17 Actors Who Died Before These Movies And Commercials Were Released, But Were Added In Anyway

This post contains mentions of suicide in #5. 

1. First, Carrie Fisher, who died in 2016, was digitally recreated for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). The visual effects team used unused footage from The Force Awakens, combined with a digital recreation of Leia, helped bring her to life for the final film.

Lucasfilm / Disney

What also proved challenging was writing scenes in The Rise of Skywalker with the lines Carrie had previously said in unused footage. It came down to J. J. Abrams to write scenes using lines the VFX team knew they could break down and use accordingly.

2. Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, ended up appearing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). His appearance was created for the prequel so that his character from Star Wars: A New Hope, Grand Moff Tarkin, could be seen in a scene in the prequel.

Lucasfilm / Disney

The Rogue One VFX team "binge-watched" every scene with Peter from A New Hope so they could get his mannerisms down. Then, actor Guy Henry performed as Tarkin on set, and then his facial expression and acting was used to then transform him into Peter.

3. Paul Walker, who died in 2013, made an appearance in Furious 7 when it hit theaters in 2015. Several of his "key scenes" still had to be filmed, so Paul's brothers Caleb and Cody Walker allowed the visual effects team to scan them and work with them in scenes so they could finished the movie and keep Paul in it.

4. Christopher Reeve, who died in 2004, made a cameo as Superman in The Flash (2023). While he was alive, Christopher criticized how studios produce unnecessary sequels, and then he was placed right into this type of movie posthumously.

5. Also in The Flash (2023), George Reeves, who played Superman in the TV series Adventures of Superman, was digitally added for a cameo as well. Many fans called out how this was in poor taste considering George died in 1959 of an apparent suicide after reportedly dealing with depression that was linked to his failing career.

6. Marilyn Monroe, who died in 1962, starred in a Dior perfume ad in 2011. Using old footage and CGI, Marilyn appeared opposite Charlize Theron for J'Adore and even says, "Dior." Grace Kelly and Marlene Dietrich, who died in 1982 and 1992 respectively, also appeared in the ad.

7. Harold Ramis, who died in 2014, was digitally recreated for Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). In the movie, Harold's Egon Spengler appears as a ghost. Old footage and photos from Ghostbusters as well as performance capture from an actor on set were used to create this older looking version of Egon.

8. Bruce Lee had completed some of Game of Death before his death in 1973, but in order to complete the film, stand-ins, body doubles, archival footage, cardboard cutouts of Bruce's head, and more were used to cobble together a film.

9. Brandon Lee was fatally shot while filming The Crow in 1993 when a prop gun was improperly loaded. Since Brandon had finished a majority of his scenes prior to his death, a body double and CGI were used to finish the movie.

10. John Lennon, who died in 1980, was notably featured in Forrest Gump in 1994. Using an old interview of John Lennon on The Dick Cavett Show, the visual effects team spliced together the interview with footage of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. This gave the illusion that John and Forrest were guests on the talk show together.

11. Audrey Hepburn, who died in 1993, was digitally recreated for a Dove chocolate commercial in 2014. Apparently, the team behind the ad originally used a stand-in and tweaked her features using CGI, but when that wasn't good enough, they decided to recreate Audrey using only CGI.

12. Marlon Brando, who died in 2004, appeared in Superman Returns (2006) as Jor-El, Superman's biological father. The VFX team used footage originally shot for Superman: The Movie in 1978 and CGI to create Marlon's new scenes for this Superman film.

13. John Candy died in 1994 while filming the western comedy movie Wagons East (1994). Production was suspended following his death, but in order to complete the film, they used visual effects, and a "Candy look-alike" to place John in a handful of scenes he hadn't filmed yet.

14. Oliver Reed died in 1999 while filming Gladiator (2000) and before all of his scenes were completed. In order to finish the film, Oliver's face was "digitally grafted onto an extra," the script was rewritten, and unused takes of Oliver were used.

15. Laurence Olivier, who died in 1989, starred as Dr. Totenkopf in Sky Captain and the World Tomorrow in 2004. The filmmakers used old footage of Laurence after Jude Law, who starred in the movie, suggested he play Dr. Totenkopf.

16. Fred Astaire, who died in 1987, was recreated for a vacuum commercial in 1997 using old footage. In the ad for Dirt Devil, Fred can be seen dancing around a house with various props. His children notably criticized the commercial, with his daughter saying, "Saddened that after his wonderful career he was sold to the devil."

17. And finally, James Dean, who died in 1955, was literally cast in a supporting role for the movie Finding Jack in 2019, which was met with criticism immediately. Although the film was never released, the filmmakers planned to create a "realistic version of James Dean."