Natasha Lyonnejust earned an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Charlie Cale on Rian Johnson’sPoker Face, but something else is weighing heavy on her mind. In conversation withDeadline, the actress and filmmaker shared her discontent with concerns of Artificial Intelligence threatening artists' livelihood. AI has been a central issue in the ongoing Writers Guild Strike, and a looming Screen Actors Guild strike also has AI as a concern for its union members: SAG-AFTRA members are asking for guarantees in protecting their likenesses and seeking proper compensation when their work is utilized to train AI. Lyonne calls this “a very dark moment in time.” Citing a report published earlier this week by Deadline, where the publication shared that “artificial intelligence has become a significant obstacle” to a deal between SAG-AFTRA and the studios, Lyonne shared:
“It is really, really dark and dystopian, frankly. I don’t know if that was the goal [with the story] or what, but certainly this is a time of needed solidarity….it just feels like, really, the thing to do would be to not be so corrupt such that you actually give the people who make the things you put on your networks fair deals."
Lyonne said that artists “just want to make stuff and [we] just want to make it fairly,” adding:
“I think we all understand that AI is potentially cheaper and a tool that we can use, but I just don’t think we want to give away our rights and free will of how to use it over to people that are just going to be in the interest of doing things faster and cheaper.” She continued: “Why would we want to be in such a conflict with essentially trying to communicate the human experience? It just feels very twisted. It’s like the dark arts.”
Related:Jamie Lee Curtis Knows Why AI Will Never Replace Actors
Natasha Lyonne Talks Fifth Emmy Nomination
Besides sharing her concerns over AI, Lyonne discussed her fifth Emmy nomination and the first for her portrayal of Charlie Cale inPoker Face. Nominations were announced today, and Lyonne joined Christina Applegate (Dead to Me), Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) and Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) in the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category. Lyonne has previously earned nominations for her work onOrange is the New BlackandRussian Doll. The Peacock series also earned three other nominations. Judith Light secured an acting nomination in the Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category, with the series also picking up Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Contemporary Program and Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Comedy Series Or Variety Program nominations.
Lyonne shared that she had briefly spoken with series creator Rian Johnson about the nod to “try to convince Karina [Longworth, his wife] to be my date” to the September 18th event. As Charlie Cale has been called a “modern day Columbo,” the actress joked that she would draw inspiration from the late Peter Falk (who portrayed the blue collar detective for 35 years) for her acceptance speech should she win. In 1972,the actor delivered a hilarious speechafter his Emmy win, which Lyonne is tempted to reenact:
“Just in case I happen to make it up there, I can do a word-for-word [reenactment] talking about my long day making it through LaGuardia,” she joked.
