Tilly Norwood: Why Hollywood Is Angry About the AI ‘Actor’

Playing around to make Stormtroopers breakdance, or whatever the kids are doing on those AI apps these days, sounds fun and harmless, but a new creation called Tilly Norwood shows that the future of the technology is full of serious implications for the entertainment industry

The once-theoretical concept of replacing humans in filmmaking has been given a face and a name with the new AI synth “actor,” and let’s just say the backlash has been brutal. SAG-AFTRA, the union that protects actors, has called the creation a program that has ripped off real people’s work without their permission, and plenty of big-name stars are expressing how much they are opposed to the idea of “synths” in movies. Also, this is low-key the premise of the movie Simone?

Here’s what you need to know on the latest TL;DR.

Give me the TL;DR.Tilly Norwood is an AI “actress” trying to land “her” first big agent and movie deal, but human actors and fans of human filmmaking are not so hot on the idea.

Wait, I need more. What’s the background here?Tilly is the creation of an AI production company called Particle 6, which also has its own AI talent studio, Xicoia, per Deadline. The company is the brainchild of Dutch actor and comedian Eline Van der Velden. On September 27, Van der Velden mentioned at a panel in Zurich that major talent agencies were interested in representing Tilly.

“We were in a lot of boardrooms around February time, and everyone was like, ‘No, this is nothing. It’s not going to happen,’” she said, according to Deadline. “Then, by May, people were like, ‘We need to do something with you guys.’ When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What’s that?’ And now we’re going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months.”

She also suggested that companies that outwardly claim not to be using any form of AI are secretly embracing it under the table, per Deadline.

What’s the backlash about?Simply put, no one understands the point of Tilly, because there doesn’t seem to be one. If Particle 6 had created, say, an AI child (creepy, I know, but hear me out) who didn’t need to work the legally mandated shorter production hours, or an AI elderly person who could commit to 20 seasons of a show without running the risk of, well, passing away, there might be some explanation for why a production would want to use them (though, TBH, there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered about this practice).

But Tilly looks kind of like Mila Kunis. Why not just use Mila Kunis? Why take work away from people who look like Mila Kunis?

Immediately, actors were mad.

“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$. How gross, read the room,” wrote Melissa Barrera on Instagram, per Variety. “And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn’t hire any of them?” added Mara Wilson.

Reacting to an image of Tilly on a podcast with Variety, Emily Blunt said, “That is really, really scary. Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”

In a statement, SAG-AFTRA said bluntly, “‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers—without permission or compensation. It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience. It doesn’t solve any ‘problem’—it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”

How have the creators responded?In response to the backlash, Van der Velden said what all AI fans say, that this is just another tool for the entertainment industry.

“Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories. I’m an actor myself, and nothing—certainly not an AI character—can take away the craft or joy of human performance,” she wrote on Instagram. “Creating Tilly has been, for me, an act of imagination and craftsmanship, not unlike drawing a character, writing a role, or shaping a performance. It takes time, skill, and iteration to bring such a character to life. She represents experimentation, not substitution…AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre, on their own merits…I hope we can welcome AI as part of the wider artistic family; one more way to express ourselves.”

Will I care about this in a week?Maybe, maybe not. AI isn’t going anywhere, as more and more companies see $$$ signs. But as for Tilly in particular.… If it flops, it might be the end of the AI starlet craze, at least for a while.