Gabriel Byrne Doesn't Think the De-Aging Technology Worked in ‘The Irishman’

Actor Gabriel Byrne spoke to NME about “de-aging” technology and the “terrifying” advances of artificial intelligence in entertainment. In the process, he also took a shot at Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”

It’s been almost, exactly, four years since Scorsese’s ‘Irishman’ was briefly released in theaters by Netflix. There’s still heated debate over Scorsese’s decision to de-age Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in the film. Byrne believes it was a failed attempt at the technology and that the “de-aging process is [still] at a very exploratory stage,”

Byrne on “The Irishman”: “It didn’t quite work, but it will get better and it will get incredibly sophisticated.”

There’s no doubting that de-aging technology will get better, which means it’ll most likely make the de-aging done in “The Irishman” look more ridiculous in the years to come. It’s a real shame because the story in “The Irishman” is absorbing, especially the scenes between Pacino and De Niro.

So, what went wrong with the de-aging in “The Irishman”? Well, for one, de-aging De Niro by 50 years, having him play a 28-year-old, was misguided — you could still tell that it was an old man by his stiff walking. The body language did it in for me.

Scorsese casting younger actors in the roles would have made more sense. Now, Makeup Artist Bill Corso discussed this on the Dan Gould Hour podcast and did mention how Scorsese refused to have his actors wear markers on their face, and didn't even want to use body doubles for the younger versions. (Shout out to Listrade)

At the end of the day, “The Irishman” was a film that Scorsese and De Niro wanted to make for a long time, decades. Scorsese had mentioned that they considered casting a younger character, but then it wouldn’t have been the two of them making a film together, and that defeated their purpose for the project.

When I saw “The Irishman” at its NYFF premiere, I stated that it was Scorsese’s “eulogy to gangster cinema.” The film has this beautifully melancholic feel to it. I wrote —

Think “Goodfellas”, but directed by the man who gave us “Silence”. A culmination, meditation and tribute to every Scorsese/De Niro/Pesci collaboration. And yet, Al Pacino towers over all of them with a funny, sad and haunting performance as Jimmy Hoffa.”

Hoffa’s final moments still haunt me. They encapsulate, and complete, a great performance from Pacino, he’s both comedic and darkly dramatic here. De Niro’s Frank is at Hoffa’s side, during his final moments of life, and I loved his last nugget of brilliant life advice to him, “Never put a fish in your car, you’ll never get rid of the smell”.

So, three years later, how does “The Irishman” hold up for everyone? I’ve always seen it as a master reckoning with his own past and the inevitability of death. I don’t believe Scorsese will ever make another straight-up mob movie again in his career because this one plays like a final statement on the genre.