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Should Hollywood Bring Actors Back from the Dead with CGI?

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The death of Carrie Fisher, coming as it has amidst the theatrical run of a Star Wars film in which her likeness was recreated, raises a moral question.

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Contains spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
As vampire hunter Van Helsing, in the old Hammer Dracula films, Peter Cushing was preoccupied with making sure the dead stayed dead. As Victor Frankenstein, another of his famous horror roles, he was initially preoccupied with quite the opposite.

All things considered, however, it's unlikely that Cushing foresaw his own, digital resurrection in director Gareth Edwards's newly released Star Wars prequel Rogue One.

The rebirth of villain Grand Moff Tarkin, in sinister, eerily lifelike glory, is one of the film's (many) highlights. But just how did the team behind the movie go about recreating Cushing? Who signed off on the decision? Was it even all that ethical?

Below, we've rounded up a list of stars who have returned from beyond the grave, and tried to answer some of the hows and whys surrounding each decisions

1. Peter Cushing

The role:

Cushing, as described above, was "brought back" to play Tarkin in 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The decision was unusual in that, while the CGI likeness reprised a character that the actor had played before, Cushing was not being "brought back" simply to complete an unfinished film. Instead, the cinematic rebirth took place more than 20 years after the actor's death, and recreated the way Cushing looked in the original 1977 Star Wars film, when he was in his mid-50s. The digital recreation also incorporated Cushing's voice, allowing the actor to speak brand new lines.

Why was he brought back?

According to director Gareth Edwards, a crucial part of the reasoning behind the decision was that, in a film set directly ahead of the events of A New Hope, it would be unthinkable, not to mention narratively implausible, not to feature the popular Tarkin. The team were therefore effectively faced with two choices: to recast, or to recreate. Edwards eventually opted for the latter, after being persuaded by his team that the technology to do so sensitively and effectively was in place.

"We were talking about it, and you sort of lay out the movie, and as you start laying it you go 'you know what, you've gotta have these certain characters in there, and I dunno how we'd do it'," he told the Radio Times.

"'Like, what do we do? Do we cast someone who looks like them? Do we not have them? Do we just hear about them?'"

"[Visual effects supervisor] John Knoll was always like 'no we can do this, we can do it, we can do it.' He was very confident, and we... you know, to be honest, a lot of people were nervous the whole time, like 'is this gonna happen?' And then we went all or nothing in."

How was it done?

While the full details of the process won't be released until January, we do know that Holby City actor Guy Henry, whose face shape bears a superficial resemblance to Cushing's, was asked to perform the necessary gestures and lines.

Motion capture technology was then presumably used to take Henry's facial expressions and movements, and turn them into Cushing's expressions and movements.

"It was a massive thing for him, it was very gracious of him, because essentially he's doing this big performance and getting zero credit for it," Edwards told the Radio Times.

"He was gonna be totally replaced, and then had to keep it all secret. So, um, that was a big ask."

Last year, a source also reported that, in order to accurately represent Cushing, the filmmakers reportedly studied hours of archive film.

There are no shot of Tarkin's feet or lower legs anywhere in Star Wars (reportedly because Cushing found the boots uncomfortable and decided not to wear them), meaning that the Rogue One team had to turn to other sources to create any full body shots.

"They are going through hours and hours of old footage from the horror movies to recreate his legs and feet to produce realistic movements," a source told the Mail. "It is eerie to see someone who has been dead for so long come to life on a screen."

How did the filmmakers get permission?

While Edwards has not explicitly stated so, it can be assumed that he sought the permission of Cushing's estate before going ahead with the CGI. The actor's former secretary Joyce Broughton, who is responsible for handling Cushing estate, attended a screening of the film, and spoke about how moved she was.

"When you're with somebody for 35 years, what do you expect?" Broughton told Variety. "I can't say any more because I get very upset about it. He was the most beautiful man. He had his own private way of living."

"I have to say, I'm not a Star Wars fanatic, but I did think whoever put it together was absolutely fantastic," she added. "It's not just a silly sort of thing. It's really good!"

Cushing's wife, Violet Helene Beck, died in 1971. He did not have any children.

2. Audrey Hepburn

The role:

In 2013, a digital recreation of Audrey Hepburn was unveiled as the star of a sun-drenched new advert for Galaxy chocolate. In the mini-movie, a 19-year-old incarnation of the famously beautiful film star, who died in 1993, is seen swapping a crowded Italian bus for a car driven by a handsome young chauffeur, before enjoying a bar of chocolate. The slogan "Why have cotton when you can have silk?" then appears on screen. Hepburn - or, rather, her computer-generated likeness - does not speak.

Why was she brought back?

According to Mike McGee, who was part of the team who created the advert, Galaxy felt that Audrey Hepburn was a good "fit" for their brand.

