Sam Altman Found It So Very Strange to See Andrew Garfield Playing Him Outside His Home

by · Thought Catalog
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TV + Movies

By Sari Moon

Updated 33 minutes ago, October 6, 2026

Sam Altman was heading out for coffee when he encountered Andrew Garfield filming Artificial outside his home, dressed like him and carrying the same backpack. Garfield’s imitation of his walk was so close that the OpenAI CEO briefly felt he was seeing a glitch in the simulation.

Altman had seen filming notices on his street but hadn’t paid attention to what was being shot. Once he recognized what was happening, he and Garfield waved at each other and continued on their way.

Dressed in a blue cable-knit sweater, Andrew Garfield appears at the ‘After The Hunt’ photocall, held during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2025. Photo by The Mega Agency.

“He did walk like me,” Altman said. “I mean, it’s like a strange thing to see someone that has nailed your kind of quirky mannerisms or whatever.”

Garfield, 43, plays the head of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Altman said the portrayal doesn’t bother him, though watching the trailer left him doubtful about the film’s accuracy: “I mean, they’re trying to make a good movie and maybe it will be good. I don’t know. Good as a movie. It will not be good as an accurate depiction.”

Sam Altman poses in a blue cable-knit sweater in front of an XPRIZE backdrop.

Garfield has said he hopes Artificial reaches as many people as possible. “Unless you’re Spider-Man, it’s really, really hard to know how an audience is going to respond,” said the actor, who’s previously played Peter Parker in the Spider-Man films.

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