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\n\tAlan Tudyk<\/a> recently appeared on the \u201cToon\u2019d In with Jim Cummings\u201d podcast and claimed he was dropped from the marketing of 2004\u2019s \u201cI, Robot\u201d after it was discovered in test screenings that he was actually testing higher with audiences than leading man Will Smith<\/a>. Tudyk appeared in the film as the robot Sonny via motion capture and voice acting. Axing him from the movie\u2019s publicity meant there were (and still are) people who have no idea he starred in the movie, the actor said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cA lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in \u2018I, Robot,\u2019 and there is a reason,\u201d Tudyk said. \u201cThey were doing test audiences for the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. I got word back: \u2018Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.\u2019 And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI was so shocked,\u201d he continued. \u201cI was like, \u2018Wait, nobody is going to know I\u2019m in it!\u2019 I put a lot into [that performance]. I had to move like a robot. At the time, I was very upset.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tVariety <\/em>has reached out to Smith\u2019s representative for comment.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI, Robot,\u201d directed by Alex Proyas, stars Smith as a Chicago police detective in 2035 investigating the alleged suicide of the founder of a robotics company. The corporation\u2019s highly intelligent robots are utilized for public service jobs, but Smith\u2019s detective is convinced one of these robots, Tudyk\u2019s Sonny, murdered the founder. The supporting cast includes Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell and Chi McBride.<\/p>\n \n\tOutside of Jar Jar Binks in the \u201cStar Wars\u201d prequels and Gollum in \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d movies, motion capture technology and performances were still relatively new in Hollywood when Tudyk played Sonny in \u201cI, Robot.\u201d He would go on to use the technology again years later when he played the droid K-2SO in the \u201cStar Wars\u201d movie \u201cRogue One,\u201d a role he reprised in the Disney+ prequel series \u201cAndor.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWatch Tudyk\u2019s full interview on the \u201cToon\u2019d In with Jim Cummings\u201d podcast in the video below.<\/p>\n \n