The first trailer for documentary series The Andy Warhol Diaries, which charts the late artist’s life, has landed.
The six-part Netflix series from executive producer Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) and director Andrew Rossi uses AI technology to recreate Warhol’s voice to read his own diaries.
Warhol’s voice was created using a text-to-speech algorithm that incorporated his Pittsburgh accent. Actor Bill Irwin then recorded the lines, with his performance and the AI digital voice combined to create the voice that you hear in the documentary series.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Rossi said: “Andy Warhol was famously guarded about his personal thoughts and opinions. That’s one reason his diaries are such a rare and fascinating window; he could be incredibly raw and emotional as he talked to his diarist over the phone.
“To fully appreciate the radical vulnerability that Andy shares in he diaries, I felt that we needed to hear the words in Andy’s own voice.”
A synopsis for the series reads: “Beginning with his childhood in Pittsburgh, the series traces Warhol’s almost unbelievably diverse journey fluidly moving between mediums and through eras as an artist – both revered and reviled – director, publisher, TV producer, scene maker, celebrity and much more.
“While he was a larger-than-life figure, Warhol was intensely private regarding his personal life. This series truly reveals much about the very complex man through his own words – often in his own voice through the use of cutting-edge AI techniques – and those who worked, created and played alongside him from the subversive to the mainstream, from John Waters to Rob Lowe.”
Warhol is primarily known as the leading figure behind pop art, an art movement that utilised imagery and iconography from popular culture. He died aged 58 in February 1987 after complications in surgery.
The Andy Warhol Diaries is released on Netflix on March 9.
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