Maggie Gyllenhaal says she scrapped AI Marilyn Monroe look
Maggie Gyllenhaal says she tried using AI to turn Dakota Johnson into Marilyn Monroe for the short film Flesh Impact, then scrapped the effect because it stripped the performance of humanity. The Venice jury president told a Lido symposium the licensed AI face-swap “fundamentally did not work,” leaving Johnson’s live portrayal instead.
Key Takeaways
- Gyllenhaal tested licensed AI trained on Marilyn Monroe films to put Monroe’s face on Dakota Johnson in Flesh Impact.
- She discarded the AI version after deciding Johnson’s human performance was more moving and alive.
- Commissioners asked her to use AI; she said the experiment killed the reasons she made the project.
- She also flagged environmental costs of data centers and skepticism about AI “democratizing” film budgets.
What did Maggie Gyllenhaal try with AI on Flesh Impact?
As Streaming & TV Alerts watch Venice chatter, Gyllenhaal confirmed she experimented with artificial intelligence while making the short Flesh Impact, which is screening on the Lido. Per Variety, the film depicts a 100-year-old Marilyn Monroe with flashbacks to Monroe in her 30s, played by Dakota Johnson.
People who commissioned the project asked her to use AI. She said they were not using OpenAI but licensable AI trained on Marilyn Monroe films that had been licensed. Curious about the tool, she agreed to try it.
The plan was to train the model on Monroe and place that face onto Johnson’s. The team worked hard on the swap before Gyllenhaal threw the result away.
Why did Maggie Gyllenhaal say she abandoned the AI face-swap?
Maggie Gyllenhaal says she walked away because what came through Johnson playing Monroe felt far more moving, human, and alive than the AI composite. “It fundamentally did not work,” she told a symposium presented by Finch & Partners and CAA, speaking alongside composer Alexandre Desplat, filmmakers Lee Daniels and Shannon Murphy, producer Lorenzo Mieli, and artist Marc Quinn.
She argued that all the reasons they decided to make the project in the first place were “killed off” in the AI version. In short, the technology undercut the emotional core she wanted on screen.
What else did she say about AI in Hollywood?
Beyond creative limits, Gyllenhaal pointed to “huge environmental issues,” citing a U.S. conversation in South Memphis about data centers. She also referenced Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “Godfather of AI,” ringing alarm bells and suggesting AI be programmed with a maternal instinct—a framing she found fascinating but puzzling.
On money, she found the “democratization” pitch unconvincing because it comes from people behind the software. She recalled hearing that a $40 million movie might cost $4 million—or even $40,000—with AI, then warned that if a commercial film can be made that cheaply, few will fund the “old way” at higher budgets. That economic squeeze, she said, concerns her for filmmakers and talent.
For now, Flesh Impact keeps Johnson’s performance without the abandoned AI Marilyn overlay—an early, high-profile example of a director testing generative tools and then rejecting them on artistic grounds.