Updated 14 September 2026. A digital double can reproduce a performer’s face, body, voice or movement, but the scan does not answer who may use it or for what purpose. Those rights depend on the performer’s contract, the applicable collective agreement and the law in the production territory.
For stunt performers, the issue goes beyond likeness. A digital asset may be used to create falls, impacts, fights or dangerous-looking actions that the performer never physically performed. The result can still appear to be their body and their work.
What is a digital double in film?
A digital double is a computer-generated representation of a specific person. It may be built from body scans, facial scans, photographs, voice recordings, motion capture or recorded performance. Visual effects teams can use that asset to complete shots, change a performance or create new material.
Digital doubles have legitimate production uses. They can support shots that would be impossible or unreasonably dangerous to perform practically. They can also protect continuity when a physical action needs to move beyond what a real body or location can safely provide.
Does a production own a performer after scanning them?
A production does not literally own the person, but a contract may grant wide rights to use captured data and recorded performance. The practical question is not simply who “owns the scan.” It is which rights were licensed, for which production, for how long, in which territories and whether reuse or model training is permitted.
The answer changes across jurisdictions. Performers should not assume that a standard appearance release or employment agreement limits a scan to the scene being filmed. Clear written terms matter because the technical asset may remain usable long after the original production ends.
What changed under the 2026 SAG-AFTRA agreement?
The 2026 SAG-AFTRA TV and Theatrical Agreement strengthened protections for digital replicas and synthetic performers. The union says employers must have an articulable business reason for scanning a performer. The agreement also addresses no-scan replicas, biometric data, security, transfers of ownership and the use of replicas during strikes.
The agreement further states a principle favouring human performances and requires notice and bargaining before producers use synthetic performers under covered work. These protections matter, but they do not automatically govern every production or every country.
In March 2026, SAG-AFTRA responded to reports about a digital replica of the late Val Kilmer by stating that the applicable agreement and state law required consent from his estate, and that the family’s consent had reportedly been obtained. The case shows that authorisation remains central even when the technology can reproduce a deceased performer.
Why digital doubles create a specific stunt problem
A stunt performer’s contribution often includes movement choices, rhythm, reactions, falls and character-specific physical behaviour. If those elements are captured and later used to generate new action, the result raises questions that ordinary image licensing does not fully describe.
- Was the digital action derived from a specific performer’s recorded movement?
- Was the performer paid only for the scan session or also for later use?
- Can the asset be transferred if the production company or library is sold?
- Can the data train a generative model that produces other bodies or performances?
- Must the performer approve action that could affect their professional reputation?
- What happens if the asset is breached, copied or used outside the original production?
What should a digital-replica clause specify?
| Contract point | Question the agreement should answer |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Why is the scan being captured and which shots or production will use it? |
| Scope | Does permission cover a specific replica, digital alteration, synthetic performance or AI training? |
| Duration and territory | How long may the asset be used and where may the resulting work be distributed? |
| New performance | May the asset create action, dialogue or behaviour the performer never recorded? |
| Compensation | What payment is due for capture, use, reuse and any extension of the licence? |
| Security and transfer | Who stores the data, how is it protected and may it move to another owner? |
| End of licence | Must source data be deleted, archived or technically disabled when permission ends? |
This checklist is general information, not legal advice. A performer facing a scan request should obtain advice from the relevant union, agent or lawyer before signing, particularly when the contract allows broad reuse or AI training.
Is refusing a scan realistic?
Consent is difficult when the request arrives on set and the performer believes refusal could cost the job. Equity’s UK guidance tells performers not to sign unexpected AI terms on set and provides language for limiting digital capture and generative AI use. In a 2025 indicative ballot, 99 percent of participating Equity film and television members supported industrial action to obtain stronger AI protections.
That result shows why individual consent cannot carry the whole burden. A performer negotiating alone has less power than a common contractual standard applied across productions.
Can digital doubles and stunt performers coexist?
Yes, if digital tools are used to extend action rather than quietly replace or appropriate human performance. A clear model would involve informed consent before capture, limited use, secure storage, additional compensation for new exploitation and visible credit where the performer’s work materially shapes the result.
The technology is not the complete policy. The contract around the technology determines whether a digital double functions as a safety tool, a creative extension or a permanent substitute.
Frequently asked questions about digital doubles
Can a studio create a digital double without a body scan?
A digital likeness may be assembled from existing photographs or footage. Contractual and legal protections can still apply even when no formal scan session occurred.
Can a digital double perform a stunt the person never performed?
Technically, yes. Whether the production is authorised to create and use that new performance depends on the contract, collective agreement and applicable law.
Are stunt performers protected by SAG-AFTRA AI rules?
Covered stunt performers share the protections in the applicable SAG-AFTRA agreement. Those terms do not automatically apply to non-union or foreign productions.
Should performers agree to digital scanning?
A scan may be reasonable when its purpose and limits are clear. Performers should understand use, reuse, compensation, security, transfer and AI-training terms before consenting.
Sources and further reading
- SAG-AFTRA 2026 TV and Theatrical Contracts
- SAG-AFTRA statement regarding Val Kilmer digital replication
- Equity guidance on digital scanning and AI clauses
- Equity indicative ballot result
Related SEAL reading: what the 2026 SAG-AFTRA contract changed for stunt performers and coordinators.
Featured image: photo by Steve A Johnson via Unsplash.
About the author
Kundai Murapa is a professional stunt performer, parkour athlete and founder of Sabotage Elite Action Lab in Cape Town. He has worked professionally in screen action since 2012.
Sabotage Elite Action Lab represents stunt performers and movement specialists for film, television, commercials and live production. Send SEAL a production brief.