Movies - TV
Star Trek's Makeup Artists Struggled To Bring Data Back For Picard
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
While Data was an artificial life form that didn’t age, his actor Brent Spiner did. When Spiner returned to the role in "Star Trek: Picard," the actor was 71 and looked much different.
During the "Picard" episode "Remembrance," Data spoke to Picard during a dream sequence, looking very much like he did in "The Next Generation."
In an interview with Awards Radar, "Picard" makeup artist James MacKinnon revealed the combination of makeup and CGI de-aging needed to make Spiner look like 1990s-era Data.
MacKinnon shared, "If they have the same skin, it would be easy, which they don’t, Brent is not a spring chicken anymore, but he looks fantastic. And we have little tips and tricks."
He continued, "That’s our job, besides makeup brushes, we have magic wands as well that we can pull and tuck and soften with makeup. If it’s too much, visual effects steps in."
MacKinnon explained that CGI de-aging was used when makeup failed: "Like, for season one, they stepped in and got rid of a little bit of Brent’s age."
While some feel his appearance looks odd compared to "The Next Generation," MacKinnon shared that some VFX tests had far more aggressive CGI.
He said, "A couple of those tests came back and I’m like that’s too much guys. He looks like a doll. Relax it a little bit and they came back in it like that’s beautiful."