Gal Gadot has defended her decision to star in Doug Liman’s “Bitcoin,” a $70 million biopic that has drawn scrutiny across Hollywood for using artificial intelligence to generate its sets and lighting instead of building them. Appearing on Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Gadot said her legal team spent six months negotiating contract language to keep AI away from her actual performance. “I did not want AI to have anything to do with my performance,” she said. “We had to protect that, to such an extent that SAG called my lawyers to ask for pointers to update the SAG contract to protect other actors.”
The film, which casts Casey Affleck as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto alongside Gadot, Pete Davidson, and Isla Fisher, was shot on a bare soundstage over 20 days, with every environment and lighting setup added digitally afterward. Producer Ryan Kavanaugh has said the approach shaved more than $200 million off a production some insiders had pegged at $300 million, which would have made it the most expensive biopic ever made, ahead of the Michael Jackson film “Michael.” Acme AI & FX, the company behind the technology, was founded by Ryan and Matt Kavanaugh along with Garrett Grant and Lawrence Grey.
Gadot described the shoot as closer to theater than a typical film set, since the cast worked in an empty space without waiting on crews to adjust lights or dress a scene. “It felt like a pure art form of creating a movie,” she said, noting the production moved almost without pause between takes. She acknowledged unease about AI’s broader reach into filmmaking but framed her involvement as pragmatic rather than enthusiastic. “I’m afraid of AI, but I am going to be afraid and look away? No,” she said. “The train has left the station. You’re going to work with it or be out of the game completely.”
The podcast appearance, meant to promote her Prime Video thriller “The Runner,” also touched on her exit from the DC Universe. Gadot said she does not expect to play Wonder Woman again, citing the demands of raising four children, and reflected on watching predecessors like Henry Cavill and Patty Jenkins depart under new studio leadership without, in her view, much grace.
