t you simply put AI agents in their place? Because they’re not the main actors. They’re only in the story visually. [You could] save millions of dollars, so more movies could be made. The same director, instead of spending $90 million or whatever he spent, could’ve spent $35 million and made two movies.”
O’Leary also brought up the topic of Tilly Norwood, an AI “actress” unveiled via a comedic sketch at the Zurich Summit in September, with claims that Hollywood agencies were seeking to sign it. SAG-AFTRA swiftly issued a statement condemning the nascent product, saying it is “jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”
In his comments to The Hill, O’Leary erroneously referred to Tilly Norwood as “Tilly Norwell.”
“She’s 100% AI. She doesn’t exist. But she’s a great actress. She can come in any age you want. She doesn’t need to eat, so she works 24 hours a day. The union is going out of their mind,” O’Leary said.
O’Leary continued by bringing up The Velvet Sundown, a moniker that releases AI-generated music. Again, O’Leary made an erroneous reference, calling the fictitious band “Velvet Sunset.”
“Velvet Sunset is a band that’s on the top 10% of all downloads right now. And it’s complete BS. They don’t exist. It’s just AI music,” O’Leary continued. “It’s coming. You can’t stop the advancement of technology, so I’m spending a lot of time investing.”
“Marty Supreme” carries a production budget north of $60 million, making it A24’s most expensive feature ever. The film is a 1950s period piece that stars Chalamet as a rising, unshakably ambitious ping-pong prodigy. Gwyneth Paltrow plays his love interest, while O’Leary plays the husband to Paltrow’s character. It releases in theaters on Christmas Day.
“I’d argue, for the sake of the art, you should allow [AI] in certain cases. An extra is a really good case, because you can’t tell the difference,” O’Leary continued. “You just put 100 Norwell Tillies in there and you’re good.”
O’Leary also noted that he is using AI to make a facsimile of himself, and that he is seeking full citizenship in the United Arab Emirates as the industry grows abroad.
“We’ve got AI Kevin now and we did it in Abu Dhabi. I’m going back there in a couple weeks. I’m going to train the model even more,” O’Leary said. “The challenges with AI is most people can distinguish now between what’s fake and what’s real, because of the voice. But there’s another iteration of the model coming in about a week — that’s how fast it’s advancing. This next AI Kevin, you will not be able to tell the difference.”
