Latest news with #I Robot
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Alan Tudyk says he was axed from film's publicity after testing more popular than star Will Smith
An actor who worked on the blockbuster film I, Robot has made a sensational claim about its lead star, Will Smith. Alan Tudyk, who appeared in the 2004 sci-fi as Sonny the robot via motion capture and voice acting, says he was axed from all publicity regarding the film after test audiences voted him more popular than the leading man. 'A lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in I, Robot, and there is a reason,' Tudyk said during a recent appearance on Toon'd In with Jim Cummings podcast, 21 years after the film's release. 'They were doing test audiences for the movie and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. I got word back: 'Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.' And then I was gone. I was done.' Tudyk, now 54, said that despite the massive promotional push behind the film, no one knew he played the titular character as he was allegedly left out of the publicity trail. However, Tudyk did not name Smith as being responsible for his lack of visibility. 'There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned. I was so shocked,' he said on the podcast episode. 'I was like, 'Wait, nobody is going to know I'm in it!' I put a lot into [that performance]. I had to move like a robot. At the time I was very upset.' In I, Robot, Smith plays Detective Del Spooner in the year 2035 who is investigating the death of the founder of a robotics company. The robots are highly intelligent and fill public service positions around the world, and Spooner is convinced a human-like robot named Sonny murdered the founder. The Alex Proyas-directed film, which earned an Oscar nomination in 2005 for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, also stars Bridget Moynahan and James Cromwell. Smith's Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star Janet Huber also alleged she felt diminished on the hit sitcom because of her differences with Smith. This led to her departure from the show altogether in 1993 with her character, Vivian Banks, played by actress Daphne Maxwell Reid from Season 4. Smith and Hubert patched things up in 2020 during a reunion special of their show. In the special, they addressed their once-fractured relationship, with the actor admitting he felt 'threatened' by his former co-star at the time. 'When I left the show, I had this new baby and no one – family disowned me, Hollywood disowned me. My family said, 'You've ruined our name,'' Hubert explained to Smith. 'And I wasn't unprofessional on the set. I just stopped talking to everybody, because I didn't know who to trust, because I had been banished. And they said it was you who banished me. Because you were Will. You were a kid. It was hard.' 'Everything was a threat to me,' Smith replied. 'Not you, the world. I was so driven by fear and jokes and comedy and all of that.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Alan Tudyk Says He Got Dropped From ‘I, Robot' Publicity After Testing Higher Than Will Smith With Test Screening Audiences: ‘I Was Very Upset'
Alan Tudyk recently appeared on the 'Toon'd In with Jim Cummings' podcast and claimed he was dropped from the marketing of 2004's 'I, Robot' after it was discovered in test screenings that he was actually testing higher with audiences than leading man Will Smith. Tudyk appeared in the film as the robot Sonny via motion capture and voice acting. Axing him from the movie's publicity meant there were (and still are) people who have no idea he starred in the movie, the actor said. 'A lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in 'I, Robot,' and there is a reason,' Tudyk said. 'They were doing test audiences for the movie and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. I got word back: 'Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.' And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity and my name was not mentioned.' More from Variety 'Slow Horses' Creator Will Smith Leaving Show After Season 5 'Resident Alien' Stars on Their Show's Cancellation, TV Industry 'Disarray' and a 'Plausible' Movie Continuation: 'You Guys Deserve More' 'Resident Alien' Canceled at USA Network Ahead of Season 4 Finale 'I was so shocked,' he continued. 'I was like, 'Wait, nobody is going to know I'm in it!' I put a lot into [that performance]. I had to move like a robot. At the time I was very upset.' Variety has reached out to Smith's representative for comment. 'I, Robot,' directed by Alex Proyas, stars Smith as a Chicago police detective in 2035 investigating the alleged suicide of the founder of a robotics company. The corporation's highly-intelligent robots are utilized for public service jobs, but Smith's detective is convinced one of these robots, Tudyk's Sonny, murdered the founder. The supporting cast includes Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell and Chi McBride. Outside of Jar Jar Binks in the 'Star Wars' prequels and Gollum in 'The Lord of the Rings' movies, motion capture technology and performances were still relatively new in Hollywood when Tudyk played Sonny in 'I, Robot.' He would go on to use the technology again years later when he played the droid K-2SO in the 'Star Wars' movie 'Rogue One,' a role he reprised in the Disney+ prequel series 'Andor.' Watch Tudyk's full interview on the 'Toon'd In with Jim Cummings' podcast in the video below. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in August 2025 What's Coming to Netflix in August 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Alan Tudyk says he was cut out of 'I, Robot' press after 'testing higher than Will Smith' with audiences
Tudyk portrayed the primary robot antihero in the 2004 techno thriller, which Smith anchored. Alan Tudyk played a major role in the 2004 techno thriller I, Robot, but you might not know that. His character's popularity was downplayed, Tudyk claims, by the studio formerly known as 20th Century Fox. The Resident Alien star unspooled the story, which does not depict the I, Robot's production house or its star, Will Smith, in a very flattering light, in a July interview on prolific voice actor Jim Cummings' Toon'd In! podcast. "A lot of people didn't know I did Sonny the robot in I, Robot, and there's a reason for that, actually," he explained. "They were doing test audiences with the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test audience, and I got word back, 'Alan, you're testing higher than Will Smith.'" According to Tudyk, it was as simple as that, and the consequences hit swiftly: "Then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned." Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Smith and Disney, which now owns the rebranded 20th Century Studios. Directed by sci-fi visionary Alex Proyas, who'd previously helmed The Crow and Dark City, I, Robot draws on the complex, techno-paranoiac corpus of famed "father of science fiction" Isaac Asimov. The film stars Smith as a detective in a near-future utopia in which humanity is served by a legion of compliant robots. He quickly discovers cracks in the facade, behind which lies a dark and brutal dystopia in which robots like Sonny (Tudyk) are suffering and are programmed to make others suffer. Tudyk portrayed Sonny via 2004's most cutting-edge voice and motion capture technologies. The morally ambiguous character is deliberately designed as a foil to Smith's Detective Spooner, who is far less trusting of the robot half of society than his fellow humans. But in a canny bit of art imitating life, Tudyk claims Smith's primacy caused him to be shunted into the darkness in much the same way I, Robot's society treats its mechanical characters. "I was so shocked, I was like, 'Wait, what? How do they — nobody's going to know that I —' and [Fox] was like, 'Mhm,'" Tudyk recalled. "It was sad. I put a lot into it, because he had to move like a robot, so I had to move [like a robot].... At the time, I was very upset."The sour memory of studio decision-making may be close to the surface in Tudyk's mind due to a recent bout of the same: Late last month, USA Network canceled Resident Alien, just weeks before it was set to air its season 4 finale — now its series finale. Speaking to EW at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 on the day the cancellation was announced, Tudyk let out a long, pained groan in response. Tudyk's costar, Sara Tomko, joked, "He had just forgotten, then remembered all over again." "I think we hoped there was a possibility we could go on," Tomko continued, but said, "It's just nice to feel like we've offered a solution to ourselves as writers, as a cast, to be able to just say, 'This is where this particular story arc ends. I think fans will be really, really satisfied with that, as we are." You can watch the rest of Tudyk's interview on the Toon'd In! podcast above. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Surprising Reason an A-Lister's 'I, Robot' Role Was Kept Quiet 20 Years Ago
The Surprising Reason an A-Lister's 'I, Robot' Role Was Kept Quiet 20 Years Ago originally appeared on Parade. Legendary actor Alan Tudyk, 54, starred opposite Will Smith, 56, in the iconic 2004 dystopian AI film I, Robot, but most fans didn't realize he was the voice and motion capture artist behind Sonny the robot. More than 20 years later, the star is opening up about the surprising reason why his role wasn't publicized. 'A lot of people didn't know I did Sonny the Robot in I, Robot, and there's a reason for that,' Tudyk told voice actor Jim Cummings on his Toon'd Inpodcast in June 2025. 'Because they were doing test audiences with the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test audience." 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 On first thought, fans might assume he simply wasn't testing well with audiences. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. "I got word back: 'Alan, you're testing higher than Will Smith,'" he explained. "And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned.' Smith was also an executive producer on the project. The actor was "so shocked" to be ousted from the film's promotional materials and press tour. "I was like, 'Wait, nobody is going to know that I'm in it!'" he recalled thinking. "I put a lot into it, because he had to move like a robot, so I had to move… it was, whatever it was. At the time, I was very upset.' The film, which also starred Bridget Moynahan and Bruce Greenwood, made a whopping $353,133,898 at the box office worldwide and was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards. Despite the shocking snub, Tudyk went on to have an extremely successful film career, famously portraying Hoban "Wash" Washburn in Firefly and Serenity, K-2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Harry Vanderspeigle in SyFy's Resident Alien. He's also appeared in Harley Quinn, Doom Patrol, 42, Superman, and Andor, and has had voice acting roles in popular animated films like Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and Moana. The Surprising Reason an A-Lister's 'I, Robot' Role Was Kept Quiet 20 Years Ago first appeared on Parade on Aug 12, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared. Solve the daily Crossword
Geek Tyrant
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Alan Tudyk Says He Was Cut From I, ROBOT Marketing After Testing Better Than Will Smith in Test Screenings — GeekTyrant
Alan Tudyk just revealed a wild behind the scenes story from his time on the 2004 sci-fi blockbuster I, Robot , and it explains why so many people still don't know he was in it. Appearing on the Toon'd In with Jim Cummings podcast, Tudyk said he was dropped from the film's marketing campaign after test screenings showed he was scoring higher with audiences than the movie's leading man, Will Smith. Tudyk brought the robot Sonny to life through motion capture and voice work, but after the studio saw the test results, he claims they decided to make his involvement… vanish. 'A lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in I, Robot , and there is a reason. They were doing test audiences for the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. 'I got word back: 'Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.' And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned.' The actor admitted the move blindsided him. 'I was so shocked. I was like, 'Wait, nobody is going to know I'm in it!' I put a lot into [that performance]. I had to move like a robot. At the time, I was very upset.' He totally has a right to be upset over that! What a crappy thing for the studio to do to an actor! I, Robot was directed by Alex Proyasand is set in 2035, it follows Smith's Chicago detective investigating the suspicious death of a robotics company founder. While society's highly intelligent robots are meant to serve humanity, Smith's character suspects one of them, Sonny, of murder. The cast also featured Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, and Chi McBride. Back in 2004, motion capture was still a relatively fresh tool in Hollywood. Aside from characters like Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars and Gollum in The Lord of the Rings , audiences hadn't seen much of it. Tudyk's work as Sonny helped push that technology forward, and he later became a fan favorite as the sarcastic droid K-2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and its Disney+ prequel series Andor . It's been over 20 years since I, Robot hit theaters, but for many fans, this might be the first time they're realizing Sonny's soul came from Alan Tudyk. Turns out, the reason they didn't know… was by design. I mean, you can't have Tudyk being better than Will Smith! Sheesh. That movie would've been so much better without Smith.
