Ayo Edebiri emphasises importance of creating ‘human art’ – especially now

The Bear actress Ayo Edebiri has emphasised the importance of creating “human art”, especially now.

Edebiri, 30, best known for playing chef Sydney Adamu alongside Jeremy Allen White in the hit FX series, stars alongside Hollywood actress Julia Roberts and The Amazing Spider-Man’s Andrew Garfield in Luca Guadagnino’s psychological drama, After The Hunt.

The film follows a Yale college professor (Roberts) who gets caught in a moral crossroad after one of her star students (Edebiri) makes an accusation against one of her colleagues (Garfield).

Delving into themes of moral ambiguity and the blurring of boundaries between character’s professional and personal lives, Edebiri emphasised the importance of creating art that stirs conversations outside of the theatre.

Speaking at the BFI London Film Festival premiere, Edebiri told the PA news agency: “I feel like, what’s the point if you’re not making art that moves people in any way?

“I feel like, especially now, like, human art that creates human feelings. Like that’s truly the whole point of being alive, connecting with each other.”

Garfield added: “And Luca (Guadagnino) is so that, he loves conversation. He loves being in a room with each other. He loves a dialectical interaction.

“And I think this film is that, it’s a very kind of visceral, primal, interaction.”

The comments come amidst rising concern from creatives surrounding the growing role of artificial intelligence within the industry such as the AI-generated character or “actress” Tilly Norwood.

The character made headlines with the actors union, SAG-AFTRA, issuing a statement condemning the use of “synthetic” performers, urging that creativity remains “human-centred”.

Guadagnino is best known for directing the romance drama, Call Me By Your Name with Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer, as well as the sports romance film Challengers starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.

Roberts, who plays the respected Alma Imhoff in the film, is best known for starring in Pretty Woman, Notting Hill and the Oscar-winning biopic Erin Brockovich.

She is joined by The Social Network’s Garfield, 42, who plays Alma’s friend and colleague Hank Gibson, while Emmy-winning actress Edebiri, who took the Supporting Actress in a comedy series award in 2023 for her role in The Bear, portrays Maggie Resnick.