Alan Tudyk recently opened up about his experience in the 2004 film “I, Robot.” During an interview on the podcast “Toon’d In with Jim Cummings,” he claimed that he was dropped from the movie’s marketing campaign after test screenings revealed that audiences responded better to him than leading man Will Smith.
Tudyk, who voiced Sonny the Robot in the film, stated that this led to his name being left out of the publicity for the movie. He expressed shock and disappointment at the decision, feeling that he had invested significant time and effort into his performance as Sonny.
The actor pointed out that motion capture technology was still relatively new in Hollywood when Tudyk played Sonny, making the experience all the more surprising. However, it appears that this setback did not deter him from utilizing the technology again in future projects, such as the “Star Wars” franchise.
Source: https://variety.com/2025/film/news/alan-tudyk-i-robot-test-screenings-will-smith-1236486844