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Nicolas Cage said he is terrified that people could use digital AI to alter or reproduce his face and body, including after his death. He made the remarks while talking about production scans he was due to undergo—not because the interview says anyone had already used a scan to create an AI performance.

What did Nicolas Cage say about AI stealing his body?

In an interview with Susan Orlean for The New Yorker, Cage described a production process that would put him “in a computer” so changes could be made, including matching his eye color. He said he had to leave for a scan connected with a show and another for a subsequent film.

That prompted his fear that others might use digital AI to do what they wanted with his body and face. Cage put it bluntly: “They’re just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital A.I. . . . God, I hope not A.I. I’m terrified of that. I’ve been very vocal about it.” He also said: “What are you going to do with my body and my face when I’m dead? I don’t want you to do anything with it!”

The word “steal” is Cage’s framing of a feared loss of control over his likeness. The interview does not report that a scan was used to make an AI performance or that anyone misused his image. Read the interview in The New Yorker.

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Why is Cage worried about AI?

His concern is about who gets to control a performer’s digital likeness and what happens to it when the performer can no longer consent. The comments connect current production scanning with possible later uses of a face or body, including posthumous use. Cage does not describe a particular AI system or spell out a specific scenario beyond people using his likeness as they choose.

What does Cage mean by artistic identity?

Cage’s remarks also raise a question beyond ownership: whether a digitally altered or reproduced image can preserve the person and choices behind a performance. He asked, “Where’s the heartbeat going to be?” and “Where will the truth of the artists end up?” The interview leaves those questions open; it does not claim that digital effects necessarily erase an artist’s contribution.

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What the interview does—and does not—establish

  • It establishes: Cage said he expected to undergo production scans and expressed fear about people using or altering his likeness, including after his death.
  • It does not establish: the scans’ contract terms, what digital assets were created, what permissions applied, or whether his likeness was used in an AI-generated performance.
  • It offers no statistic about AI, scanning, or likeness use; its evidence here is Cage’s account and views.

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