Keanu Reeves on “scary” deepfakes: “You lose your agency”

Keanu Reeves has criticised deepfake technology, calling it “scary” for actors.

The John Wick: Chapter 4 star revealed he has a clause in his contracts to prevent studios from digitally manipulating his performances, according to Variety.

“Yeah, digitally. I don’t mind if someone takes a blink out during an edit,” Reeves said. “But early on, in the early 2000s, or it might have been the ’90s, I had a performance changed. They added a tear to my face, and I was just like, ‘Huh?!’ It was like, I don’t even have to be here.”

He continued on deepfakes: “What’s frustrating about that is you lose your agency. When you give a performance in a film, you know you’re going to be edited, but you’re participating in that. If you go into deepfake land, it has none of your points of view. That’s scary.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how humans deal with these technologies. They’re having such cultural, sociological impacts, and the species is being studied. There’s so much ‘data’ on behaviours now.”

Keanu Reeves recently said that John Wick: Chapter 4 was the “hardest movie” he’s ever made, in terms of the action scenes.

A synopsis for the film reads: “​​John Wick uncovers a path to defeating the High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.”

John Wick 4 will be released in UK cinemas on March 24.

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