Resurrecting Dead Celebs: The ‘Zombie’ Stars of Stage and Screen

It probably seems like a long time ago now (so much has changed) but Tupac’s appearance at Coachella 2012 was remarkable for a few reasons.

One rather glaring reason was that Tupac had been dead for 16 years. Probably the best reason I’ve heard for cancelling an appearance, but hey. Another was that the hologram was astonishingly lifelike, in a confusing still-not-really-sure-how way. The final reason was that it would surely herald a new era of celebrity resurrection.

Sure enough, holograms started making their way round. Since then, we’ve seen duets with Elvis, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. But if we’re honest, not as many as we expected. All of these walking, singing images were musical, appearing on stage rather than screen. This continued for a good few years. Then a little film called Star Wars started something bigger.

The newest episode in the franchise made history and headlines by resurrecting one star’s youth and another from beyond the grave. Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, and a 40 years younger Carrie Fisher were brought back through painstaking CGI and actor doubles. While many praised the incredible technology – including the late Fisher herself – others took issue with it.

Why? Not just the occasional instance of odd moving lips and too smooth skin, though a few still picked on that. No, it’s because of the strange ethical dilemma of resurrecting dead stars and using their image without their consent.

As technology hurtles along, the law is getting further and further away from it. Laws are utterly outdated when it comes to tech. There’s certainly nothing written about whether you can recreate a dead person and have them act and sing for you.

Peter Cushing’s family gave permission of course, and perhaps the timing of his death helped. He, like Tupac, died around 20 years ago, so would likely provoke less emotion. Houston and Jackson’s holograms, however, appeared not that long after their deaths. In the Billboard Music Award performance of Jackson, you can see people wiping away tears during an upbeat song. While the immediate family might give permission, it ignores everyone else that loved them.

An acceptable exception would be the instance of Paul Walker in the Fast and Furious franchise. His death near the end of filming meant that his little brother Cody (the spitting image of Paul) stepped in as body double for the superimposed CGI Paul. Without this tech, Walker’s last film would remain sadly unfinished.

Of course no ‘untimely death’ article in the UK would be complete with a mention of Princess Di. The public venerates Diana to such an extent that she’ll never rest in peace. Newsweek proved this perfectly, when their cover featured a rather surprising picture of Diana and Kate walking along together. The media are so desperate to get the two ‘normal’ women of the family together that they’re willing to dig up old ghosts. I wonder if Diana’s children got advance warning…

We can’t deny the incredibly abilities of CGI and holograph specialists to create these things. Maybe it looks a little off, but give it a moment and you’ll realise what you’re seeing is beyond believing. Maybe this really is just the beginning. If all actors were as happy with the youthful results as Carrie Fisher, perhaps the future will be old stars acting out their younger, CGI selves. We are, after all, now entering a new era of ‘Fake’.

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