By Marni Rose McFall
Copyright newsweek
A new actor has attracted the attention of multiple talent agencies. The catch? She’s not real.
Tilly Norwood, an “AI-generated actress,” has caught the eyes—and sparked the ire—of the entertainment industry.
Why It Matters
The so-called “AI revolution” is well underway and is increasingly seeping into our media. AI-generated models, figures, and personalities have been gradually introduced into the mainstream, prompting an online backlash in turn.
In August, an AI model made its debut in an advertisement featured in Vogue for the first time, while the AI band The Velvet Sundown also sparked discourse earlier this year.
In July 2024, the online fashion and lifestyle publication SheerLuxe faced backlash after introducing an “AI-enhanced team member,” and the CGI model Lil Miquela sparked a slew of headlines in 2016.
What To Know
Norwood is a creation from the recently launched AI talent studio, Xicoia, a spinoff of Particle6, an AI production studio founded by Eline Van der Velden. Deadline reported that multiple Hollywood talent agencies are interested in signing Norwood. A post on the outlet’s Instagram has seen a slew of negative comments from high-profile Hollywood stars.
Velden spoke about Norwood at a panel at the Zurich Summit, a strand of the Zurich Film Festival.
AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood. (Particle6)
Particle6 shared a statement with Newsweek from Van Der Velden in response to the online backlash. It read in part, “To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood: she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art. Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity.”
What People Are Saying
Actor Mara Wilson wrote on Instagram in response to Deadline’s post: “And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn’t hire any of them?”
Actor Nicholas Alexander Chavez wrote on Instagram in response to Deadline’s post: “Not an actress actually nice try.”
Actor Lucy Hale wrote on Instagram in response to Deadline’s post: “no.”
A statement from Eline Van Der Velden, shared with Newsweek by Particle6: “I also believe AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre, on their own merits, rather than compared directly with human actors. Each form of art has its place, and each can be valued for what it uniquely brings. I hope we can welcome AI as part of the wider artistic family: one more way to express ourselves, alongside theatre, film, painting, music, and countless others. When we celebrate all forms of creativity, we open doors to new voices, new stories, and new ways of connecting with each other.”
Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnegro, in a post on X: “This is literally the mark of the end of the industry as we know it… say goodbye to actors. no one should be supporting this.”
What Happens Next
Whether an AI-generated actor will become part of mainstream cinema or television remains to be seen.
