If you caught Golden Globe nominee Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis, then you already know he's captivating as hell on screen. Pair that with the insanely talented Harry Potter alum Domhnall Gleeson and you've got one stellar duo. Both guys star in the new sci-fi psychological thriller Ex Machina, a story about the creation of the world's first Artificial Intelligence — a female robot — and what happens when they know more than you think.
Isaac and Gleeson recently stopped by BuzzFeed New York to play an intense round of robot-themed "Would You Rather?" Here's what went down.
Would you rather have the bionic powers of a robot, or be able to fly?
Oscar Isaac: Um, bionic powers of a robot because probably that means immortality.
Domhnall Gleeson: I’d have the flying one.
OI: Flying?
DG: A robot can probably fly.
OI: Yeah…
DG: I pick the robot.
OI: It’s bionic! (laughs)
Would you rather have a robot assistant, or a smart home?
DG: I’ll say smarthome, because I would worry that the robot would feel bad.
OI: Or murder you. But what if the smarthouse could feel the same way?
DG: Yeah, but if it doesn’t look like a person then I'm not gonna feel bad about it.
OI: Interesting. Interesting thing to find out about you.
DG: Yeah. (laughs) As long as I can’t see it, then it’s fine.
OI: Um, I’d be terrified of either of those things I think. I’d go with the robot assistant.
Would you rather there were robots with human faces, or robots that looked like actual robots?
OI: I think look like actual robots, just to change things up a little bit.
DG: Yeah, I would do the same. It feels like less trouble to make a robot, I don’t wanna have to make a face as well.
Would you rather have a robot pick your Tinder dates for you, or use robot Tinder (where all the people are robots)?
DG: You got to fuck a robot?
OI: You don't have to fuck them, you can just go out to eat.
DG: Oh, sorry! No, no — 'cause Tinder is mostly about connecting spiritually. Sorry, I forgot that.
OI: I would pick robots to date.
DG: You'd rather date a robot than a human being?
OI: On Tinder? Yeah. I feel like it’s just a little safer.
DG: Fair enough. I don’t wanna end up with one of the robots he was with, so I’ll pick people.
If you had to be one of the characters in real life, would you be Caleb, Nathan, or Ava?
OI: Nathan for sure, yeah.
DG: What? He’s an arsehole! [I’d pick] Ava — a new experience, man.
Would you rather live in a remote location with an A.I., or be the only human in a world full of A.I.s?
OI: Remote location with one A.I.
DG: I think the second one. I'd worry I wouldn't like the A.I — at least you’d have the chance of finding a different A.I.
OI: A cooler A.I.
Team Ava or Team Nathan?
OI: I’m Team Nathan. Because, you know, he’s telling the truth the whole time. He’s being manipulative, but he’s telling the truth the whole time.
DG: What happened — Team Caleb isn’t a team?
OI: (laughs)
DG: He doesn’t even have a team?! I think if it was between the two of them, then I would pick Team Ava. Because I think that she is more advanced, and I think she’s innocent. I think she’s an innocent — I think all of her decisions are worthy.
OI: Yeah, but she kills you! That's worthy?
DG: Yeah, yeah. I think so. I think he’s abused her.
OI: That’s worth your death?
DG: I think so.
Would you rather be an incredibly smart tech genius, or always be able to tell when someone’s deceiving you?
DG: Incredibly smart tech genius.
OI: Always being able to tell when someone’s deceiving me.
DG: Really? I don’t wanna know! If someone's lying to me, there [are] some lies I don't wanna know the truth to. I'm better off in the dark.
OI: There’s a pattern, there’s a pattern here.
DG: Well you just wanna be Nathan, I think that’s the pattern here!
OI: No, I don’t! I would say I'd wanna know if someone's lying.
DG: All the time?!
OI: Yeah, if you could pick up on microexpressions.
DG: I wouldn’t want that. Somebody asks your mother who her favorite child is, and then she's like, (winks) Oscar! You know what I mean? I wouldn’t wanna know that.
Would you rather have your memory wiped clean, or have everyone forget who you are?
DG: Everybody forget who you are. I'd prefer that, because at least I'd still be myself. If I forget everything I knew, then I wouldn’t be myself. And you'd have to have everybody tell you.
OI: You’d have to have other people tell you who you are.
DG: “You’re kind of an asshole!” You're like, Oh, OK! You know?
OI: Yeah. Yeah, I’d probably go with everyone forgetting who I am too.
Would you rather live in a zombie apocalypse, or have robots take over?
DG: Robots!
OI: Robots. For sure.
Would you rather never be able to communicate with a phone ever again, or have to FaceTime every single time you wanted to talk to someone?
OI: The first one. Fiiiirst One.
DG: No phone? Oh, the first one!
Would you rather have a deceptive A.I. babysit your kids, or your least favorite drunk family member?
DG: I love all my family, my family are awesome. I'm going with the second one.
OI: Even when they're drunk?
DG: Especially when they're drunk.
OI: (laughs) Um, are they deceptive about child care-taking?
Probably. Just some sketchy robot.
OI: I'd go with the drunk family for sure.
Would you rather have great social skills, or be an aloof genius?
OI: Aloof genius.
DG: (rolls eyes) What is wrong with you?
OI: What's wrong with aloof genius?!
DG: Great social skills!
OI: Really?
DG: Yeah! You can get along with people. Aloof, man, that means you're cut off from people. I'd rather live a good life, man.
OI: Not me.
Would you rather invent one remarkable thing that you’ll be known for forever, or invent a number of things that people use daily but don’t remember you for?
DG: Remarkable thing. I mean, the ego says remarkable thing.
OI: But then what about the aloof genius thing??
DG: But I've also got great social skills! So it’s fine.
OI: (laughs) I see. You’re amassing a whole thing.
DG: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
OI: See, I would go with the other one — little things that people use every day but they wouldn’t know. It’d be my little secret.
DG: So, you like Post-its, huh? (points to self) Here’s the guy!
OI: Here’s the guy!
DG: Every one of your answers surprised me!
