Andy Warhol’s diaries have been a very important source for reconstructing the life and ideas of what is probably the best known and most important artist of pop art. Even today, they continue to be an inspiration for recounting romantic and unpublished corners of his career, as in the case of the new documentary “The Andy Warhol Diaries”, out on Netflix on 9 March.
In the pages of his diaries Warhol recounted in a very intimate and direct way the worlds he lived in and his moods, which is why producer Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) thought it should be the artist’s voice in the first person to read the diary passages included in the docuseries.

Although the initial plan was for actor Bill Irwin to lend the voice, director Andrew Rossi chose to recreate Andy Warhol’s voice through artificial intelligence, taking into account the sounds of the artist’s Pittsburgh hometown accent.
To do so, the producers had to seek permission from the Andy Warhol Foundation, an essential step given the recent controversy surrounding the documentary about chef and writer Anthony Bourdain, who died by suicide in 2018. Director Morgan Neville had used AI to make it appear that it was Bourdain himself who read an email written to a friend shortly before he died, only to be accused by the protagonist’s ex-wife of not informing her of this choice.
The documentary will be a full-length account of Andy Warhol’s life, from the parties at Studio 54 to his earthly fame, from his sexuality to his friendship with Basquiat, but also darker aspects such as his sense of isolation and drug use, all told through the testimony of friends and the voice of one of the most prolific and innovative artists of the 20th century.