Andrew Garfield Disputes Sam Altman’s Movie Set Anecdote

WHO:

Deadline - Andrew Garfield, a two-time Oscar-nominated actor, is portraying OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in the film *Artificial*.

Variety - Andrew Garfield is playing Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, in the forthcoming film *Artificial*.

Deadline - Director Luca Guadagnino helmed *Artificial*.

Coming Soon - Andrew Garfield discussed Sam Altman’s account of an incident on the *Artificial* set.

WHAT:

Deadline - Altman said he got a sneak peek of Garfield’s performance and claimed he “waved” at Garfield while the film was being shot.

Deadline - Garfield said he “wasn’t there” and was “very confused by that” when asked about Altman’s account.

Variety - Garfield said he “never had any interaction” with Altman while filming *Artificial*, contradicting Altman’s claim that they waved to each other.

Coming Soon - The article reports that Garfield denied Altman’s story about an “artificial” movie-set encounter.

WHERE:

Deadline - Altman said the incident occurred outside his San Francisco home.

Variety - Altman claimed the two waved to each other while *Artificial* was filming outside his home.

WHEN:

Deadline - Altman’s claimed encounter took place while *Artificial* was filming.

Variety - Altman’s claimed wave occurred during filming of *Artificial*.

WHY:

Deadline - Garfield disputed the anecdote because he said he was not present and did not recall interacting with Altman.

Variety - Garfield’s statement that he had never interacted with Altman conflicts with Altman’s account of the encounter.

HOW:

Deadline - Altman described the encounter as waving at Garfield while the film was shooting outside his home.

Variety - Garfield responded to Altman’s anecdote when asked about it.

(UPDATED November 5, 2026 04:03 UTC)

Andrew Garfield portrays OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in *Artificial*, directed by Luca Guadagnino. Altman claimed they waved while the film was shooting outside his San Francisco home. Garfield said he wasn’t present and had never interacted with Altman, disputing his account.