Opinion: The problem with de-aging our megastars
Editor’s Note: Holly Thomas is a writer and editor based in London. She is morning editor at Katie Couric Media. She tweets @HolstaT. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. View more opinion on CNN.
As any self-respecting movie buff (or man over 40) will tell you, Robert De Niro’s big break came in 1974’s “The Godfather Part II.” De Niro played a younger version of Vito Corleone, the mafia boss whose original portrayal by Marlon Brando is the stuff of legend.
Forty-five years later, De Niro starred as another outsider-turned gangster, playing Frank Sheeran in Martin Scorsese’s 2019 epic, “The Irishman.” The movie follows Sheeran’s progress for more than five decades from 1949 until 2000, when he’s seeing out his dotage in a nursing home.
As an actor already in his mid-70s, De Niro was ideally suited to play the older Sheeran. Unlike in “The Godfather II,” however, no up-and-comer was enlisted to play his younger counterpart. Thanks to de-aging technology, De Niro portrayed Sheeran throughout his life, the lines on his face digitally smoothed.
