How does photoreal digital actor technology work and what does it mean for the future of acting and filmmaking? This talk will describe several projects using USC ICT’s Light Stage facial scanning systems which have created photoreal digital actors for movies, video games, and cultural heritage, including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Avatar, Maleficent, Furious 7, and the pioneering research projects Digital Emily, and Digital Ira. Recently, a mobile Light Stage helped create a 3D Portrait of President Barack Obama, and a full-body Light Stage is being used to three-dimensionally record and project testimony of survivors of the Holocaust.