The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shook Hollywood last year, bringing the filmmaking industry to a standstill until an agreement was reached between all involved parties. One of the major sticking points over the disagreement was the possible use of AI in filmmaking, which would render several jobs obsolete.
One person who served as a background actor, aka an extra, on The Mandalorian, revealed the practice of taking facial scans of actors was a norm on the show’s set. The person’s comments strongly suggest Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy was aware of this technology being actively used in the studio’s productions and here is everything you need to know in that regard.
The Mandalorian Extra Revealed Uncomfortable Face Scan Experience on the Star Wars series
In 2023, the Screen Actors Guild went on strike after failing to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Amidst the strike, Nicole Kreuzer spoke about her experience of working as a background actor on an episode of The Mandalorian.
During a conversation with Capital and Main, Kreuzer spoke about the effect of Hollywood’s increasing reliance on technology to aid filmmaking, which has been affecting the livelihood of those like her. Kreuzer stated she and the other extras were asked to undergo facial scans.
When Kreuzer enquired what the scans would be used for, she recalled being told the following:
We can make you leap over buildings. We can make you fight.
Kreuzer added that she felt extremely uncomfortable during the experience, but feared losing out on potential future work, leading to her undergoing the scans.
At the same time, Kreuzer expressed doubts over the applications of the scanning technology, arguing that her likeness could be digitally used to put her in uncomfortable positions on the screen. Similarly, another background actor had also expressed similar concerns over facial scans.
Kathleen Kennedy Likely Knew About the Threat of AI Before the Hollywood Strikes
Kreuzer’s comments came in light of the Hollywood strikes, with the use of AI to scan actors’ faces to generate performances digitally being a major point of contention between studios and SAG-AFTRA.
The actors’ union argued that the work of background actors could be replaced using AI and facial scans, not unlike the ones Kreuzer was subjected to while working on The Mandalorian, which is produced by Lucasfilm, under Disney.
Moreover, Kreuzer most likely worked as an extra on the series in 2018, during the show’s first season. As a result, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy was likely aware of the production scanning actors’ faces and storing their likenesses at least since 2018.
While there is no way to ascertain whether Kennedy was indeed aware of the situation, it is hard to imagine the boss of a major studio being unaware of the practices on one of their flagship shows.
Furthermore, since the issue of AI became such a major topic causing the strike, the Hollywood shutdown could likely have been averted with some proactive measures from those in places of power like Kennedy.
The Mandalorian is streaming on Disney+.
