Movie fans worldwide were shocked when Bruce Willis retired from acting in spring 2022. Whatever you think of the actor’s resume over the past few years, he earned his own space in Hollywood after a successful TV career led him to movies in the late 1980s.
Willis can count some impressive film roles on his eclectic resume. He’s an older Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He’s Pulp Fiction‘s Butch. He’s Unbreakable. He’s part of one of the legendary plot twists of all time. He blew up an asteroid that would destroy the Earth (and NASA is only catching up 25 years later). Of course, he’s John McClane. You can say that last one five times.
That’s why there was a particularly mixed reaction to the idea that Willis had signed an unprecedented deal for his likeness to be used in deepfakes (short for ‘deep learning’ and ‘fakes’). Using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning would mean a realistic but fake Willis could carry on acting forever.
Yes, mixed feelings. On the one hand, unlimited Bruce Willis. On the other hand, we’ve all just remembered that there’s no more real Bruce Willis in movies.
You’ve probably been as dazzled as terrified by the recent deepfake videos flying around the web. Some look harmless enough, and some are fan service, but every time you see one, it’s hard not to imagine that incredible technology being applied to terrible uses.
The report that broke widely in early October 2022 was that Willis had sold the rights to his likeness to a company so his essential Willisness could continue to play its role in movies without the actor.
Fake futures
The arrival of CGI re-creations of actors has been as controversial as inevitable. Notable was the jaw-dropping resurrection of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. That franchise has played a prominent role in the public awareness of digital reanimation and time travel, bringing back the late Carrie Fisher for Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker and de-aging Mark Hamill for The Book of Boba Fett.
It looks like the ethical discussions of manipulating a likeness, whether an actor’s around to give permission or not, aren’t going anywhere soon. Of course, Willis is still around, and the announcement in early 2022 that he would retire from acting came as a shock.
Willis’ family revealed the actor’s diagnosis of aphasia through his daughter Rumer’s Instagram account in March 2022. It acknowledged the love, compassion, and support that came in droves.
Aphasia is a language disorder that often affects a person’s communication ability, and the diagnosis prompted Willis to retire immediately. The scope of the devastating condition varies — some sufferers can relearn abilities, while others are subjected to a progressively worsening disorder.
So, could Willis have taken steps to ensure his celluloid immortality? It’s been widely reported that he sold his likeness to Deepcake, a Russian deepfake company. A hint of fact in reports made the news seem reasonable. In 2021, Willis appeared in a Russian advert produced by the company courtesy of Deepfake. As documented by Reuters, could the process of grafting Willis’ face be the future for the action legend?
Deep fake or not deep fake?
The idea that Bruce Willis has not only authorized his likeness to be used but signed it off has been debunked.
Willis’s agent shot down the rumors, telling the BBC, ‘Please know that Bruce has no partnership or agreement with this Deepcake company.’
Deepcake also confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that reports were false. While the advert for Megafon apparently meant the company created digital versions of Willis from the Die Hard and Fifth Element eras, the likeness was only hired for the project. Although the tech remains, Willis’ likeness will not be used in any capacity without the express permission of the actor or his estate.
As Deepcake told the BBC, “The wording about rights is wrong. Bruce couldn’t sell anyone any rights — they are his by default. What he definitely did was give us his consent and a lot of material to make his digital twin.”
So it seems we can rest easy that we won’t be inundated with Willises of every era anytime soon, but the potential for Willis to surprise us with a comeback on his terms remains open.