I expect to see him in new Die Hard commercials.
Ah, Bruce Willis. Despite starting out as a comic, for a good stretch of time, he was one of the big names in Hollywood action movies. Hell, he starred in such great films as Die Hard (and its sequels), The Fifth Element (probably one of if not the best of Luc Besson’s filmography), and Hudson Hawk. Remember, kids, comedy works in threes.
Anyway, with Willis’ aphasia diagnosis, it seemed that his career on both the big and little screens was at an end. A reasonable assumption; aphasia kind of makes all of the things an actor needs to do inordinately difficult. But that’s no longer the case. Because Bruce Willis has sold his likeness for Deepfake use in film and commercials to the company Deepcake.
This isn’t, however, the first time Willis has had a “digital twin” used on screen. In 2021, Deepfake technology was used to place the actor in a Russian telecom commercial for MegaFon (below). In a statement, Willis expressed how pleased he was with how the project turned out, as it gave him an “opportunity to go back in time.”
As for how much control Deepcake has of the actors likeness, that’s currently unclear; the same with whatever control his estate may or may not have over it as well. The usual ethical concerns really don’t come into play here, though, since it’s seemingly all being done with his blessing. And the tech has moved forward at rapid pace. He’s also not the first to sell some aspect of his acting ability to technological use in such a fashion; just recently, James Earl Jones signed over the likeness of his voice for AI use in any future Star Wars projects, retiring from the character (to be fair, he’s 91, he wasn’t going to be able to continue doing it forever).
The real question isn’t necessarily one of ethics, I’d argue. Rather, it’s a matter of how long (and how often) an audience will want to continue seeing a “twin” of an actor, possibly long-dead, in new productions, shows, and commercials. This is a problem that existed long before Deepfakes was even a thing. I mean, The Simpsons had a bit about dead celebrities hawking products.
Source: ScreenRant
About Author
