You can’t shoot a movie in one day. Some take months or even years to finish, and during that time anything can happen. For example the theme of the movie may become obsolete or inappropriate, due to certain events that are happening in the world right at that moment. But what’s worse, there are times when Death itself comes knocking on the door. Humans are fragile, and you never know what’s going to happen to you in the next five minutes! Something horrible happens… But you know what they say in Hollywood: “the show must go on”.
So yeah, believe it or not, there are movies featuring actors who were already dead by the time that movie was officially released. Seeing as those films either become iconic or quickly forgotten, along with the cast, it’s kinda messed up and a little bit poetic.
Here are 7 iconic actors who appeared on screen after their death.
1. Peter Cushing, 1913-1994
I can’t believe we got to see captain Tarkin again, who was originally played by Peter Cushing in 1977 Star Wars Episode IV. It’s all thanks to the amazing CG artists working on Rogue One. Best part is he looks exactly the same 40 years later, as he was in 1977.
2. Marlon Brando, 1924-2004
Even though Marlon Brando died in 2004, he was still featured in 2006 “Superman Returns”, where he reprised his role of Superman’s father in 1978.
3. Audrey Hepburn, 1929-1993
Back in 2013 the world saw Audrey Hepburn literally come back from the dead in a chocolate commercial, and a lot of people freaked out. Thankfully her sons gave that commercial the green light, so it was all good in the legal department.
4. Brandon Lee, 1965-1993
While filming the Crow, Brandon Lee got stabbed by a non-prop knife and died on that very day. The police had to confiscate all the footage of that accident for obvious reasons, but the director decided to finish the movie anyway by just overlaying Brandon’s face over a different actor during the post-production.
5. Paul Walker, 1973-2013
Fast and Furious 7 was Paul Walker’s last movie. He died in a car crash in the middle of the filming process, and never got to finish his scenes. Two years later, thanks to CG artists and deleted scenes from the previous 6 movies, the 7th chapter was finally ready.
6. Bruce Lee, 1940-1973
Like father, like son. Brandon Lee’s father was the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee, who allegedly OD’d before finishing all the necessary scenes of “Game of Death”. Still the director decided to use every piece from the discarded scenes, body doubles, and even cardboard cutouts, just to finish the movie. 5 years later, they actually got it done!
7. Heath Ledger, 1979-2008
Heath Ledger, what a legend. After his immense success as the Joker, the poor man’s mind was broken, or at least bent out of shape, which in turn lead to his tragic death. Still, Joker want’s his last role. At the time Heath was working on the movie called “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”. Eventually the creators decided to use a great cop-out – they allowed Ledger’s character to change appearance when he traveled between different dimensions. Boom! Problem solved, now we have Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law, who incidentally, were Ledger’s good friends.
