How AI is bringing film stars back from the dead

Celebrities such as James Dean can be brought back to life as digital clones thanks to the power of artificial intelligence, but it is raising troubling questions about what rights any of us have after we die.

Most actors dream of building a career that will outlive them. Not many manage it – show business can be a tough place to find success. Those that do, though, can achieve a kind of immortality on the silver screen that allows their names to live on in lights.

One such icon is the American film actor James Dean, who died in 1955 in a car accident after starring in just three films, all of which were highly acclaimed. Yet now, nearly seven decades after he died, Dean has been cast as the star in a new, movie called Back to Eden.

A digital clone of the actor – created using artificial intelligence technology similar to that used to generate deepfakes – will walk, talk and interact on screen with other actors in the film.

The technology is at the cutting edge of Hollywood computer generated imagery (CGI). But it also lies at the root of some of the concerns being raised by actors and screen writers who have walked out on strike in Hollywood for the first time in 43 years. They fear being replaced by AI algorithms – something they argue will sacrifice creativity for the sake of profit. Actor Susan Sarandon is among those who has spoken about her concerns, warning that AI could make her "say and do things I have no choice about". (Read about how the 2013 film The Congress predicted Hollywood's current AI crisis.)

Dean's digital resurrection is not the first time deceased actors have seemingly returned to life on screen with the help of advanced digital technology and a sprinkling of Hollywood magic. Carrie Fisher, Harold Ramis and Paul Walker are just a few notable celebrities who reprised iconic film roles posthumously. Brazilian singer Elis Regina was also recently resurrected for a car advert, where she was shown duetting with her daughter Maria Rita. Their screen appearances represent what Travis Cloyd, chief executive of immersive media agency WorldwideXR (WXR), refers to as "ive flat screen, 2D" portrayals, similar to deepfakes.

This is the second time Dean’s digital clone has been lined up for a film. In 2019, it was announced he would be resurrected in CGI for a film called Finding Jack, but it was later cancelled. Cloyd confirmed to BBC, however, that Dean will instead star in Back to Eden, a science fiction film in which "an out of this world visit to find truth leads to a journey across America with the legend James Dean". 

The digital cloning of Dean also represents a significant shift in what is possible. Not only will his AI avatar be able to play a flat-screen role in Back to Eden and a series of subsequent films, but also to engage with audiences in interactive platforms including augmented reality, virtual reality and gaming. The technology goes far beyond ive digital reconstruction or deepfake technology that overlays one person's face over someone else's body. It raises the prospect of actors – or anyone else for that matter – achieving a kind of immortality that would have been otherwise impossible, with careers that go on long after their lives have ended.

But it also raises some uncomfortable questions. Who owns the rights to someone's face, voice and persona after they die? What control can they have over the direction of their career after death – could an actor who made their name starring in gritty dramas suddenly be made to appear in a goofball comedy or even pornography? What if they could be used for gratuitous brand promotions in adverts?

So why not just let celebrities rest in peace?

Dean's cousin, Marc Winslow, who spent his childhood on an Illinois farmhouse with Dean, who he lovingly calls Jimmy, suspects it's his cousin's undeniable screen appeal that transcends the generations, making him an attractive choice for a leading role in modern cinema. "If there are two or three other people in a scene, your eye goes right to him," he says. "You know, I don't think anyone will ever be able to replace them, but It's possible that they can do that on screen and make it very lifelike." 

Digital clones

Dean's image is one of hundreds represented by WRX and its sister licensing company CMG Worldwide – including Amelia Earhart, Bettie Page, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks.

When Dean died 68 years ago, he left behind a robust collection of his likeness in film, photographs and audio – what WRX's Cloyd calls "source material". Cloyd says that to achieve photorealistic representation of a Dean, countless images are scanned, tuned to high resolution and processed by a team of digital experts using advanced technologies. Add in audio, video and AI, and suddenly these materials become the building blocks of a digital clone that looks, sounds, moves and even responds to prompts like Dean.

What Dean did not leave behind is a digital footprint, unlike today's celebrities who engage on social media, take private selfies, send texts and emails, use search engines, shop online for groceries and purchase online medical prescriptions. These activities provide huge amounts of data about how we think and act that could potentially be used to take a digital clone from just a superficial twin to an intelligent one that can convincingly converse with the living.

There are now even companies that allow s to deceased loved one's digital data to create "deadbots" that chat with the living from beyond the grave. The more source material, the more accurate and intelligent the deadbot, meaning the executor of a modern-day celebrity's estate could potentially allow for a convincingly realistic clone of the deceased star to continue working in the film industry – and interacting somewhat autonomously – in perpetuity.

Actor Tom Hanks recently predicted that he could well be working well beyond his human lifespan, telling the Adam Buxton Podcast, "I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's it, but my performances can go on and on and on."

Actors losing jobs to the dead

Hanks' comment hints at a very real concern for actors who fear that the next phase of digital human resurrection presents troubling ethical, legal and practical issues for both celebrities and everyday citizens. Voice actors, in particular, have been leading the conversation and working across acting guilds to form a unified front in protecting the rights and careers of actors.

You might also like:

"For the voices of Mickey Mouse, Porky Pig, Snow White – every time a voice es away, a new actor gets hired to play that voice," says Tim Friedlander, president and founder of the National Association of Voice Actors (Nava) in the US. "But what if you could use Mel Blanc [the voice actor who breathed life into many of the Loony Tunes cartoon characters] forever">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });