Seriously 2012?

Plot Outline:
This film charts the relationship between a man imprisoned for drug smuggling and his wife and is being shot over the course of five years, a few weeks at a time.

So what happens if one of the actors gets hit by a truck and killed? A lot of wierd stuff could happen in 5 years. Wouldn't it be easier to just get the hair and makeup people to age the characters??

I guess that's just the director's style. It seems it would cost the company more money this way...or maybe not I don't know. But it would be awesome to be the actors since you got a guaranteed job for a few years.

That's nothing - Richard Linklater has been making this movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1065073/ for about 12 years now.

I realize this is a reply to an ancient post but since there seems to be a lot of confusion about the need for the 5 year shooting time - it has to do with the children. The four kids in the film age throughout and it's quite striking to see the small differences as they progress. It's pretty gradual but in the end you're deeply effected by how much the kids have changed (I felt this most strongly with the eldest boy). It's quite effective. Henderson and Simm don't really change all that much (in one scene he has a substantial beard)but the kids really evolve. It's amazing that they were able to reconnect and create a similar level of intimacy each year. For the younger kids - they probably wouldn't even remember their castmates from the previous shoot. Hard to wrap your head around. I'm sorry I had to run before the q&a because I would have loved to hear more about the process.