{"id":409231,"date":"2026-04-21T01:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/409231\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T01:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:44:09","slug":"can-ai-win-an-oscar-val-kilmers-film-writes-new-awards-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/409231\/","title":{"rendered":"Can AI Win an Oscar? Val Kilmer’s Film Writes New Awards Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIt\u2019s still an open question whether an AI<\/a> performer can actually \u201cact,\u201d but awards bodies will soon have to confront whether such a performance could ever be eligible for a major award.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems like a storyline plucked out of some Hollywood dystopian satire. Still, with the arrival of concepts like AI \u201cactress\u201d Tilly Norwood<\/a> and, now, the likeness of Val Kilmer in an upcoming movie role<\/a> a year after his death, the question of whether AI-generated likenesses could ever be awards-eligible is lingering over multiple organizations that recognize achievements in filmmaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tKilmer was cast in \u201cAs Deep as the Grave\u201d before his death in April 2025<\/a>, in which he was set to portray Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist. Due to complications from throat cancer, he was ultimately unable to appear on set. Writer-director Coerte Voorhees, who had built the role around him, refused to recast. Instead, with the cooperation of Kilmer\u2019s estate and his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, Voorhees reconstructed the performance using generative artificial intelligence, assembling the role from archival material and digital tools.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe was the actor I wanted to play this role,\u201d Voorhees told Variety<\/a> when the film\u2019s trailer debuted. \u201cIt was very much designed around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film, which does not yet have U.S. distribution, arrives at a moment when the industry is still in the process of considering the ramifications of AI attempting to replicate actors\u2019 performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd while we don\u2019t know if \u201cAs Deep as the Grave\u201d will be a viable awards contender or if the Kilmer likeness will be deemed a success or failure, it\u2019s nonetheless forcing awards groups to confront a question their rulebooks were not written to answer: Can a performance that no human being has given compete for the industry\u2019s highest honors?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe answer, depending on whom you ask, ranges from \u201cpossibly\u201d to \u201cprobably not,\u201d and \u201cwe are still working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took its most public position on the matter following the 2024 awards cycle. That season encompassed the controversy surrounding Brady Corbet\u2019s historical epic drama \u201cThe Brutalist,\u201d which used generative AI<\/a> to enhance Hungarian dialogue in Adrien Brody\u2019s performance and produce architectural imagery. That prompted enough unease within the Academy that it felt compelled to respond, although the response stopped short of an official ruling. AI tools, the Academy said<\/a>, \u201cneither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination.\u201d Voters were instead instructed to weigh \u201cthe degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSurely that is a principle, but it\u2019s not yet a policy. In the case of Kilmer, it raises more questions than it resolves. The organization will announce any updated rules for this year in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Actor Awards, which are helmed by SAG-AFTRA, have drawn a harder line. Under its current rules, performances \u201cfully generated by artificial intelligence\u201d are disqualified from Actor Awards consideration. Work enhanced by AI may still qualify, but only when the performer has provided consent in accordance with union agreements. The consent portion is a standard that Kilmer\u2019s estate has satisfied, but it seems likely the performance would be considered \u201cfully generated\u201d and thus not eligible.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier precedents \u2014 including the digital resurrection of Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher in \u201cRogue One: A Star Wars Story,\u201d which involved roles those performers had previously inhabited, drew their own fair share of criticism.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, this isn\u2019t a question only plaguing actors. The use of AI in creative work is affecting every craft. Other major awards organizations have arrived at positions of varying clarity. The Recording Academy, responding to its own reckoning with AI-generated music, established in June 2023 that only human creators are eligible for Grammy recognition. Works containing AI elements may still qualify, but the human contribution must be meaningful \u2014 not incidental.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re not going to be giving a nomination or an award to an AI computer or someone who just prompted AI,\u201d Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told Variety at the time<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s the human award highlighting excellence, driven by human creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Television Academy, which hosts the Emmys, requires disclosure when AI-generated material exceeds a minimal threshold and is tied to its code of ethics. BAFTA has discouraged the use of AI in certain categories, particularly in its games vertical. Notably, none of these positions were written with a Kilmer scenario in mind, and none are fully equipped for it.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the deep discomforts lies in the question of what an AI performance actually is, and who, or what, deserves credit for it. Kilmer delivered performances over four decades that remain staples of his legacy. I think often of his turn as rock icon Jim Morrison in \u201cThe Doors\u201d (1991), his career-defining work as Doc Holliday in \u201cTombstone\u201d (1993) and his gay and wisecracking private detective in \u201cKiss Kiss Bang Bang\u201d (2005).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe prospect of posthumous recognition, through a role constructed after his death, raises its own kind of unease. Would that recognition honor Kilmer himself or simply the technology deployed in his name? Would this warrant consideration for best visual effects, standing toe-to-toe with \u201cAvengers: Doomsday\u201d or \u201cDune Part Three\u201d? I\u2019d imagine many members of the Visual Effects Branch would be divided on the answer.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut what is clear is that studios are not waiting for the debate to settle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSun Zhonghuai, a senior executive at Tencent, projected in late 2025 that AI-driven productions could account for 10% to 30% of film, television and animation output within two years. The tools are accelerating faster than the ethics can evolve, and the embrace of AI is accelerating faster than rules can be made.<\/p>\n

\n\tGroups like the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards have yet to formally establish AI guidelines, but are expected to do so in the coming years (perhaps even sooner?).<\/p>\n

\n\tVersions of this conversation began long before Kilmer\u2019s film reached the marketplace. Andy Serkis\u2019 lived-in work as the terrifying hobbit Gollum in \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d and as the warrior ape Caesar in the modern \u201cPlanet of the Apes\u201d trilogy pushed audiences and awards bodies to reconsider what constitutes acting. Serkis was nominated by the Critics Choice for best supporting actor for \u201cRise of the Planet of the Apes\u201d (2011) and given a special prize for best digital acting performance for \u201cThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers\u201d (2002) by the org. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe debate continued with the arrival of James Cameron\u2019s \u201cAvatar\u201d (2009) and persisted even in voice performance work such as Scarlett Johansson\u2019s turn as the AI Samantha in Spike Jonze\u2019s \u201cHer\u201d (2013), whom the CCA also nominated for supporting actress in her respective year. And even for this upcoming awards season, questions are likely to surface around whether Rocky, the lovable sidekick to Ryan Gosling\u2019s astronaut in \u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d is a performance worth recognizing, thanks to puppeteer and voice performer James Ortiz.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf audiences respond positively to Kilmer\u2019s performance in \u201cAs Deep as the Grave,\u201d awards voters will find themselves facing a verdict that no existing guidelines anticipate. Are people watching a tribute to a beloved actor or just another instance of AI slop?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe answer matters. But whatever it is, it won\u2019t be the last of its kind. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s still an open question whether an AI performer can actually \u201cact,\u201d but awards bodies will soon have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[220,321,93,61,60,2625,114806],"class_list":{"0":"post-409231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-oscars","14":"tag-val-kilmer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}