Latest news with #Surrogates
Elle
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
Elizabeth Banks Didn‘t Think She'd Marry Max Handelman When She Met Him at 18
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Actress and producer Elizabeth Banks has been with her husband Max Handelman for over 30 years, and her career in Hollywood would look totally different without him. They've each brought their unique skills and perspectives to not only marriage but a business partnership that has created some of the silver screen's greatest hits in the last decade. And they love talking about it. Here's everything to know about Max Handelman and his relationship with Banks, as well as all their projects together. Handelman and Banks have been living parallel lives since college, so a lot of the producer's history has been influenced by his wife. Handelman grew up in Portland, Oregon, where he graduated from Catlin Gabel High School. In 1991, Handelman headed to the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied communications, per a 2020 interview with Portland Monthly. They met and immediately connected. Following graduation, Banks moved to New York to pursue acting, and he went right along with her, where he first began a career as an investment banker. When they headed to the West Coast, Handelman continued his education at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, where he received his MBA. The man has a lot of talents, and began a new venture as a sportswriter. He co-wrote a book published in 2006 called Why Fantasy Football Matters: (And Our Lives Do Not). In 2002, Banks told Porter that she 'dragged him' into filmmaking, forming their production company, Brownstone Productions. 'He worked an 80-hour week; I was traveling all the time in a career that requires me to film on location for up to six months of the year,' Banks said. 'Forming the company really was about trying to combine our professional and personal goals.' It made sense for them to work together instead of apart. Banks told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2019, 'When we were looking at how to make a life together, I felt like he was a real bloodhound for material and had a really good eye for things.' And the experience of writing his book is in part what led to the wildly successful Pitch Perfect films. In 2015, Banks told NPR in an interview that Handelman's book agent sent him and Banks a proposal for a book about a cappella groups by Mickey Rapkin, which the first film was eventually based on. She explained, 'When we first read the book proposal, we thought, 'Wow, this is a really fun group of oddballs who like to make music with their mouths. This could be a fun idea.'' Aside from Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2, Handelman has produced Surrogates, The Most Hated Woman in America, Shrill, 2019's Charlie's Angels, Cocaine Bear, and Bottoms. In 2016, Banks told Vanity Fair, 'We have always made decisions that kept us together as a couple. We like working together. We're good at working together.' That same year, she told the Producers Guild of America, 'We're pretty yin and yang,' describing Handelman as 'very diplomatic and business-minded and calm' and herself as 'fiery' and 'emotional.' Banks said that they met on her first day of college during a 2012 Conan interview. 'He was wearing a vest with no shirt,' she quipped. 'To show off his sexy physique back in the day. He looked exactly like Jason Priestly from 90210, c'mon.' Banks continued, 'I dated the same guy all throughout high school, and I basically—and he knows this so, this is no surprise to him—cheated on him with my now-husband.' Their first date was at a jazz club, which Banks described as 'the greatest date' of her life. In a 2022, episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, Banks went into more detail about meeting Handelman at a frat party. 'The main thing I remember is that he was not that interested in me. He would say otherwise, but he was pursuing me a little bit. I was pursuing him for sure, and he was also pursuing this really cute girl named Kate,' Banks revealed. She says she tried to give Handelman her phone number, but he told her he didn't have a phone, which was actually true. But she replied, ''If you don't want my number, dude, you can just say so. Don't pretend you have, like, no ability to ever figure out how to call me. There are phones in this world. You can find a phone if you care.' They stayed together through college and married about a decade later. Banks told Allure in 2015 that she didn't start out a relationship with Handelman with that intention, it's just how it worked out. 'I didn't meet my husband and think, 'I've met the man I'm going to marry,'' Banks explained. 'I was like, He's cute. I'll fuck him, because I'm 18 and in college.' She added, 'Really, what happened was I've never met anyone that I liked more. In the early years, did I have crushes or little interests here and there? I know my husband did, and so did I, but we stayed together. We still to this day take the long view.' Their wedding was on July 5, 2003, and held at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, InStyle reported. The couple welcomed their son Felix via surrogate in 2011 and then their second child, Magnus Mitchell, in 2012, also via surrogate. On Call Her Daddy, Banks discussed her fertility struggles and how she talks about surrogacy with her sons. 'I've never been pregnant, and when I was young, I thought it was because I was really good at taking the pill, which I definitely was. But I have no idea. There's a small percentage of women who basically have unexplained infertility, and that is me, I'm in that category,' Banks said. 'I had always had plenty of eggs; I never had trouble making embryos; they did not implant. For whatever reason, my uterus is hostile, I don't know what's going on, but they just will not stay in there. So I had a broken belly, is what I told my kids, mommy had a broken belly.' She described the process of mourning her fertility and feeling responsible, even though she knew objectively it was not anything wrong she was doing. Banks also said that, at the time, surrogacy was a much more unusual choice, and she wasn't certain it was the right one. 'I had a great friend who was like, 'At the end of the day, there's gonna be a baby and you're gonna be a parent and nobody's gonna care how it happened,'' Banks shared. 'The other great advice I got was like, 'Is your goal to be pregnant or to be a mom?' And I was like, 'Oh, shit. It's just to be a mom. Right. I don't need to be pregnant, fuck, I just want the baby.' So it was like what's the best way to get to the baby? What are you doing? Who cares about the pregnancy? Get the baby.'
Forbes
03-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Will Avatars Turn Employees Into Surrogates In An AI Workforce?
