A great impressionist can truly transform into another person with nothing more than words and actions. Sometimes though, when a skilled performer gets paired with the perfect costume, an impersonation can become transcendent, like when Tina Fey played former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. But forget adding the right wig and makeup to create an even more authentic impression, because deepfake technology now makes it possible to literally give someone the face of someone else. It seamlessly allows Bill Hader to become Tom Cruise, Seth Rogen, Al Pacino, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
These equal parts incredible/equal parts frightening videos come from the aptly named YouTube channel Ctrl Shift Face, which amazed us previously by transposing Jim Carrey’s visage onto Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack Torrance in The Shining. That wasn’t nearly as creepy as these though ones though, which use late night interviews with Bill hader. In the most recent deepfake edit, featuring an old sit-down the Barry star did with David Letterman. Hader does impressions of Tom Cruise and Seth Rogen while telling a story about them. Hader’s face melds into Cruise’s in a Black Mirror episode come to life.
Previously Ctrl Shift Face did this with an old Hader appearance on Conan, showing off his Pacino and Schwarzenegger impressions. Each time he starts speaking like the two Hollywood legends their faces pop up. For as weird as the Tom Cruise deepfake looks (probably because they have similar faces), the Arnold Schwarzenegger one makes us laugh.
Deepfake technology, for as funny as it can be, will likely be troublesome sooner than later, since anyone’s face can be put into any kind of video. We didn’t realize though that even if talented impressionists’ jobs are safe it could put some very talented wig and costume people out of business.
Featured Image: CBS/Ctrl Shift Face