"Audrey represents heritage, classiness and elegance," he wrote in a piece for the Guardian. "So from a strategic and creative point of view, it made sense for Galaxy to communicate its 'silk, not cotton' branding through these qualities."

How was it done?

To recreate the actress, two doubles were used: a body double, and a double whose face shape and bone structure bore some similarity to the Hepburn's. In the studio, the team behind the advert used the double's head to create a sort of blank "foundation" for their CGI, then painstakingly "researched Hepburn's back catalogue to identify the subtleties that make Audrey look like Audrey". According to McGee, a large proportion of time was spent getting just the tiniest details right: little things like adding "peach fuzz" to Hepburn's skin could make a world of difference.

"Without access to geometrical data of Audrey's face (if only they'd foreseen the future of VFX in the 1940s) recreating her as a CG entity was an inexact science, making it difficult to judge when we'd reached perfection," he explained. "Our only option was good old-fashioned trial and error, persisting until everyone screamed: 'That's it!'"

How did the filmmakers get permission?

Hepburn's two sons, Sean Ferrer and Luca Dotti, authorised the use of their mother's image, and received a fee for the advert.

In a press release, they stated that Hepburn: "often spoke about her love of chocolate and how it lifted her spirit, so we're sure she would have been proud of her role as the face of Galaxy".

3. Fred Astaire

The role

Astaire, who died in 1987, was brought back to life to dance with a broom-style vacuum cleaner in a famous 1997 advert for Dirt Devil.

Why was he brought back?

The commercial was designed to echo a scene from Astaire's movie Royal Wedding, which featured the actor comedically dancing with a hat rack.

How was it done?

In contrast to some of the more technologically advanced examples discussed in this list, the pre-existing footage of Astaire dancing was simply digitally edited to incorporate the vacuum cleaner.

How did the filmmakers get permission?

This is where it gets tricky. Permission to make the advert was granted by Astaire's widow, Robyn Astaire, but the way in which she handled the rights to images and footage of her late husband led to some controversy. Some people accused her of withholding permission to use clips of the movie star in reputable documentaries, and suggested that the advertising campaign, for which she received payment, was tasteless.

Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, was among the critics, and later told the press that she was "saddened that after Fred's wonderful career, he was sold to the devil".

Robyn, however, remained confident about her decision.

"I've had to deplete much of my financial security over the years to prosecute infringers," she said at the time (via Entertainment Weekly). "I just feel Fred would have wanted me to do these commercials."

4. Oliver Reed

The role

After Reed died during the filming of Gladiator in 1999, at the age of 61, director Ridley Scott decided to complete scenes featuring his character Proximo using a mixture of body doubles and CGI.

Why was he brought back?

While some planned scenes featuring Reed were reportedly axed, the director and VFX team believed that it would be possible to create an important final prison scene (above), in a way that was both tasteful and convincing. This would allow Reed's final movie role to be a complete one - a fitting legacy to his talent - and stop the film itself from feeling unfinished.

How was it done?

A body double was used for the initial filming, before unused footage of the actor was superimposed on top of the double's face, with a few digital tweaks.

"I sat down with the editor and went through all the rushes of Oliver. We had to find lines that were dropped and takes that weren't used to piece together a coherent sequence," said the film's visual effects supervisor Rob Harvey, in an interview with the BBC, when asked about the making of the prison scene.

"We had to shoot pick-ups of Russell [Crowe] on a green screen and another of doors and bars so [Oliver] could speak to Russell though them, and we had to basically cut his performance out of it all.

"We only manipulated his beard [for continuity], but it was his head cut out and stuck on to the body double. Then we just mucked around with the cut as much as we could to make it work.

"It was a clever bit of directing and scriptwriting. We just tried to do it as tastefully as possible."

Reed was later nominated for a posthumous BAFTA for his part in the film.

How did the filmmakers get permission?

It's not entirely clear how Reed's CGI recreation was authorised, but subsequent interviews with the actor's family suggest that they were proud that the star was able to complete his final film role, instead of being recast. His widow Josephine and brother Simon, in fact, were reportedly disappointed that he missed out on an Academy Award nomination.

"Olly loved the film. He thought it was great and could sense there was something special going on," said Simon Reed. "Up until then his career was at a very low ebb and some people refused to employ him. Ridley Scott took a big gamble when he offered him the role. I think Olly was determined to repay Ridley's faith and gave the best performance he possibly could."

5. Paul Walker

The role: After the tragic death of actor Paul Walker in 2013, which occurred while the star was filming Furious 7, the decision was made to complete the film, and scenes featuring Walker's character Brian O'Conner, using CGI.

Why was he brought back?

