Will Smith says seeing a young version of himself in clone movie 'Gemini Man' was 'a little freaky'

Record ID: 1435367

  • Title: Will Smith says seeing a young version of himself in clone movie 'Gemini Man' was 'a little freaky'
  • Date: 7th October 2019
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 6, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF ACTOR WILL SMITH GREETING FANS ON HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD BEFORE ENTERING RED CARPET ACTOR WILL SMITH, HIS WIFE, JADA PINKETT SMITH, AND HIS SONS JADEN SMITH AND TREY SMITH POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS ON THE RED CARPET SMITH KISSING PINKETT SMITH ON RED CARPET VARIOUS OF SMITH ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR WILL SMITH SAYING: "I was like, that's amazing. You know, what it is, I've been trying to explain to people, it's really different, it's not de-aging, right? So it's not my face and they just made it look younger, it's a 100 percent digital character. It's the first ever 100% digital human. So I didn't see any of that when I, it was eight months before I saw the scenes and when I saw me and my new digital clone, it was spectacular. It was actually a little freaky." VARIOUS OF SMITH POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS ON RED CARPET SMITH TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR WILL SMITH SAYING: "So in trying to draw the differences between the characters, one of the things and, you know, looking back at myself and what was the difference between me then and now, one of the things I came to is my younger self was, because he was naive, he was wildly aggressive. You know, when I was that age, everything was possible. I was totally fearless and I just turned 51 last week and at my 50th birthday, I sort of went on a quest to recapture some of that youthful courage, that youthful fearlessness." SMITH TALKING TO REPORTER VARIOUS OF ACTOR CLIVE OWEN POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF DIRECTOR ANG LEE POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS LEE TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR ANG LEE SAYING: "Well, just recently, I found the industry, the technology provides a lot of new visions, so I'm just chasing it. I didn't invent anything, I'm just reacting to what I saw. And we're in a digital era. A lot of new possibilities. And, of course, at the end of the day, you tell human stories and you entertain people. That hasn't changed. But the new tools are quite incredible. I think it might change our perception of movies, because you're more inside of it." LEE TALKING TO PEOPLE ON RED CARPET OWEN WALKING SMITH TALKING TO PUBLICIST ACTOR BENEDICT WONG POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS ON RED CARPET WONG TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR BENEDICT WONG, TALKING ABOUT WORKING WITH THE YOUNGER VERSION OF WILL SMITH, SAYING: "Oh he was a right diva and I can't believe Will got paid one and a half times. No, it was, yeah, it was fascinating that we shot in Glenville in a barn and we had Victor, who was Will's body double, who'd shoot that scene and then we would go into the studio with the Weta cameras and we'd look at the performance, how we'd shot and then Will would then switch into the young Will and then we would replicate our movements, yeah. Will Smith in a leotard, obviously I can't unsee that now." WONG AND ACTOR LINDA EMOND TALKING TO REPORTERS VARIOUS OF SMITH TALKING TO REPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2019 05:38
  • Keywords: younger version movie premieres digital Ang Lee clone Gemini Man Will Smith special effects Hollywood de-aged cloned
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
  • City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B03IVRH
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Actor Will Smith said it was 'a little freaky' to see a digitally-generated 23-year-old version of himself on screen in the clone movie 'Gemini Man'.
    In the action thriller, which had its Hollywood premiere on Sunday (October 6), Smith plays Henry Brogan, an elite assassin who finds himself pursued by a younger clone of himself, known as Junior.
    "It's really different, it's not de-aging, right, so it's not my face and they just made it look younger, it's a 100 percent digital character. It's the first ever 100% digital human," Smith said on the red carpet.
    Oscar-winning director Ang Lee and special-effects technicians at Weta Digital production house built the virtual version of Smith using special cameras and drawing on old footage of the actor as a young man.
    Lee pushed the technical boundaries even further by shooting the movie at 120 frames per second - five times faster than a regular movie, giving clarity and detail to the film.
    "We're in a digital era. A lot of new possibilities. And, of course, at the end of the day, you tell human stories and you entertain people. That hasn't changed. But the new tools are quite incredible. I think it might change our perception of movies, because you're more inside of it," Lee said.
    Actor Benedict Wong described the process of acting alongside the younger version of Smith, joking that the digital character was 'a right diva'.
    "We had Victor, who was Will's body double, who'd shoot that scene and then we would go into the studio with the Weta cameras and we'd look at the performance, how we'd shot and then Will would then switch into the young Will and then we would replicate our movements, yeah. Will Smith in a leotard, I can't unsee that now," he said.
    Gemini Man opens in theaters in the U.S. on October 11.
    (Production: Jane Ross)
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