Who needs new actors when you have the old ones (and AI)?
Madeline Fry Schultz
Out of all the actors who could play a young Tom Hanks in a forthcoming film, Hollywood has chosen … no one. Apparently no one can play a Tom Hanks character like Tom Hanks, so the film Here will feature both the real Tom Hanks and a much younger version of the actor, de-aged by artificial intelligence.
This movie is based on the graphic novel by Richard McGuire, who has had his work displayed in the Museum of Modern Art. The novel, in turn, is based on McGuire’s 1989 comic strip, an abstract, six-panel story of the passage of time through the perspective of one room.
“I’ve always been attracted to technology that helps me to tell a story,” director Robert Zemeckis said in a statement. “With Here, the film simply wouldn’t work without our actors seamlessly transforming into younger versions of themselves. Metaphysic’s AI tools do exactly that, in ways that were previously impossible.”
Zemeckis, who directed Forrest Gump and Cast Away, is once again working with Hanks and Robin Wright, who, among other cast members, will also be de-aged in this paean to technology.
It could be that Zemeckis is right: Adapting a comic-strip-turned-graphic-novel into a feature film is strange enough, so maybe, in order to represent the original story, some strange measures are necessary. But it’s also possible that this is a missed opportunity to highlight a new, young, talented actor. More importantly, it could be another AI-induced step away from reality.
In 2019, one production house announced that it would be creating a film starring James Dean. Yes, the same James Dean who died in 1955. With the permission of his family, Dean was to be recreated through old footage and voiced by another actor.
“This is awful,” Captain America, um, Chris Evans, tweeted at the time. “Maybe we can get a computer to paint us a new Picasso. Or write a couple new John Lennon tunes. The complete lack of understanding here is shameful.”
The project was later canceled, but this isn’t the only story of its kind. Those who watched the Star Wars movie Rogue One may remember that the film “resurrected” Peter Cushing for his role as Death Star commander — over 20 years after his death.
As with the axed James Dean project, it could be that some directors want the notoriety of trying the next big thing. Or it may be that filmmakers don’t trust their audiences to stay engaged without an A-lister on the screen. If they keep this up, though, every movie will be filled with Audrey Hepburns and Gregory Pecks, and all of the actors who have the misfortune of being alive and obscure will be stuck making TikToks.