David Cronenberg weighs in on ‘The Brutalist’ AI backlash: “We mess with actors’ voices all the time”

nme.com:

The Brutalist faced throughout awards season for using AI to alter the voices of its leads.The Oscar-winning drama, which follows the fictional Hungarian-born Jewish architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody) as he moves to the US with his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), was subject to criticism after editor Dávid Jancsó shared that AI was used to alter Brody and Jones’ Hungarian accents.Soon after, director Brady Corbet clarified the details, saying: “Adrien and Felicity’s performances are completely their own”, adding that “Innovative Respeecher technology was used in Hungarian language dialogue editing only, specifically to refine certain vowels and letters for accuracy.

No English language was changed”.Nevertheless, the performance was seen as tainted by some, particularly those who were a fan of Timothee Chalamet’s work in Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

His fans took to social media to say it “shows how little the academy actually cares about true acting skill” that Brody walked away with the Best Actor award.Now, legendary horror director Cronenberg has weighed in.

Speaking at London’s Royal Festival Hall with collaborator Howard Shore, he said: “I must confess, there was a scandal [with] The Brutalist,” (via The Hollywood Reporter).“There was a discussion about Adrien Brody, but apparently they used artificial intelligence to improve his accent.