What do the Last Jedi, Fast and Furious 7 and a Galaxy chocolate commercial all have in common? They all star dead actors. In the Last Jedi, CGI was used to alter footage of Carrie Fisher, to give Princess Leia a second life on screen. In Fast and Furious 7 Paul Walker, recently deceased, was deep faked into scenes to allow the character one final send off. And in 2014, a Galaxy Chocolate commercial had a twenty second shot of Audrey Hepburn to promote their produce, even though the actress has been dead for twenty years. Although in these scenes the ‘ghost actors’ have minimal roles, they are paving the way for something more; as ‘deep-fake’ technology increases, could it be possible for dead actors not just to appear, but also to star in films?
‘Deep-faking’ is a relatively new process in Hollywood, whereby photos of the ‘subject’ are selected from every angle and in every light, and then, using a highly complex software, the images are manipulated to seem as if the character is responding to their environment. A very recent example of ‘deep faking’ on an actor who is very much alive is the portrayal of Young Eleven in Stranger Things. As if by magic, the programmers can erase six years of aging, to allow Millie Bobby Brown to return to her 2016 self, and in doing so, can make almost anything come out of her younger self’s mouth. Notably it was also used by Disney, as Young Luke Skywalker was brought back to the screen in the Mandalorian, where even the voice was synthesised by computers to create full immersion into the character. By carefully adding deep-fake technology to TV programmes, Hollywood corporations seem to imply that this could become a regular occurrence in years to come.
Resurrecting dead actors is also not as hard as a you might suspect. Disney has admitted that for their large franchises such as Marvel they have begun to ‘scan’ all actors involved ‘for future reference.’ This could mean that they are preparing for a time when they can continue to use their most recognisable characters for decades to come. No longer will they have to frequently cast A-list celebrities to replace the last, who could demand exorbitant paycheques, but instead they can pull from their library of likenesses. In the current trend of Hollywood, where cash-grab remakes profit out of nostalgia, being able to reproduce a film where your favourite, familiar faces from your childhood are brought back to life onscreen, reboots could become even more successful. Disney and other large Hollywood creators have recently returned to reboots to bring power back to the corporations. No longer do they have to waste time pandering to A-list celebrities, who become replaceable. Whilst Tom Holland may now be loved as the man inside the spider-suit, if he steps out of line, Disney can find another Spiderman to replace him. Now the character is the valuable asset, not the person playing them.
You own your face. But you do not always own your image. Your image can be used and profited from, as long as you give consent for such ‘data release’. Once you die the same logic applies, but now your image is not controlled by you, but by your family or your estate. In California, where Hollywood is located, and in the UK, the image of a famous person belongs to the family or estate for seventy years where once again it can be used for profit, and it some cases, vast profit. Once the Right to Publicity is sold by the family to a business, the business can use it however it pleases. In a world where CGI actors now exist, companies have been set up to manage their publicity, in a talent agency style set up. It seems almost ghoulish, buying and trading deceased names in order to profit off their stardom – except now the former celebrities cannot choose themselves which projects they sign themselves on to. In other words, they do not have consent. In some cases, ‘deep faking’ doesn’t even need this kind of consent, as long as they have enough access to photos of the person to create the programming required. There are no clear guidelines currently laid out in law, so the ethical protection of a person’s beliefs is very much open to exploitation.
Whilst the concept of your favourite stars returning to the industry sounds like a fun idea, the consequences may be grave. Deep faking and CGI actors blur the line between reality and fiction, between the individual’s own thoughts and beliefs and the one of the programmers. Once the manipulation of ‘ghost actors’ is complete, what’s to prevent them doing it to people living here and now? After the Right to Publicity is signed off, a business like Disney can basically own an actor’s right to free speech. They can even create entirely new CGI actors that they can use in films. Acting becomes redundant, and Hollywood completely owns the entire creative process. Influencers, actors, YouTubers, any kind of public figure, can be owned and reduced to a binary code.
A point where human presence is no longer necessary in the film-making process is admittedly a long way off. But until law courts make precedents for protection of dead celebrities’ rights in regard to the image and publicity, it could be our future reality.
