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This creepy deepfake shows Bill Hader morph into Tom Cruise mid-impersonation

Published Aug 14th, 2019 12:37AM EDT
Bill Hader Tom Cruise impression
Image: Photo by HBO/Kobal/Shutterstock

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Okay, this clip may qualify as my favorite deepfake video I’ve seen to date. We would direct your attention to the clip at the top of this post, which presents an old Bill Hader Late Night with David Letterman interview. Bill uses the opportunity to show off his insanely masterful skill at impressions — and then the video creator above uses THEIR masterful skill to seamlessly morph Bill’s face into that of Tom Cruise and then Seth Rogen as he impersonates them both at different points in the clip.

The whole effect is … wow, well just watch.

If you want to fast-forward in the clip to where both face-morphs happen, the first is the shift to Tom Cruise. It happens so fast and smoothly, but it’s roughly around the 55-second mark, though Bill’s actual impression of Tom really begins around the 1-minute, 27-second mark. If you want to then jump to the Seth Rogen bit, Bill’s impression of him, along with the face-morph, gets going around the 1-minute, 55-second mark.

The video is the work of Ctrl Shift Face, which is the name of a YouTube channel where a number of pretty accurate deepfake videos can be found.

A word of warning: Don’t peruse any of the comments left on Twitter as reactions to this video, because it will make you worry about peoples’ intelligence and the future of humanity (We’re looking at you, those of you who thought this clip was real and wondered if Bill was some kind of shapeshifter).

This is also a continuation of a trend we’ve been following for some time and watching get better and better. The accuracy of deepfake technology continues to grow by leaps and bounds, as we documented here with some recent examples including fake videos of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Mark Zuckerberg and more.

Andy Meek Trending News Editor

Andy Meek is a reporter based in Memphis who has covered media, entertainment, and culture for over 20 years. His work has appeared in outlets including The Guardian, Forbes, and The Financial Times, and he’s written for BGR since 2015. Andy's coverage includes technology and entertainment, and he has a particular interest in all things streaming.

Over the years, he’s interviewed legendary figures in entertainment and tech that range from Stan Lee to John McAfee, Peter Thiel, and Reed Hastings.