Will Avatars Turn Employees Into Surrogates In An AI Workforce? I've been playing around with a few online platforms that let you create an avatar of yourself that looks and sounds a lot like you. The one I tried most recently, created a version of me where the mouth movements didn't quite match how I normally speak. It was basically my face, but the way the mouth moved gave it away. The voice was close, but not exact. Still, it reminded me of the Bruce Willis movie Surrogates. That film showed a world where people stayed home while sending robotic versions of themselves out to live their lives. We already have filters on Zoom that make us look less tired or smooth out a few wrinkles. But creating a video presence that speaks for us without us actually being there feels like a bigger shift. It raises some real questions, especially now that companies are experimenting with AI workforce tools that blur the line between showing up digitally and showing up in person. How AI Workforce Technology Is Changing The Way Employees Show Up Several platforms are pushing the limits of what is possible with AI avatars. With just a few clicks, someone can create a professional video of themselves delivering a message, hosting a training session, or participating in a meeting without ever being live. The message they deliver comes from a script that is just copied and pasted into the software, and then the avatar reads it. It's not unlike a video I saw of a complete standup routine that imitated George Carlin's voice and his style. His estate sued for that creation, but it's a different situation when we create avatars of ourselves. It is easy to see the appeal. No more rushing to get camera ready for Zoom calls. No more worrying about lighting, background noise, or even your energy level. As AI workforce options expand, it becomes tempting to wonder if showing up personally is even necessary in every situation. Why AI Workforce Solutions Are Appealing In A Remote Work Era Remote work is not going away. In fact, many companies are embracing it more fully than ever. AI workforce solutions offer a way to stay visible and productive without the constant drain of live video appearances. There are practical benefits. Employees who feel uncomfortable on camera might feel more confident sending an avatar. Teams can create consistent training content without repeating themselves. Leaders can appear across multiple meetings at once without ever leaving their office. In a way, the rise of AI workforce tools feels like a natural next step in a world that is already blending digital and human experiences. What AI Workforce Trends Could Mean For Trust And Authenticity Even though the technology is impressive, it raises real questions about authenticity. If an AI avatar shows up for a meeting or delivers a message, how can you be sure the real person was involved? In education, although not allowed, there have already been examples of online professors hiring others to teach courses under their names. Imagine how easy it would be to use AI workforce avatars to replicate a presence without any personal involvement. How much trust might erode if we cannot tell whether we are interacting with a real colleague or just their digital twin. How AI Workforce Innovations Raise New Questions About Responsibility There is also the issue of responsibility. If an AI avatar says something inaccurate, misleading, or even offensive, who is accountable? Is it the employee, the company, or the technology provider? As AI workforce innovations become more common, the lines could blur quickly. In fields like customer service, sales, and leadership communication, getting it wrong could have serious consequences. The legal system has not fully caught up yet, leaving a lot of gray areas around what happens when avatars act on someone else's behalf. In the Carlin case, the lawsuit ended in a settlement, and the creators agreed to remove the content and stop using his likeness. It set an early precedent, but when people start creating avatars of themselves for work, it opens up a whole different category of questions the courts still haven't addressed. Are AI Workforce Avatars Making Human Connection Harder To Build? One thing to consider is the role imperfection plays in building trust. Live conversations are messy. People pause, stumble over words, laugh at unexpected moments, and show real emotion. Those small signs of humanity are part of what helps us connect. If AI workforce avatars start replacing more human interactions, will we lose something important? A perfectly polished video presentation can deliver information, but can it create real relationships? It is an open question, but it seems worth considering before we trade too much authenticity for convenience. Real Companies Are Already Using AI Workforce Avatars This may still feel futuristic, but some companies are already using AI avatars for real work. Synthesia is used by more than half of the Fortune 100, mostly for training videos and internal updates. BESTSELLER, a global fashion company, uses it to reach thousands of employees while cutting back on classroom time. Other platforms like Hour One and Colossyan are being used to speed up everything from compliance videos to investor updates. Companies like HP, BMW, and Vodafone are already exploring these tools. Most current examples focus on communication and training, but with this kind of momentum, it's not hard to imagine how quickly that could expand into meetings, customer service, or even leadership messaging. Even Zoom is experimenting with AI avatars. They are working on photorealistic avatar options that would let you record messages or participate in meetings asynchronously, which is something that takes all this to another level. We are not talking about future tech anymore. These tools are here, and companies are already testing how far they can go. What Companies Can Do To Prepare Now For An AI Workforce Whether or not companies adopt AI avatars this year, it makes sense to start talking about what this kind of presence means. Is it okay to use an avatar in a team meeting? When is live participation required? What kind of training should be offered to help people use these tools responsibly? Companies that begin defining expectations now will be in a better position later. It is easier to build trust when people know the rules and understand how these new tools fit into workplace culture. Final Thoughts On Where The AI Workforce Might Take Us The idea of outsourcing our real selves to technology is no longer just a movie plot. As AI workforce tools become more advanced and accessible, they are shaping the way businesses operate and how people show up professionally. There is no clear roadmap yet. Some companies will likely embrace AI workforce avatars quickly. Others will move more cautiously, trying to protect human connection wherever possible. As exciting as the technology is, I keep coming back to the same feeling I had when I first saw Surrogates. Just because we can send a version of ourselves into the world does not mean we always should. Maybe the real question is not whether avatars will become part of the AI workforce. It is how much of ourselves we are willing to hand over to them.
