Gal Gadot has defended the controversial use of artificial intelligence in her upcoming film “Bitcoin,” saying that while she is afraid of the technology, Hollywood can no longer afford to ignore it.
Speaking on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Gadot said her lawyers spent six months negotiating safeguards to ensure that AI would not be used to alter her performance in the film, Variety reported.
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Gal Gadot: ‘I am afraid of AI,’ but actors cannot afford to ignore it
(Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images)
“This was the longest contract I have ever worked on,” Gadot said. “It was six months from my lawyers to go through every scenario we could think about as far as the AI component of it. I did not want AI to have anything to do with my performance.”
She said the protections went so far that SAG contacted her lawyers for advice on updating its own contracts to better protect other actors.
“As far as the performances, it’s all me,” Gadot said.
Directed by Doug Liman, “Bitcoin” has drawn attention for its extensive use of AI to create sets and lighting. Gadot stars alongside Casey Affleck, Pete Davidson and Isla Fisher.
The actors were filmed in what Gadot described as an almost entirely bare space, with much of the visual environment to be created later through AI.
Producer Ryan Kavanaugh has claimed the $70 million production saved more than $200 million by using AI for production design and lighting.
Gadot acknowledged the concerns surrounding the technology but said resisting it outright is no longer realistic.
“I am afraid of AI, but I am going to be afraid and look away? No,” she said. “I am afraid but I am playing with it and learning it and trying to educate myself.”
“The train has left the station. You’re going to work with it or be out of the game completely,” she added. “I am trying to make the best of it and protect what I can protect.”
Gal Gadot receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
(Photo: GettyimaegsIL)
Gadot stressed that the AI component in “Bitcoin” was limited to the visual environment rather than the actors themselves.
“The AI component in this movie is for sets and the lighting,” she said. “We had a broad crew and a lot of people were working on this movie.”
Because Liman filmed the cast in what amounted to a largely empty warehouse, Gadot said the experience felt unusually stripped down and actor-focused.
“It felt like a pure art form of creating a movie,” she said. “I haven’t seen a single shot.”
She contrasted the production with conventional filmmaking, where actors often spend long periods waiting for lighting and other technical preparations.
“As an actress, I wait so much. There’s the legendary quote: ‘You are being paid to wait as an actor.’ Here we would film nonstop because we didn’t have to wait for lighting,” Gadot said.
“We would film on and on and on for 10 hours. It was amazing. As actors you’re always hot. You don’t cool off. We’ll see. It’s crazy.”
During the interview, Gadot also cast doubt on whether she would ever return as Wonder Woman, even if another opportunity arose.
“For me to go to do another Wonder Woman, I am not sure I would at this point in my life with four children and different schools and all of that,” she said. “To check out from all of them for such a long period of time, it doesn’t work for my life anymore at this point.”
Gadot first appeared as Wonder Woman in Zack Snyder’s 2016 film “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” before starring in Patty Jenkins’ 2017 “Wonder Woman,” which grossed $824 million worldwide.
She later appeared in “Justice League” and returned for “Wonder Woman 1984” in 2020.
Jenkins had been developing an idea for a third “Wonder Woman” film before James Gunn and Peter Safran took control of DC Studios and began reshaping the franchise.
Although Gadot said in 2023 that another Wonder Woman film was being developed, Variety reported at the time that Gunn and Safran were not moving forward with another sequel starring her.
Gadot said she was ultimately not surprised by how things ended, citing the treatment of both Jenkins and former Superman actor Henry Cavill during the transition.
“I saw the way everybody else was handled. The Henry situation was not handled elegantly to say the least. Patty was not handled elegantly,” Gadot said. “We’re all adults and we’re all good.”
Still, she said she remained grateful for her years playing the character.
“I am so grateful I got the opportunity to wear these boots and have the character be so celebrated,” she said. “I can only wish whoever is next comes pure to this journey.”
“This character means so much to so many of us. It was never mine. I was always just a vessel. This is Hollywood.”