Walker's death left the Furious cast and crew stunned, and, in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the film was put on hiatus. Universal were keen, too, to speak to Walker's family, and determine the most sensitive course of action. Eventually, a decision was made to complete filming, and to find a way to sensitively write O'Connor out of the franchise.

Movingly, the final film, which was released in 2015, now ends with the character deciding to retire to spend more time with his family, and bidding a last farewell to Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto.

How was it done?

While some of O'Conner's scenes had already been filmed, 350 shots were created using a combination of unused footage, motion capture CGI and stand-ins, including two brothers of the actor (both of whom bore a strong resemblance to Walker).

A New Zealand-based company called Weta Digital were employed to carry out the work. According to Variety, they began by combing through old footage, to gather as many images of Walker, from as many different angles, as possible.

They also had to make sure they were accurately replicating the actor's body and physicality, as well as just his face.

The biggest challenges, however, were not the attention-grabbing action sequences but the subtler, more character-driven moments -"Paul sitting still, or delivering dialog in close-up".

Their digital models of Walker had to replicate, for instance, "how his facial muscles moved if he frowned or raised his eyebrows, how his coloring would flush after exertion or how the hair changes depending on the light or the wind".

"We had to complete a performance - what Paul Walker would have done if he'd been able to continue. And it had to be his performance," said VFX supervisor Joe Letteri.

How did the filmmakers get permission?

As described above, Walker's family gave their blessing to Universal, and two of the actor's brothers, Cody and Caleb, agreed to help complete their sibling's legacy.

Caleb later said that being in the film helped him feel closer to his brother.

"We got to understand more about Paul, and what he was all about," he revealed in an interview earlier this year. "We had to share Paul with a lot of people, in a weird way. He was gone a lot, he was filming, so we missed him. Sometimes at the holidays he wasn't always there, you know? He tried. We'd see him on set, we visited a few times, but to kind of get that closure, and understanding [of] Paul was really special."

6. Laurence Olivier

The role

In the 2004 science fiction film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, a young Sir Laurence Olivier "played" holographic villain Dr. Totenkopf... despite the fact that he actor himself had died in 1989, at the age of 82.

Why was he brought back?

"I haven't seen that many movies with Olivier recently, which is part of the reason why I thought this was pretty cool casting - that, and the fact that he's a great actor," said Jon Avnet, the film's producer, ahead of Sky Captain's release.

Avnet also suggested that Olivier was "cast" as a nod to the film's deliberately retro aesthetic: the movie is set in an alternative version of 1939.

"What holds this film together is its celebration of movie history. To me, Olivier is perfect casting, because he embodies that history," he said.

According to director Kerry Conran, however, the decision to feature Olivier may have originated with the movie's star Jude Law, an admirer of the famous actor.

"[It] was Jude Law's idea. He, I think, just wanted to act with Olivier, so we contacted Olivier's estate and got permission. I meant it to be a nostalgic tip of the hat to that whole era, a loving gesture," Conran revealed.

It should also be noted that, in the film's narrative, the character of Totenkopf is revealed to have been dead for many years. Incorporating footage of a well-known actor who was also deceased, the filmmakers may have hoped, would enhance the uncanny effect of this twist.

How was it done?

Back in 2004, the visual effects industry was not able to create the sort of all-new performances featured in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Furious 7.

"We used archival footage of him. Nothing from his specific films, but more obscure stuff, like BBC interviews where he's seated and not moving around a lot," Conran told Film Journal.

That said, while the Sky Captain filmmakers may have relied predominantly on pre-existing film, some similar techniques to those used in later movies, including motion capture, were used to manipulate the actor's image.

In addition, audio recordings of Olivier were digitally altered , to allow the star to "speak" new words. A voice actor was also used.

"We created a different performance of sorts through motion capture, modeling and computer-generated imagery," Avent noted at the time. "Could you create a completely new performance with what we have today? It would be pretty demanding. But clearly, the future is coming fast."

How did the filmmakers get permission?

As described above, permission to "bring back" the actor, using a combination of archive footage and CGI, was granted by the Olivier estate.

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From Rogue One's Peter Cushing to Audrey Hepburn: 6 stars who were digitally brought back to life

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Contains spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story As vampire hunter Van Helsing, in the old Hammer Dracula films, Peter Cushing was preoccupied with making sure the dead stayed dead. As Victor Frankenstein, another of his famous horror roles, he was initially preoccupied with quite the opposite.

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"Daily Mail: Actors rush to protect their image from digital resurrection"

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"Daily Mail: Actors rush to protect their image from digital resurrection"

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4078154/Actors-seek-posthumous-protections-big-screen-resurrections.html

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"Screen Rant: should movies use CGI to bring actors back from the dead?"

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"Screen Rant: should movies use CGI to bring actors back from the dead?"

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http://screenrant.com/rogue-one-cgi-tarkin-ethical/