[lz_related_box id=”72415″]

“Digital movie magic all starts with the actor,” Howard says. “In our case, it’s incredible to have Paul’s amazing performance to start off with as a baseline, and regardless whether it was 30 years ago or now, he always appears on set as Pee-wee. When he walks on set it’s … ‘Holy cow, he’s Pee-wee Herman!’”  

Says Neill, “It’s the first time this has been done to this degree for a character for an entire movie. This is exciting and groundbreaking stuff. Certainly there are lots of times where actors have been made to look younger and older in films for a short time or a few scenes, but never a central character, consistently over an entire movie.” 

Groundbreaking — and also expensive, as Reubens’ face had to be youthenized line by line, wrinkle by wrinkle, frame by frame. Reubens hinted at the cost in a story with the New York Times, saying, “Pee-wee doesn’t work, to me, with age mixed into it. So I knew I wanted digital retouching, and that was my biggest concern from the get-go with Judd [Apatow], when it came to budgeting, because it costs a fortune. I could have had a facelift and we would have saved $2 million dollars.”

What does this all mean for the future of filmmaking? Neill believes many established actors will be seduced, whether the part calls for it or not. “You can only imagine what’s going to happen with actors and actresses when they see that this is possible … that it can actually be done in a seamless way.” Eternal youth — on screen.