Andrew Garfield Couldn't Wait to Quit Playing OpenAI Boss Sam Altman: 'Thank God That's Over'

Andrew Garfield is officially stepping away from the chaotic world of Silicon Valley. The Oscar-nominated actor recently opened up about his grueling experience portraying OpenAI head honcho Sam Altman in Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming drama *Artificial*, confessing he felt immense relief once cameras stopped rolling. Speaking with *Esquire U.K.*, Garfield admitted that inhabiting heavy real-life figures takes a serious toll on his mental bandwidth. Stepping into the shoes of the high-stakes tech executive left him completely wiped out, leading to a blunt reaction when production wrapped: "Thank God that's over."

Directed by Guadagnino from a script penned by Simon Rich, *Artificial* dives headfirst into the chaotic five-day corporate crisis that rocked the artificial intelligence world in November 2023. The storyline centers on the shock decision by OpenAI’s board of directors to oust Altman, triggering massive pushback from staff before he was dramatically brought back into the fold. Garfield leads a stacked star vehicle alongside Monica Barbaro as former tech chief Mira Murati, Yura Borisov playing Ilya Sutskever, and Ike Barinholtz stepping into the role of billionaire mogul Elon Musk. Garfield revealed he felt a long-standing pull toward tech-biopic roles, having previously read for the part of Mark Zuckerberg in 2010’s *The Social Network* before ultimately landing the role of co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

BUZZBEAT

While the feature was originally slated for release via Amazon MGM Studios, the company quietly dumped the nearly finished project over the summer. Industry insiders noted the quiet exit coincided with Amazon executing a massive $50 billion partnership deal with OpenAI, raising eyebrows over potential corporate conflicts of interest. Major platforms like Netflix and Focus Features also passed on the movie before independent powerhouse Neon stepped in to scoop up global distribution rights. Fans will now get to see Garfield’s high-stress performance on the big screen, even if the leading man is just glad he doesn't have to live in Altman's brain anymore.