WandaVision Actor Reveals Marvel Digitally Scanned All Background Performers, “They Won’t Have Any Use For Us”

In July, the actor’s guild SAG-AFTRA went on strike after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down with no deal in place. There are many reasons SAG is striking along with the Writers Guild of America, and one major topic is the use of AI. Right before the SAG strike, it was revealed that studios wanted AI background actors for their projects, which would leave film and television extras’ likenesses to be used in perpetuity. This week, background actor Alexandria Rubalcaba spoke to NPR about her time working on WandaVision and revealed Marvel Studios scanned her and dozens of other extras. 

“Have your hands out. Have your hands in. Look this way. Look that way. Let us see your scared face. Let us see your surprised face,” Rubalcaba explained of the instructions she was given while being scanned. Rubalcaba said her face and body were scanned for about 15 minutes before a digital replica of her was created. However, Rubalcaba was not told how or if her digital avatar would be used in future projects. If Marvel does end up using Rubalcaba’s digital scan, she probably won’t be informed, and she won’t be paid for future use of her likeness. 

“What if I don’t want to be on ‘MarioVision,’ or ‘SarahVision]?” Rubalcaba explained. “I fear that AI is eventually going to weed out background actors. They won’t have any use for us anymore.”

Considering Agatha: Coven of Chaos is coming soon and will feature many actors from WandaVision, this is a real concern for actors such as Rubalcaba, who makes the SAG-AFTRA union rate of $187 a day working as a background actor. 

SAG-AFTRA recently held a press conference in which President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland detailed the reasons the union had chosen to strike and AMPTP’s background actor proposal. 

“This ‘groundbreaking’ AI proposal that they gave us yesterday: they propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation,” Crabtree-Ireland revealed. “So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on the ongoing actors’ and writers’ strikes.