Any Star Wars fan worth his or her salt did a double take when Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin make an appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and for good reason — the actor, Peter Cushing, has been dead for more than 20 years.

That’s the genius of CGI, Computer-Generated Imagery. It’s the application of computer graphics for the creation of images on platforms such as art, printed media, and of course, film. Filmmakers can use CGI to virtually create any image in a movie, including a person, dead or alive.

In an article on The Telegraph, Darren Hendler, a digital effects supervisor at Digital Domain, said that “‘We are at the point where we can create a digital version of an actor that is indistinguishable from the real person.’”

There are plenty of fans who would pay good money to see the beloved Marilyn Monroe or Robin Williams return to the screen once again. However, the question has to be asked: How far are filmmakers willing to go?

One has to wonder if the world of movies will ever come to a point when up-and-coming actors will no longer be needed, and the talent of the youth will never see the light of a television or movie screen.

There are those who believe that cinema will never come to the point of a cast completely comprised of digital characters. They believe that although CGI can create realistic images, a computer can never show the emotions only made possible by an actual human being.

However, with the advancement of technology growing exponentially with each passing year, there’s no way to say for sure that the future of film will not include a cast of completely computerized characters. The acting profession would be lost, and pop culture would change once and for all.

Imagine an Oscar ceremony with no one to accept awards for acting, the audience filled with only those behind the scenes and those who never had a chance to show the world what they had to offer. This would be a sad and boring future for actors and lovers of film alike, one that will hopefully never come to fruition.