The Brutalist Director Defends Actors Amidst New AI-Use Claims
After an editor for The Brutalist revealed that artificial intelligence had been used in the film, director Brady Corbet defended actors Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. He explained that the technology was simply used to refine the nuances of the Hungarian language featured in the film’s dialogue.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Corbet explained, “Adrien and Felicity’s performances are completely their own.”
The use of artificial intelligence in screenwriting was heavily disputed during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, as unions criticized its expanded use in television and film production as means for cutting costs by replacing workers with technology.
there literally was a strike on AI and actual script writers losing their jobs in hollywood bc of it and now we’re awarding movies that openly admit to using AI for set design ideas and speech improvement for actors who couldn’t nail the accent themselves like brody (brutalist)? https://t.co/nSLZkHVBlz
— steffie (@steffswift25) January 19, 2025
Corbet revealed that Brody and Jones worked with a dialect coach for months in preparation for the film’s dialogue. “Innovative Respeecher technology was used in Hungarian language dialogue editing only, specifically to refine certain vowels and letters for accuracy,” Brody explained. “No English language was changed. This was a manual process, done by our sound team and Respeecher in post-production. The aim was to preserve the authenticity of Adrien and Felicity’s performances in another language, not to replace or alter them and done with the utmost respect for the craft.”
In honor of the craft and native Hungarian speakers ,including himself, editor Dávid Jancsó told Red Shark News that Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages to pronounce. “Even with Adrien’s Hungarian background —Brody’s mother is a Hungarian refugee who emigrated to the U.S. in 1956—it’s not that simple. It’s an extremely unique language. We coached [Brody and Felicity Jones] and they did a fabulous job but we also wanted to perfect it so that not even locals will spot any difference.”
Jancsó and Corbet stated that Respeecher was used only to refine the pronunciation of the dialogue. However, social media users are criticizing the use of AI and questioning its integrity in this heavily nominated film.
My take on The Brutalist AI thing is it’s a slippery slope to award Adrian Brody knowing his accent was edited with AI. IMO altering a performance with AI like that should automatically disqualify someone from these awards shows
— Brian (@midsommarz) January 19, 2025
The Brutalist is no less guilty of its use of AI than Emilia Perez. According to The Guardian, Respeecher was also used in re-recordings to enhance the singing voice of main actress Karla Sofía Gascón by expanding her vocal range.
Both of these films were recognized at the Golden Globes, yet critics remain curious about how these AI claims could affect the results of the Academy Awards. This will remain a mystery until the 97 Oscars are held on Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
