Jon Hamm plays a hologram in director Michael Almereyda’s “Marjorie Prime,” but he seems less-than enthused about the technological breakthroughs that are digitizing performers like Carrie Fisher in “Rogue One,” in some cases from beyond the grave.
“Technology tends to only move in one direction,” the actor told TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman at the Sundance Film Festival.
“It’s not like they go, ‘Oh, this hologram idea was a great idea but, eh, never mind.’”
“There always has to be a person at the end of it until we create computers that create computers and then we’re well and truly f—ed,” said Hamm, who in “Marjorie Prime” plays the hologram of a long-dead man brought in to comfort and jog the memory of his dementia-suffering wife (Lois Smith).
For Smith, the prospect of a hologram of someone from her past doesn’t hold much appeal. “Where would I put him?” joked the veteran stage actress, who has starred in “Marjorie Prime” since its start as an Off Broadway play by Jordan Harrison.
Co-star Geena Davis has one of the film’s more puzzling roles, as the daughter of Smith’s character who reluctantly agrees to hire the hologram service for her mother. “I love to tell people that Jon Hamm is my dad because they’re like, ‘Huh?’” she said.
Watch the full interview above.