--- title: "“Alien: Romulus” Used AI to Bring Back Dead Actor" description: "\"Alien: Romulus\" used CGI and generative AI to imitate British actor Ian Holm from the original \"Alien\" movie." date: "2024-08-20" modified: "2024-08-20" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/alien-romulus-ai-dead-actor" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "generative ai" - "movies" - "the digest" --- # “Alien: Romulus” Used AI to Bring Back Dead Actor !["Alien: Romulus" used CGI and generative AI to imitate British actor Ian Holm from the original "Alien" movie.]() *\Image: 20th Century Fox\* ## Body Snatchers The "Alien" horror franchise is back with another blockbuster. And really, would it be a post-"Aliens" sequel without a little controversy sowing division among fans and critics? Technically, "Alien: Romulus," which hit US theaters last week, is an interquel: it takes place between the events of the first and second movies, following a different band of spacefarers who run into a dreaded Xenomorph. And in an unexpected callback to the original "Alien," it uses a bit of what's being derided online as "[digital necromancy]()" to resurrect the visage of British actor Ian Holm, who portrayed Ash, a crew member who was secretly a type of unnervingly human android known as a "synthetic." The likeness of Holm, [who passed away in 2020](), is used to portray another android called Rook. On its own, it's already a questionable decision that [caused a stir]() once fans caught wind of the 'cameo.' But a new revelation about how this performance was achieved is set to fan the flames further. According to a [*Los Angeles Times* interview]() with the creators of the movie, they used generative AI to make actor Daniel Betts, who provided the voice of Rook, to sound more like Holm. Some moviegoers are appalled by the news, highlighting the contentious place of AI in film and other creative industries. "There is zero reason for this character to be \[Holm\]," [tweeted]() one fan. "This just hurts everyone." ## With All Due Respect In the interview, director Fede Álvarez defended the decision. From the way he tells it, most of Rook's performance was done with an animatronic that looked like Holm, which was manipulated by puppeteers. CGI enhancements were then used to touch up its appearance, with Betts providing facial capture, and eventually the generative AI-tuned voice work. "We're not bringing someone back to life and saying, 'Ian would have done it that way,'" Alvarez told the *LA Times*. "He would have obviously done it differently. We had an actor who was on the set, who worked on the dialogue, who worked with the actors. It's not like we skipped hiring an actor." Alvarez also says that Holm's family were okay with the decision, and argues that it was done to honor his role in the Alien franchise. "We did it all with a lot of respect and always with the authorization of his family, his children and his widow, who said, 'We would love to see his likeness again,'" he told the newspaper. Certainly, "Romulus" isn't the first blockbuster to use digital effects to [bring back dead actors](). In fact, it's not even the first big production to [use generative AI](). Still, to see the two used in tandem raises major concerns about AI's role in a creative industry, since the technology [has the potential to displace the artists]() and actors who work in it, to mangle the legacy of dead performers who have no say in how they're imitated by the tech, and also come with [unresolved copyright concerns](). Arguably, this is one of the most significant uses of generative AI in a major blockbuster yet. "Romulus," then, could be a litmus test for how the technology gets used in movies in the future. **More on AI in movies:** *[Premiere of Movie With AI-Generated Script Canceled Amid Outrage]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()