Robert De Niro Talks De-Aging Tech In ‘The Irishman’ & Says Scorsese Is “Trying To Really Make It The Best It’s Ever Been”

It feels as if we’ve been waiting for Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Netflix film “The Irishman” for decades. Alas, filming only began in fall 2017, so really it hasn’t been much longer than a year and a half since production began. However, it does feel like an eternity, and mostly because everyone knows that its the VFX work that is slowing the whole process down. And in a new interview, star Robert De Niro explains why the de-aging effects have taken so long, and why he’s excited about the technology’s future.

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De Niro is knee-deep in preparation for this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, but the actor took time to speak with IndieWire about the upcoming Scorsese film, which is expected to arrive on Netflix and theaters sometime this fall.

“They’re trying to really make it the best it’s ever been,” De Niro said, about the VFX work that is being implemented to make him (and a few of his co-stars) appear decades younger than they actually are. “What I’ve seen looks really good.”

For those not aware, “The Irishman” is about a mob hitman, played by De Niro. However, the film is said to take place over decades, which means that instead of hiring a younger actor to portray a younger De Niro, Scorsese is utilizing de-aging technology (which was famously used recently to make Samuel L. Jackson look 20 years younger in “Captain Marvel”). For the actor, this isn’t the first time he’s used VFX to look younger, but the technology has greatly improved since 2013.

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“When I did it in ‘Grudge Match,’ we had more obstructive things on,” De Niro said. “Marty was concerned, rightly so, that we should not have things on us that would be distracting. We had some dots, some reflective things, all subtle stuff.”

Of course, the jury is still out on whether the use of de-aging technology is as seamless as people are hoping, or if the whole process will lead to problematic results. We do know that time and money won’t be an issue, as Netflix has reportedly given Scorsese plenty of both.

As for De Niro, he’s excited about the future, with de-aging offering some new career opportunities.

“If it’s going to extend my career by 30 years, that’s fine with me,” he said.