An Actual Robot Will be Trained to Act for a New Film, So Start Polishing Those Oscars

Condolences to the aspiring actors out there: you have officially been automated.

An honest to goodness robot will star in a new film from American History X filmmaker Tony Kaye.

According to Deadline, Kaye will train a robot in "different acting methods and techniques" for the lead role in his flick 2nd Born.

He's hoping that hiring an A.I. robot will mean they can rely less on CGI effects. 

Besides, given how robots have excelled in other fields, who's to say they won't also dominate the arts as well?

Kaye and his producers also hope the robot will "get SAG recognition", which means the robot actor would be part of the Screen Actors Guild, and maybe even get nominated for a SAG award. Question is: Will the robot actor be able to its guild dues? Actually, more importantly, will the robot get paid for its performance?

For decades, Hollywood has tried to do away with human actors altogether, starting with the ill-fated Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, spoofing the idea in S1M0NE, and then finding a middle-ground with Avatar and the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes franchise, featuring motion-captured performances. An actual robot actor seemed impossible, though, this scene from Major Payne seemed to achieve the best of both worlds.

But the hiring (or should that be enslaving?) of an artificially intelligent robot for a leading role is definitely some fresh hell a new approach.

We send our apologies to up-and-coming actors. Turns out, like so many other young people, your jobs are getting automated too.

Header Image: iStock.com/LimaEs & BahadirTanriover & RobinOlimb & Disney