Heart of Stone director and Jamie Dornan on "terrifying" surge of AI
Tom Harper and Jamie Dornan discuss their Netflix film's timely AI-focused storyline.
This interview took place prior to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
New Netflix spy film Heart of Stone has a particularly timely premise, as it sees Gal Gadot's central character Rachel working for a covert agency which utilises the Heart, a high-tech artificial intelligence that keeps them a step ahead of their enemies.
With AI currently a hot topic both in society and film, having also featured heavily in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, RadioTimes.com caught up exclusively with the film's director Tom Harper and Jamie Dornan, to see what they made of this prescient plotline.
When asked whether exploring the theme of AI was a big reason behind his wanting to direct the film, Harper said: "Yeah, absolutely it was.
"I think that one of the lovely things about cinema is that it of course entertains, and it can have spectacle and great set pieces and action and that aspect of it, but it often reflects the social concerns of the moment as well, and that's kind of the underlying aligning thematics of the movie.
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"And that was certainly one of the big appeals to me, when I first became involved in the film probably about three years ago now. But in that time that we've been working on the movie, it's really kind of changed, even in just that three years."
Harper continued: "Obviously now is a particular moment of conversation, I guess probably stimulated in part by ChatGPT being released, and suddenly there's a whole new angle to it.
"So yeah, it's fascinating to see how much that's evolved, even just in the time that we've been making this film."
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Meanwhile, Dornan, who plays Parker, the leader of an MI6 team Rachel is immersed in, said on the topic: "The mad thing was, that was like… that wasn't a conversation when we were filming it a year ago, year-and-a-half ago.
"Of course, there were people having conversations about it, and it was on your radar, but it was very faint on the radar.
"The last few months that has become front page news, the AI and the fear of it, ChatGPT, and it's become a very real conversation. It’s having a massive impact on our industry, obviously. But there's a way bigger, more terrifying global aspect of what's happening there that's truly terrifying.
"And this has ended up being quite timely, because we're dealing with something relatively similar in the movie. But yeah, it was a strange thing where that wasn't what we were talking about when we were shooting it, because it just wasn't at the forefront of our minds. But it's funny how that's worked out."
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In his interview with RadioTimes.com Dornan also spoke about taking on an action role in the film, saying that while he loved doing it, he wouldn't want to be action star, jumping into fights "movie after movie after movie".
Heart of Stone will be released on Netflix on 11th August 2023. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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