In order to give Steven his youthful look, The Mill’s artists reconstructed his face entirely in CGI. First, a scan was taken of his body to give the artists a base to work from. Then came the sculpting process, where the artists filled in muscle, fat and cartilage to essentially reverse the effects of time. They also matched the look of certain features such as his lips, eyebrows and cheekbones, drawing reference from older footage and photos of Steven from about 45 years ago. 

The visual effects team also captured Steven’s acting on set, drawing from his bodily response and mimicking his facial emotion for the CGI version of him.

Fun fact: If you look closely toward the beginning of the commercial, you’ll notice a quick shot of a black and white photo of Steven. This actual archive photo from the ‘70s was used as a crucial reference – not only for the visual effects artists, but for the audience to take note before the big reveal.