Updated March 04, 2025 at 10:46 AM ET
Adrien Brody's win for best actor at the Oscars is reviving controversy – and it's not due to another strange on-stage kiss or his shutting down the orchestra for an extra long acceptance speech.
Brody's award-winning performance in The Brutalist, a film about a fictional architect and refugee making his way to the U.S., was enhanced with artificial intelligence.
The film's editor, Dávid Jancsó of Hungary, discussed artificial intelligence's use in a January interview, saying Brody and co-star Felicity Jones worked with a dialect coach to improve their accents. The production team then attempted to replace some spoken Hungarian with voiceover work from other actors before opting for the AI assist instead, which included feeding Jancsó's own voice into a technology called Respeecher to enhance specific sounds.
The film's director, Brady Corbet, later defended the use, saying the AI tool was used only to refine the pronunciation of Hungarian dialogue by Brody and Jones. But some critics say it's in keeping with using AI to minimize man-made craftsmanship in the movies and even eliminate jobs.
Jane Guyer Fujita, a dialect coach and an associate arts professor at NYU's Tisch School, told Morning Edition that she isn't angry about AI's use in The Brutalist. Here's why:
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Martin: So during the Hollywood writers strike in 2023, members of SAG-AFTRA expressed fears that AI would make some jobs obsolete. Do you think its use in this kind of movie works toward that?
Fujita: In this case of The Brutalist, it actually seems like it created a few extra gigs for Hungarian voiceover artists. And the reason being that Adrien Brody did perform his lines in Hungarian, but then they were refined by the film's editor and a few hired voiceover artists.
Martin: Interesting. So you feel that this was an appropriate use of this tool?
Fujita: I am not angry about it. I think that because Brody obviously went through an incredibly deep process of preparing this role and did learn his lines in Hungarian. I never got to hear how they sounded. I didn't work on the film. But it seems like the Hungarian editor of the film was happy with the final product and felt like it was more authentic for the Hungarian listeners, which I think is a good thing.
Martin: In 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie Mercury's singing was edited into the actor Rami Malek's vocal performance to capture the full effect of Queen's sound. Malek also won the Oscar for best actor. How do you feel about that? Do you think that this is different or similar?
Fujita: I think it's similar and I don't think it's a disqualifier. We're used to CGI being used for over a decade now. And I think that AI should never replace someone's job in Hollywood. I think that protecting actors is imperative. Protecting the people that work on films is so important. But in this case of The Brutalist, it seems like it did not do that. The SAG strike really did put some great protections in order.
Martin: Do you find that, as a dialect coach, people are still eager to use your services? They still do want to learn the languages or accents of their characters, despite the fact that AI is available now?
Fujita: Yes. AI will never be able to replace the depth of human inspiration and breadth. That is something that only an actor can deliver.
The radio version of this story was edited by Olivia Hampton and produced by Nia Dumas.
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