10 Actors DE-AGED For Huge Movie Roles

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Fincher's most mawkish film to date, put Brad Pitt in the ultimate anti-Tyler Durden role, as an old, frail and kindly New Orleans gent who ages in reverse. As the story progresses, Benjamin’s life weaves in and out of sync with Daisy’s (Cate Blanchett), a dancer whom he can never quite meet at the right moment for their romance to find its focal point, despite ageing backwards through every rugged stage of Pitt we’ve ever seen on screen.

Fincher's digital, practical, hair and makeup teams worked in unison to de-age Pitt throughout the film, utilising their different skills depending on what stage the character was at. This meant wigs, prosthetics and age-appropriate clothing, but also a whole lot of VFX on top of his performance, using layers developed on life casts of the actor's face that were scanned into the computers and used to gradually de-age him.

Of course, this couldn't have been sold to audiences without a serious shift from Pitt, and the actor pooled all of his experience to imbue the various on-screen ages with the right posture, mannerisms, energy and sense of flexibility.

Benjamin goes from old-timer to young boy before our eyes in a gradual transition that is startling, seamless and, yes, sometimes even worthy of the tears it attempts to provoke.