Using CGI to make an actor appear younger than they are has become a not uncommon practice in modern cinema. It’s certainly come a long way in the decades that it’s been in use, and while it’s difficult to argue that it doesn’t still have some problems, it does the job remarkably well. This is likely why Michael Chaves, director of The Conjuring: Last Rites, fully assumed he would be using the technology in the new film.
The opening of the newest and final, Conjuring film includes a flashback sequence that sees protagonists Ed and Lorainne Warren, played in the rest of the franchise by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, as much younger people than we’ve ever seen them. Chaves tells EW that when he originally conceived of the sequence, he knew exactly how he wanted to portray the younger characters, saying:
My answer, with full confidence, without a doubt, was, 'No problem. We're going to de-age them.'
Not so long ago, the need to have younger versions of your characters in a film meant casting younger actors. There really was no other option. Today, using CGI to de-age an actor is a real choice, and it’s one that a lot of movies go with. While finding a young actor who is believable as a younger version of a character is certainly possible, using CGI can technically create a more realistic version of the character. It also allows the stars of the movie to be on screen more.
It’s not surprising that the film planned to use de-aging to make Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga look younger, but when The Conjuring: Last Rites opens this weekend, that’s not what you’ll see. The movie ended up pivoting and going with actors. It seems that when the director started to look into the actual process of de-aging, he became less sure it was the right way to go. And then he got a call from one of his actors. Chaves explained:
Out of the blue, Vera gives me a call and, almost like she's a psychic herself, she's just like, 'You know what? I have a feeling on this. I think you should cast it.' At first, it was this weird feeling that is confirming my fears, but it is also a tremendous monkey wrench in the whole thing. I convinced the producers, everyone's in agreement, and when you get everyone in agreement, it is now very hard to change course.
Farmiga’s argument was that using different actors would make the scene somewhat unsettling for the audience, that having the main actors on screen would give the audience a level of comfort you wouldn’t necessarily want in a scene that was supposed to be scary. In the end, the decision was made to pivot and cast the parts rather than use CGI.
Madison Lawlor and Orion Smith were ultimately cast as the young Lorainne and Ed. Overall, it certainly appears that everybody now agrees that going with the younger actors was the right call. And while The Conjuring: Last Rites is set to be the last film in the franchise for Wilson and Farmiga, perhaps this opens the door to prequel stories?
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