Hollywood's dirty secret to make stars look younger is more common than you realize

If you've ever wondered how your favorite star can look forever resistant to age, well, turns out there's some technique behind it.

That actor may be getting digitally retouched.

Special effects aren't just for huge explosions or creating herds of dinosaurs trampling everything in their path. They also can and do take pimples off of teen stars, erase years off actors' faces, and elongate bodies to create slimmer physiques.

And some actors require the use of digital retouching in their contracts.

"For a top actress, it's usually non-contractual with us, so that that document never gets out," a top entertainment attorney said anonymously in Vulture's recent feature on digital retouching. "It's in everyone's best interest that she not look haggard and that her jowls don't look too old or whatever."

The article points to the "suspiciously plasticky" 2010 film "The Tourist," which stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.

Here's what Vulture's story exposes about the secret use of digital retouching in movies and TV: