"I, Robot": Alan Tudyk Cut From Publicity After Outscoring Will Smith In Test Screenings

Dan Lalonde
Aug 12
2 min read

Whose your favorite Will Smith scene partner? Tommy Lee Jones? Jamie Foxx? Jeff Goldblum? Chris Rock?

Alan Tudyk is still pissed off that he was cut from 'I, Robot' publicity after testing higher than Will Smith in test screenings. The film, which came out in 2004, was about Will Smith playing a Chicago Detective in 2035 who's investigating the murder of the Inventor of Robots (James Cromwell), whom he suspects was done by Sonny (Alan Tudyk), a robot that is programmed not to follow the three laws of robotics. The film was directed by Alex Proyas and also starred Chi McBride, Bridget Moynahan, and Bruce Greenwood.

Tudyk did the motion capture of Sonny at a time when it was starting to become more prevalent and talked about his disappointment in an interview with 'Toon’d In with Jim Cummings.'

“A lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in ‘I, Robot,’ and there is a reason. They were doing test audiences for the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. I got word back: ‘Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.’ And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned.”

“I was so shocked,” he continued. “I was like, ‘Wait, nobody is going to know I’m in it!’ I put a lot into [that performance]. I had to move like a robot. At the time, I was very upset.”

Whether the call to cut him came from Smith or 20th Century Studios remains unknown. Are you a fan of 'I, Robot'? Do you think Elon Musk is a robot? Comment below with your thoughts.