The Irishman De-Aging Effect Explained
In the 2019 movie The Irishman, director Martin Scorsese wanted stars like Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci to play their characters at different ages, from young men in their twenties to old gangsters. To make this happen, the film team used special digital effects called de-aging. This tech changed how the actors looked on screen without makeup or tricks that got in the way of their acting. For more details, check out this explanation from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irishman.
The main company behind the magic was Industrial Light and Magic, or ILM. Their visual effects boss, Pablo Helman, led the work. They spent two full years studying old movies of the actors to figure out exactly how De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci looked at ages like 25, 39, or 50. This helped them create realistic younger versions. Scorsese and De Niro even tested the idea early by re-shooting a scene from their old film Goodfellas in 2015. They wanted to see if it would work before committing. See how it came together in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ARzxRFBE0Q.
A big challenge was letting the actors perform naturally. No one wanted them wearing bulky helmets or face markers that block emotions. Helman solved this with a custom three-camera setup. They filmed scenes digitally, capturing every move and expression. Then, computers added the de-aging layer. This let De Niro stay in the moment with Pacino and Pesci, acting out fights or talks as if they were really young. The team made over 1,750 de-aged shots for the whole two-and-a-half-hour movie. Watch this video for a deeper look at Hollywood de-aging, including The Irishman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY4XUeS61Gw.
Scorsese worried about one key thing: the eyes. He asked if the tech changed the intensity in the actors’ eyes, which makes their performances special. The goal was to keep that real feeling while making faces look younger. It was a huge effort and cost a lot, but it let these older stars relive their younger days on screen.
Not everyone loved the results. Some critics said De Niro’s young face looked too smooth, like a colored photo, not a real twenty-something. In one fight scene, he still seemed like his older self. Others praised it as a breakthrough that put ILM on the list for visual effects awards. Read a review that covers this here: https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-irishman/irishman-review.
This de-aging pushed movie tech forward. It showed how computers can blend old-school acting with new digital tricks to tell long stories across decades.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irishman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY4XUeS61Gw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ARzxRFBE0Q
https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-irishman/irishman-review
