Are virtual actors about to put Hollywood’s humans out of work?

With A-listers such as Scarlett Johansson, Will Smith and Steven Spielberg on its books, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is a fixture of the Hollywood establishment, but its latest client is a little different. On 6 May, Variety revealed that CAA had signed up Miquela, a 19-year-old, Brazilian-American model, pop singer, influencer and self-described “change-seeking robot with the drip”. That’s right: Miquela isn’t an actual human. She is a virtual celeb, created in 2016 by a California tech startup named Brud. But her career is looking pretty real right now.

According to Variety, CAA will work with Miquela in areas “including TV, film, and brand strategy and commercial endorsements, raising the prospect of a movie or show featuring the character”. So there’s a tip for all you struggling actors wondering where you have been going wrong: try not existing!

From an industry perspective, virtual actors are an enticing prospect. They are literally totally malleable. They will never complain, they are always in prime condition and camera-ready (creepily, Miquela is for ever 19 years old). They will even work through an industry-stalling pandemic without complaint. And their salary demands are competitive. Miquela also brings along a fanbase. She has 2.2 million Instagram followers, she’s duetted with real-life singers, and she has sagas with virtual boyfriends and frenemies (no doubt negotiating their own deals right now). She pushes the right buttons: young, fashionable, fluent in social-media discourse. She is not ambitious, she’s just programmed that way.

Full Report at The Guardian