Music

Steven Soderbergh on AI's "Perfect" Role in John Lennon's "Last Interview" Documentary

Soderbergh utilized AI to generate humorous and surreal imagery for two sequences, enhancing abstract philosophical discussions by Lennon and Yoko Ono in the film.

Rolling Stone·May 5, 2026·via Rolling Stone

Steven Soderbergh on AI's "Perfect" Role in John Lennon's "Last Interview" Documentary

Touchy Subject

Steven Soderbergh Explains Why AI ‘Turned Out to Be Perfect’ for John Lennon ‘Last Interview’ Doc

The director detailed two sequences where AI was used to create funny, surreal images to complement portions where Lennon and Yoko Ono speak in more abstract, philosophical terms

By Jon Blistein

Jon Blistein

Contact Jon Blistein by Email

- Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Settle ‘It Ends With Us’ Lawsuit Weeks Before Trial - Dolly Parton Cancels Las Vegas Shows for Health Reasons, But Says She’s ‘Improving Every Day’ - ‘Gone, But Not Easily Forgotten’: The Internet Sends Spirit Air to Meme Heaven

View all posts by Jon Blistein

May 5, 2026

Filmmaker Stephen Soderbergh defended and explained his decision to use some generative artificial intelligence in his upcoming documentary centered around John Lennon’s final interview .

Announced last year, John Lennon : The Last Interview features the audio from an interview Lennon and Yoko Ono gave to RKO Radio on Dec. 8, 1980, just hours before Lennon was murdered . Soderbergh paired much of the audio with archival material, offered up with the support of Lennon’s estate. But during the moments when Lennon and Ono started to get philosophical and abstract, Soderbergh decided a different kind of visual accompaniment was needed.

While it was previously disclosed that Soderbergh had decided to use AI for these sections, in a new interview with Deadline, he offered an in-depth explanation of his use of AI and the reasons behind it. He also revealed that the AI portions of the film were created in partnership with Meta, who provided both tech tools and financial backing.

As Soderbergh explained, the more abstract portions of the interview that he paired with AI comprise “about 10 percent of the entire film.” He said he was looking for “imagery that enhances” what Lennon and Ono are saying, “but is metaphorical,” referring to the concoction as “thematic surrealism.”

The director acknowledged that AI is “a very emotional subject,” saying later that he thought a lot of that emotion was “legitimate,” especially when it comes to AI’s use in non-creative contexts and how it’s “affecting our lives.” But he insisted he wasn’t using AI in his doc to “fool” or “manipulate” viewers, “to create an image that you want them to think is real.” Rather, he said they were using it “essentially in the way that you would use VFX or CGI or any sort of non-photographic technology.”

Soderbergh detailed two sequences from the film that exemplified why AI “turned out to be perfect for” the film. In one, he said, “a series of one-year-old babies dressed in Sixties outfits are bawling their eyes out; it’s a way of comically illustrating something that John is talking about. You can’t shoot that. And even if you did somehow — you came up with some justification for shooting a bunch of one-year-old babies dressed in tie-dye outfits, crying their eyes out — even if you did it, if people knew it was real, it wouldn’t be funny. And we were trying to be funny here.”

Editor’s picks

The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far

The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

The other sequence features “cavemen acting out some of the things that John is discussing when it comes to male behavior. Going out and shooting those images of men dressed up and made up as cavemen doing the things that are in this sequence: not as funny. It’s funnier if you know it’s not real.”

Soderbergh pushed back against what he figured were the worst conclusions people jumped to when news of his use of AI broke: “He’s going to try to bring John Lennon back to life.” The director countered: “And all I can say is, have we met? Do I look like somebody that would do that? So it’s a little hard to talk about also because I feel once you’ve seen the movie, you go, ‘Oh, of course.’”

Comments

Loading comments…