AI Replacing Even Actors: Hollywood Fights Back While Japanese Voice Actors Go Official

Eight Trademarks Registered Including Voice
Legal Action in Federal Court Against Unauthorized Deepfakes
Despite Backlash, Virtual Actors Land Feature Film Leading Roles
Japanese Voice Actors Respond with “Official AI Voices”

As AI becomes increasingly adept at replicating human actors’ faces and voices, and as virtual actors secure leading roles in films, tension within the entertainment industry is on the rise. Actors and voice actors are responding to unauthorized copyright and publicity rights infringements—such as the use of their likenesses and voices for AI training or content without consent—by resorting to trademark registration, lawsuits, and launching official AI voice businesses.

The controversy over whether AI is a new tool for creativity or a threat that replaces human actors and infringes upon their rights is intensifying. With generative AI now able to effortlessly reproduce the faces and voices of actors and voice actors, the key debate in the entertainment industry is shifting from ‘Should we use AI?’ to ‘Who grants permission, who controls it, and to whom is the revenue distributed?’

Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey, well known for the movie 'Interstellar.' The Asia Business Daily DB

Earlier, around January 2026, Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey—well known for the film ‘Interstellar’—took the unusual step of establishing a legal defense against the unauthorized AI replication of his face and voice. He began registering even short video clips and audio as trademarks, seeking to protect his very identity as intellectual property.

It was reported that he received approval for eight trademarks featuring his image and voice from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The registrations included a 7-second video of McConaughey standing in front of a doorway and a 3-second clip of him sitting in front of a Christmas tree looking into the camera. His famous line, “Alright, alright, alright,” from his 1993 debut film ‘Dazed and Confused,’ was also registered as a voice trademark.

McConaughey’s move to register these trademarks is intended to prevent AI apps or users from replicating his expressions and voice without permission. He told the Wall Street Journal, “Whenever my voice or likeness is used, it must be clear that it is with my approval and consent,” emphasizing that consent and clear sourcing should be fundamental principles in the AI era. However, McConaughey does not reject AI outright: he is an investor in the AI voice company ElevenLabs and has collaborated to produce his newsletter in Spanish using AI voice technology. Rather than imposing a blanket ban, his strategy is to require prior consent from rights holders and appropriate compensation as the basis for AI utilization.

Despite Opposition That “AI Is Not an Actor,” Leading Roles in Feature Films

McConaughey’s legal actions come against the backdrop of heated debate in Hollywood over AI actors. Previously, the British AI studio Particle6 created a virtual actor, Tilly Nord, who is set to star in her first feature film, ‘Misaligned.’ The film is a comedy-drama set in the digital world of the ‘Tillyverse,’ portraying an AI existing in the cloud as it explores identity, autonomy, and longing for humanity.

AI Actress Tilly Nowood. Tilly Nowood Instagram

Since Tilly Nord was first unveiled in 2025, she has sparked fierce backlash in the film industry. The American actors’ and broadcasters’ union, SAG-AFTRA, defined Tilly as “a character generated by computer programming, not an actor.” The union claims there is a possibility that the work of numerous professional actors was used for AI training without permission or compensation.

In particular, SAG-AFTRA criticized the fact that AI characters do not possess human experience or emotion, warning that they could threaten human actors’ livelihoods and diminish artistic value by replacing them. On the other hand, producer Elin van der Velden counters that Tilly is not a replacement for human actors but a new creative tool, akin to animation or computer graphics.

Japanese Voice Actors Launch Official AI Businesses to Counter “Pirate Voices”

Not only in Hollywood, but also in Japan’s voice acting industry, there is a move to supply “official AI voices”—managed directly by the rights holders—rather than merely trying to block unauthorized AI voice use.

On July 13, the Nikkei reported that popular voice actor Daisuke Namikawa would launch his own AI voice service, “Polyphony,” starting July 14. Namikawa is known for voicing Goemon Ishikawa in the anime ‘Lupin III’ and Anakin Skywalker in the Japanese dub of ‘Star Wars.’ Namikawa collaborated with a Japanese IT company, spending over a year recording his voice and developing the AI model.

Yuki Kaji, famous for voicing Eren Yeager in ‘Attack on Titan,’ also operates synthetic voice software and the AI character “Soyogi Fractal,” both based on his own voice. In April 2026, Kaji established the company “Fractal,” where he serves as CEO, to expand his related business. Fractal emphasizes that it only uses technologies that guarantee rights protection. Kaji’s position is that AI should be used as a tool to create new creative works by combining with human expression, rather than simply viewing it as technology that takes away voice actors’ jobs.

Legal action against unauthorized synthetic voices continues as well. Voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court in May, demanding the deletion of a video on TikTok that used generative AI to imitate his voice. However, it can take significant time and cost to identify the uploader and obtain damages, especially when dealing with anonymous accounts or overseas platforms. The Japanese voice acting industry is also working to build a database to distinguish between official and unauthorized synthetic voices using electronic watermarking and voiceprint authentication technology. The plan is to distribute revenue from official AI services to rights holders, including the voice actors themselves, their agencies, and technology companies.

Although McConaughey’s trademark registrations and Japanese voice actors’ official AI businesses take different approaches, their objectives are the same: to make faces and voices controllable assets in the AI era and to prevent unauthorized replication without the rights holder’s consent. As AI actors now take on leading roles in films, the focus of debate has shifted beyond whether to use the technology. The crucial questions going forward will be whose data AI is trained on, who grants usage rights, and how creative revenues and responsibilities are allocated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.