Alex Garland's directorial debut stars Domhnall Gleeson as a programmer who is chosen to meet his reclusive CEO Nathan - played by Oscar Isaac and conduct a test on his intelligent humanoid robot Ava, portrayed by Alicia Vikander. Garland and his longtime producer Andrew Macdonald revealed during a Q&A at the Edinburgh Film Festival on Sunday that the money people wanted a bigger name like Gyllenhaal. "The sales companies wanted us to cast Jake Gyllenhaal because he was bankable and they could sell foreign territories. That would have changed the whole film."