Page 14 - aruba-today-20240625

A14 PEOPLE /ARTS
Tuesday 25 June 2024
Veronika Slowikowska worked toward making it as an actor for

years. Then she went viral

By KRYSTA FAURIA came enraged when they
Associated Press did it. “Don’t put my face
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When in the cake and don’t film it
Veronika Slowikowska grad- and don’t make it go viral,”
uated from college in 2015, she teases.
she did what conventional They finally cave. Now cov-
wisdom says aspiring actors ered in frosting, Slowikowska
should do: Work odd jobs immediately pulls an about-
to pay the bills while audi- face, as her cheery laughter
tioning for commercials and morphs into tears, and she
background roles, hoping storms out.
you eventually make it. In another skit, she’s found
And although the Canadi- lying face down in a tan-
an actor and comedian has trum on a driveway. When
had a host of affirmations the person behind the cam-
from Hollywood that have era asks what’s wrong, she
kept her going, including a mutters that she wasn’t in-
recurring role in the FX series vited to be in the new Charli
“What We Do in the Shad- XCX music video.
ows,” Slowikowska inadver- “All the hottest girls on the
tently took a kind of back internet were in it, and I
door to augment her fame seemed to have missed
when she began regularly the invite,” she says of the
posting filmed skits on social Canadian actor and comedian Veronika Slowikowska poses for a portrait on Friday, May 17, buzzy “360” music video
media last year. 2024, in Los Angeles. Associated Press that dropped in May,
It didn’t take long for her which boasts stars like Ju-
to go viral, and her videos spot in this year’s star-stud- from The Second City im- roommates and collabora- lia Fox,Rachel Sennott and
have since caught the at- ded Netflix is a Joke Festival prov school in Toronto, set tors Kyle Chase and Michael Chloë Sevigny.
tention of fellow comedians lineup in Los Angeles, which her apart from many con- Rees, with whom she splits “We (expletive) up,” the
like Jack Black, as well as she did amid a live comedy tent creators. profits from ads or views. music video’s director, Aid-
other celebrities including show tour. “Because I was trained and They’ll often brainstorm a an Zamiri, commented on
Justin Bieber. “You don’t Often improvised and miss- because I acted before, I general premise for a skit, Instagram.
have quite the stamp of ing an obvious punch line, think people always saw me then improvise the dialogue “Big time,” Charli XCX re-
approval from the industry,” her videos encapsulate an as a little bit of both. Where- once the camera is rolling. sponded.
she said during a recent in- absurdist, internet-saturated as I think maybe sometimes In one of her first videos to A feature of Slowikowska’s
terview with The Associated millennial and Gen Z humor if you start as a content cre- blow up, the trio is celebrat- comedy that was an impor-
Press as she reflected on the that surely leave many view- ator and then you’re trying ing Slowikowska’s birthday. tant realization for her is a
weirdness of internet fame. ers scratching their heads to book something, it’s a She begs the men to push willingness to look ugly when
But the attention has in confusion. But her chops little harder,” she mused. her head in a cake, but they she’s in character, some-
opened doors for the and training as an actor Although the clear star, she protest, claiming she asked thing she struggled with in
28-year-old, including a and comedian, including makes her videos with her for this last year and be- her early days of improv.q

Music record labels sue AI song-generators Suno and Udio for

copyright infringement

BOSTON (AP) — Big record generators Suno and Udio startups are exploiting the gitate pre-existing content” life’s work and exploit it
companies are suing ar- for copyright infringement, recorded works of artists and doesn’t allow users to for their own profit without
tificial intelligence song- alleging that the AI music from Chuck Berry to Mariah reference specific artists. consent or pay set back
Carey. Shulman said his Cam- the promise of genuinely in-
The Recording Industry bridge, Massachusetts- novative AI for us all.”
Association of America based startup tried to ex- AI has been a heated topic
announced the lawsuits plain this to labels “but of conversation in the mu-
Monday brought by labels instead of entertaining sic industry, with debates
including Sony Music Enter- a good faith discussion, ranging from the creative
tainment, UMG Recordings they’ve reverted to their possibilities of the new tech-
and Warner Records. old lawyer-led playbook.” nology to concerns around
One case was filed in fed- Udio didn’t immediately re- its legality. In March, Ten-
eral court in Boston against spond to requests for com- nessee became the first
Suno AI, and the other in ment. U.S. state to pass legislation
New York against Unchart- RIAA Chairman and CEO to protect songwriters, per-
ed Labs, the developer of Mitch Glazier said in a writ- formers and other music in-
Udio AI. ten statement that the mu- dustry professionals against
Suno AI CEO Mikey Shulman sic industry is already col- the potential dangers of
said in an emailed state- laborating with responsible artificial intelligence. Sup-
ment that the technology AI developers but said that porters said the goal is to
Chuck Berry performs at the John F. Kennedy Presidential is “designed to generate “unlicensed services like ensure that AI tools cannot
Library and Museum on Feb. 26, 2024, in Boston. completely new outputs, Suno and Udio that claim replicate an artist’s voice
Associated Press not to memorize and regur- it’s ‘fair’ to copy an artist’s without their consent.q