Wait, how old is Isabelle Fuhrman!?

Starring Fuhrman as the titular orphan, Orphan: First Kill serves as a prequel to the 2009 horror film Orphan.

According to IMDb, the film follows Esther — a murderous woman who suffers from hypopituitarism, a hormonal disorder that stunts physical growth — after she escapes from a psychiatric facility in Europe and impersonates the missing daughter of a wealthy family.

However, director William Brent Bell had a very specific problem when making the prequel: how to make Fuhrman look exactly like she did in the first film (i.e. a child).

Read on to find out how the crew behind Orphan: First Kill used movie magic to pull off the impossible sans CGI.

How Old Is Isabelle Fuhrman Today?

Today, Fuhrman is 25 years old.

Other than her role as Esther in 2009's Orphan, she famously played Clove in The Hunger Games, released in 2012.

She's appeared in many films since her first movie role in 2007's Hounddog. Most recently, she's appeared in horror-thriller films such as 2018's Down a Dark Hall and 2021's The Last Thing Mary Saw and The Novice.

Upcoming films include Sheroes and Unit 234.

How Old Was Isabelle Fuhrman in Orphan (2009)?

Fuhrman was just 12 when she appeared on screen as murderous Esther back in 2009. She was around the age of 10 when she filmed the breakout role.

Orphan was released in theaters on July 24, 2009, over 13 years ago.

How Did They De-Age Isabelle Furhman for Orphan: First Kill?

Speaking to Newsweek, Fuhrman shared that aside from using some body doubles, production used "a lot of forced perspective and camera tricks and lighting tricks" to shave off roughly 15 years from her appearance to play Esther again.

"Then there were so many trial-and-error things," she continued. "We made this little wheelchair thing for me to walk in, but it didn't work because it didn't look like I was walking. And then we tried these boots that Julia [Stiles] and Rossif [Sutherland] and Matthew [Finian] would wear that were these giant Gene Simmons boots, like huge ones that were all ridiculous looking because where do you get shoes with that high of a platform? They have fringe and they're bedazzled, it's hilarious."

Fuhrman added that she would also squat in some scenes to appear shorter next to her co-stars.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, director Williams Brent Bell elaborated on some of the classic movie-magic tricks they used.

"It's where, if we have two people in frame, if we want one person to be smaller, we put them further back. Then we use a lens and such that [when] they're moving together they look in proportion to one another," he explained.

In the same interview, he also revealed no CGI was used to make Fuhrman look younger. Her appearance was achieved solely through "practical trickery."

Orphan: First Kill is in theaters Friday (Aug. 19). It's also available to watch on VOD and is streaming on Paramount+.

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