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AI Actress Tilly Norwood Sparks Hollywood Uproar as Talent Agents Express Interest
Hollywood is abuzz with controversy following reports that talent agents are actively pursuing Tilly Norwood, an artificial intelligence-generated “actress.” The development, revealed by her creator, Dutch comedian and technologist Eline Van der Velden, has ignited a fierce debate about the future of human performance in the entertainment industry.
Van der Velden, who developed Norwood with her production company Particle6 through its new AI talent studio offshoot Xicoia, announced at the Zurich Summit that discussions with agencies have progressed significantly since Norwood’s comedy sketch debut in July. An announcement regarding representation is expected “in the coming months.”
However, the prospect of an AI actor gaining traction has been met with widespread dismay from human performers. Many actors have taken to social media and news outlets to voice their strong objections.
Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt, while promoting her latest film, had a particularly visceral reaction when asked about Norwood on a podcast. “No, are you serious?
That’s an AI? Good Lord, we’re screwed,” Blunt exclaimed.
“That is really, really scary. Come on, agencies, don’t do that.
Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”
When informed that agents envision Norwood as “the next Scarlett Johansson,” Blunt retorted, “But we already have Scarlett Johansson.”
Creator Defends AI as ‘A Piece of Art’
In response to the mounting backlash, Van der Velden issued a detailed statement on social media, defending Tilly Norwood as “a creative work—a piece of art,” rather than a replacement for human beings. “Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity,” Van der Velden wrote.
She emphasized that AI should not replace people and that nothing “can take away the craft or joy of human performance.” Instead, she described creating Tilly as “an act of imagination” representing “experimentation, not substitution.”
Van der Velden also suggested that AI characters should be judged within their own genre and welcomed as part of the broader artistic family, alongside other forms of expression. Notably, comments were disabled for the Instagram post containing her statement.
SAG-AFTRA Issues Blistering Condemnation
The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), representing approximately 160,000 actors and media professionals, swiftly condemned the concept of AI actors. In a blunt statement, the union declared its opposition “to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.”
“To be clear, ‘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,” SAG-AFTRA asserted. The union argued that AI lacks life experience and emotion, and that audiences are not interested in computer-generated content “untethered from the human experience.” The statement concluded that AI actors do not solve problems, but rather “create the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”
Exploitation Concerns Emerge
Adding another layer to the controversy, many in Hollywood are pointing out the perceived exploitative nature of the first prominent AI actor being presented as a young woman. Actor Chelsea Edmundson commented, “Not surprised that the first major ‘AI actor’ is a young woman that they can fully control and make do whatever they want.”
Mara Wilson, known for her roles as a child actor, questioned, “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 Eiza González called the situation “horrific and terrifying.”
This contentious development comes less than two years after the historically long SAG-AFTRA strike, which concluded in November 2023, where AI protections were a key point of negotiation. The ongoing debate underscores the entertainment industry’s struggle to navigate the rapid advancements and ethical implications of artificial intelligence.