Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown all praises for Jennifer Lopez in ‘Atlas’

MANILA, Philippines — Simu Liu and Sterling K. Brown showered their “Atlas” lead star Jennifer Lopez with praises, hailing her an “icon” who was a “treat” to work with in the sci-fi action film.

In “Atlas,” which is set in a not-so-distant future, Jennifer is a brilliant data analyst, who harbors extreme distrust towards artificial intelligence (AI). She ultimately harnesses it to save the Earth from the first-ever AI terrorist. Simu (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) portrays the renegade android, Harlan, while Sterling (“American Fiction,” “Black Panther,” “Hotel Artemis”) takes on the role of Colonel Banks, leading the space mission to capture Harlan, who has built his own AI army with cloning abilities. The film is now available for streaming on Netflix.

The Philippine STAR recently interviewed the main cast to discuss the film, which explores themes of trust, technology, and the hot-button issue of how much AI we should allow into our work and lives, in general. This paper particularly got to ask Simu and Sterling what it was like working with J.Lo, who is very much the action star as they are in the movie.

On Jennifer as co-star and their favorite scenes with her:

Sterling: “I had a great time. Jennifer is an icon. She’s been famous for as long as I can remember. You can go back to, like, ‘Living Color’ and ‘Money Train,’ and there’s ‘U Turns’ and ‘Out of Sights’ and all kinds of cool stuff, right?

“To see how someone can be that busy and be productive and still sort of show up and get work done — I am sort of amazed and in awe of the level of productivity. That you are capable of being fully present and fully present in the thing that you’re doing.

“And my favorite scene (would be) we’re laying down on torture tables together, as people are prone to do, and we’re just sort of figuring out, like, what’s the next steps for life for us?

“And it’s just a beautiful scene of, like, someone at the most vulnerable in that state and people being there for each other. That was my favorite time.”

In ‘Atlas,’ which is set in a not-so-distant future, Hollywood star Jennifer is a brilliant data analyst, who harbors extreme distrust toward artificial intelligence (AI). She ultimately harnesses it to save the Earth from the first AI terrorist threat.

Simu: “My favorite scene that we shot was when Jen yells at me, ‘Let’s go, b*tch.’ I didn’t have that on my bingo card! And it was a very good ad lib.

“Working with Jen is such a treat. I never thought that I would be playing a role in which I was trying to kill Jen. That’s definitely not what I signed on for initially, but, no, it was a lot of fun because, like I said, Jen really cares.

“Like she really, you know… she read the script, and I think I can say, (Jennifer was) very emotionally affected by that… And I really got that when we came to work every day.

“You know, the most that you could possibly hope for is a co-star that cares about the character, about the story. And when you get there, it’s just like, all right, great. We’re here, we’re working, and we want to make the best scene that we possibly can, and she’s everything.”

The Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu portrays the renegade android, Harlan, who terrorizes humanity in a not-so-distant future.

On being sci-fi fans and film takeaways:

Sterling: “Do I like sci-fi AI movies? Yeah, I like sci-fi movies. What’s special about this one? I think it really is asking a question in a very timely time in history. Timely time? That’s a dumb thing to say (laughs).

“But anyway, you know, what I’m saying is that, like, we’re talking about how AI is going to be utilized in society right now, is it something that’s going to be replacing human labor? Is it something that can be used in tandem with human labor?

“I think when you get a chance to take things into the sci-fi world and have the allegory of a little bit of distance, it allows you to ask real questions that pertain to the here and now, I think that’s what’s special about ‘Atlas.’ That’s why people should see it. And it’s also got J.Lo!”

Simu: “I’m a huge, huge sci-fi fan, but I think the best science fiction, you know, holds a mirror to society and holds a mirror to life and the human experience.

“And I think, more than it is a movie about space travel and robots and AI into the world, it’s about trust, and I think Jen can speak to that more. But it’s really, I mean reading the script and watching the film, I became very deeply invested in this relationship between Atlas and Smith (AI). It really kind of grabs you.”

The Oscar-nominated American actor Sterling K. Brown takes on the role of Colonel Banks, leading the space mission to capture Harlan, who has built his own AI army with cloning abilities. — Photos courtesy of Netflix

On their thoughts on AI:

Simu: “I think that what I learned from my character Harlan, and from the movie, and just about AI in general, is that AI should be used as an enhancement and to aid in human living.

“But it should never lead to decision-making. I think Harlan is the perfect example of what could go wrong when you put AI in the driver’s seat. Because artificial intelligence is code. It analyzes, but it doesn’t understand empathy.

“It doesn’t understand human cost. And so when you have AI or algorithms making decisions, like how many people do we fire? Or, you know, making artistic or creative decisions.

“I think that’s when you can run into some real trouble, because art, in and of itself, is human. You know, art should have a message. Art should come from human emotions and feelings and anxieties and trauma and from the soul. And, you know, artificial intelligence is just an amalgamation of data at the end of the day.”

“Atlas” also stars Mark Strong, Gregory James Cohan, Abraham Popoola and Lana Parrilla. It’s directed by Brad Peyton, the Canadian filmmaker whose past works include the films “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” “San Andres” and “Rampage,” as well as the Netflix series “Daybreak.”