Ike Barinholtz won’t meet Elon Musk before playing him in Artificial biopic

Ike Barinholtz will pass on meeting billionaire Elon Musk prior to playing him in Luca Guadagnino‘s upcoming biographical film Artificial, but thank you for asking.

The actor, who was Emmy-nominated for his supporting role as movie exec Sal Saperstein on Seth Rogen‘s acclaimed comedy The Studio, spoke with Variety about the upcoming film on the red carpet at the Emmys on Sunday, comically raising an eyebrow and shaking his head when asked if he considered reaching out to the Tesla CEO and former Donald Trump ally to prepare for the role.

“I’m okay. Not really,” Barinholtz said with a laugh. “He’s famous enough that you get it.”

The prep so far has involved “poisoning my brain by watching lots of interviews with him,” Barinholtz shared, praising Guadagnino as “a real genius” who “brings stuff out of people.” “So any trepidation I had going into it was instantly assuaged by that genius,” Barinholtz said.

As for whether he was nervous about portraying a divisive figure with such a massive platform, Barinholtz joked: “All I hope is that if he puts me into a gulag, it’s one with a lot of my friends. That way we can have a party.”

Directed and co-produced by Guadagnino with a screenplay from Simon Rich, the upcoming film is said to be a comedic drama set in the world of artificial intelligence — namely, the period at OpenAI that saw CEO Sam Altman abruptly ousted and reinstated within a few days.

Andrew Garfield, Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Zosia Mamet, and Billie Lourd are also attached to star, with plot and character details yet to be officially confirmed. Garfield is rumored to be portraying Altman.

Barinholtz received his first Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for The Studio. The award went to Somebody Somewhere‘s Jeff Hiller. But The Studio still won big, taking home a record-breaking 13 wins — the most for a freshman comedy series and a comedy series in general in one year. Among the wins were Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for co-creator and star Rogen, who won four awards total.