The notion of de-aging an actor with digital techniques — for instance, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in Netflix’s upcoming The Irishman — has been a big topic in the motion picture business. But is it also a technique that can be applied to TV schedules and budgets?
De-aging techniques vary greatly, as do the budgets. The most sophisticated methods involve the creation of a fully digital human, as seen in The Irishman as well as to create a fully digital Will Smith in Gemini Man. Marvel has applied other techniques to de-age the likes of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark and Samuel Jackson’s Nick Fury.