Simu Liu has slammed the suggestion that artificial intelligence should be used to replace background actors in film and TV. The Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings actor recently took to X to push back against businessman and Shark Tank personality Kevin O'Leary, who claimed that films should reduce their budgets by replacing extras with AI characters. Liu responded, "Sure, blame the extras making 15-22 dollars an hour struggling to make a living and not above the line people making multiple millions." Expanding on his comments in an interview with Deadline on Monday, the Marvel star explained why he stood up for background actors so passionately. "First of all, I thought that take that I was responding to is a really dumb take, particularly really tone deaf and out of touch and also just kind of incorrect," he said. "The idea that these background actors who are making minimum wage are somehow the reason why movies are now costing too much, that's simply not true." Lui noted that he began his career as an extra, landing his first acting role as a background performer in 2013's Pacific Rim shortly after being let go from his accounting job. He added that his early experience on sets was "invaluable" as he learned so much about the filmmaking process. "This idea of replacing actors with AI, it's so antithetical to my development as an actor. I think if I was able to learn from that experience, then how many other people are doing the same?" he argued. "In depriving the world of background actors, you're also depriving people the opportunity to kind of pick up these skills." O'Leary made the comments earlier this month while talking about his upcoming role in Marty Supreme, in which Timothée Chalamet plays a table tennis champion. He claimed that the sports movie could have saved "millions of dollars" if they had used "AI agents" instead of the 150 background actors in "almost every scene". Marty Supreme will be released in cinemas in December.