Andrew Garfield’s first impression of Sam Altman changed as the actor dug deeper into the OpenAI CEO while preparing to portray him in Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial.”
Speaking Monday night at the film’s world premiere at the New York Film Festival, Garfield recalled watching Altman testify before Congress for the first time. “I was like, ‘This guy seems fucking great. He’s honest. He’s transparent. He’s talking about regulation, and he has no stake in OpenAI. We need more of these people in control. He’s incredibly charming and charismatic,’” Garfield said. “And then you learn more about a person.”
Garfield spent “two to three months” studying footage and listening to Altman. He also said he felt a moral responsibility to take part in the film, particularly as stories about the dangers of artificial intelligence were emerging “every day” during production.
“I wish we could give it even more teeth in a way,” Garfield said. “We need to shine the light as bright as possible at the nooks and crannies of people we’re giving all of our autonomy and power to.”
Inside the real-life roles
“Artificial” follows the evolution of OpenAI and dramatizes the turbulent period in which Altman was fired and subsequently rehired by the company. Garfield attended the premiere at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall alongside Guadagnino, writer Simon Rich and co-stars Yura Borisov, Ike Barinholtz and Cooper Hoffman.
Borisov plays OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, Barinholtz portrays Elon Musk and Hoffman appears as OpenAI president Greg Brockman. Monica Barbaro, who plays OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, did not attend the premiere.
Garfield has previously played real people, including Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in “The Social Network” and composer Jonathan Larson in “Tick, Tick… Boom.” Addressing how Altman might respond to seeing himself dramatized, the actor stressed that he could only imagine the experience.
“I feel a tremendous amount of compassion for what that must feel like, being on the inside of his soul, going like, ‘That’s not me,’” Garfield said. “I imagine it would feel confronting. I would feel that way. I’m projecting.”
Altman has not seen “Artificial.” In an interview, he said the filmmakers were “trying to make a good movie, and maybe it will be good,” but added that “it will not be good as an accurate depiction.”
Borisov acknowledged his own nerves about how Sutskever and the public may receive the movie. “It was our first time,” he said after the screening. “It’s like a child just being born, and you’re waiting for it to start breathing.”
Barinholtz took a more playful approach to the prospect of Musk’s reaction, joking about playing someone “universally beloved.” He said he brought his “very complicated opinions” about Musk to Guadagnino, who redirected him toward the character’s self-image: “It’s not about what you feel about Elon. It’s about finding what he loves about himself.”
The actor also noted that the film depicts Musk in 2014, when, as Barinholtz put it, many people were saying, “This guy is amazing. He’s going to save you.”
Simon Rich’s warning behind the screenplay
Rich said the screenplay was inadvertently inspired by his childhood friend Danny Selsam, who began warning him about artificial intelligence in 2008. Rich and his friends initially found the predictions so alarming that they discussed staging an intervention or having Selsam institutionalized. They began taking him more seriously after he joined a new nonprofit called OpenAI.
A year before OpenAI released ChatGPT, Rich said Selsam showed the group material on his computer that left him feeling compelled to alert others. Journalists he approached believed it was either a hoax or an attempted prank. Rich later wrote columns about the dangers of AI, but said the public did not respond.
Calling the film a “last-ditch effort to warn mankind,” Rich added: “I wrote this movie, and I hope to God that a couple people pay attention.”
What Happens Next?
“Artificial” arrived at NYFF as a late addition after Amazon MGM dropped the nearly completed film, saying it would be “better served if it were released by a different studio.” That decision followed Amazon’s $50 billion partnership with OpenAI. Altman is also close with Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and attended his 2025 wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Venice.
Neon ultimately acquired the film and plans to release it in theaters on Dec. 25. NYFF artistic director Dennis Lim described the festival plans as a “genuinely up-in-the-air situation,” while arguing that the movie addresses an urgent subject with “alarming clarity” and “very dark humor.”
The premiere also continued Guadagnino’s history with the festival, which previously hosted “Call Me by Your Name,” “Bones and All,” “Queer” and “After the Hunt.”