Could a badly named, synthetic starlet really be coming to a theater near you?
The AI-generated actress that has Hollywood panicking
Is Tilly Norwood a threat to the film industry? It’s complicated.
Kyndall Cunningham is a culture writer who explains the figures and social trends that influence how we think about gender, image, relationships, wellness, and consumption. Previously, she wrote for the Daily Beast and contributed to several publications, including Vulture, W Magazine, and Bitch Media.
Tilly Norwood hopes so. No, that’s not the name of a Hollywood executive or an indie director. It’s an AI-generated avatar that its creator wants to put on the big screen.
Norwood isn’t exactly megawatt-star material. Her image is notably unstriking. The doe-eyed, 20-something-looking brunette with a warm, somewhat freckled complexion doesn’t look much different from your average photogenic influencer. Her Instagram page is similarly bland, devoid of any personality traits or interests outside drinking iced coffee and walking around London. Her bio, however, has a startling, bleak message, “You’ll either get it, or pretend you don’t.”
Nevertheless, the arrival of Tilly Norwood has Hollywood mad, talent agencies are shying away from taking on an avatar as a client, and for now, Norwood seems like more of a stunt than a real threat.
Last week, Eline Van der Velden, CEO and founder of UK-based AI production company Particle6, announced the formation of a new AI talent studio called Xicoia at the Zurich Film Festival. The new venture will focus on creating “hyperreal digital stars” for films, television shows, TikToks, podcasts, ad campaigns, video games, while also playing the other roles of an influencer and interacting with fans. The launch highlighted Norwood, its first client creation, which made her first appearance in Particle6’s portfolio back in July.
According to Van der Velden, a former actor, the digitally rendered ingénue is already being eyed by several talent agencies, with a formal announcement about her representation coming soon. Already, she’s building an online presence, with appearances in several AI-generated videos and images. Particle6 has also placed her in different “movies” and public settings, floating around. She even has an Instagram account with over 50,000 followers.
Whatever excitement Norwood is purportedly stirring in the industry — Particle6 could just be manufacturing hype around their product — the backlash by working actors has been much louder. On September 30, SAG-AFTRA released a statement condemning the creation of Norwood, stating that the union “believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered” and is “opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.” Van der Velden has since responded, claiming on Norwood’s Instagram page that she “see[s] AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool.”
Still, amid the alarming images and frantic reactions, does Hollywood actually need to be afraid of a fake actress?
It’s safe to say that Norwood’s image has gone viral over the past week, more so out of panic and scrutiny than genuine interest in her as a future Hollywood commodity. (Although, the Free Press published a column praising the creation, while also strangely describing Norwood as a “virgin.”) The buzz started after Deadline published an exclusive report on Particle6’s new AI talent studio, and Van der Velden claimed that “the 21st [century] will be defined by synthetic talent.” Other entertainment industry trade publications picked up the story, and strong reactions from various actors came rolling in. In addition to the SAG-AFTRA statement, British actors’ union Equity dismissed Norwood as not an actress but an “AI tool.” Emily Blunt, who’s currently promoting the film The Smashing Machine, said on a Variety podcast that she found Norwood “terrifying” and begged Hollywood to “please stop taking away our human connection.” Other actors, such as Melissa Barrera and Whoopi Goldberg, have publicly condemned the potential use of the AI actress.
Major talent agencies have also responded, largely shutting down speculation that Norwood could be a potential client. WME chair Richard Weitz said that their agency “represents humans” at a conference for The Wrap this past Tuesday. Meanwhile, Gersh president Leslie Siebert told Variety that they were “not going to be that agency” to sign Norwood, while acknowledging that AI talent will be a recurring issue and that they “have to figure out how to deal with it in the proper way.”
In an article for NPR, producer and Forbes contributor Charlie Fink, who writes about emerging technologies in the entertainment industry, said it’s hard to imagine an AI-generated actress competing with A-list movie stars. Given the swiftness of the responses from big names over the news of Tilly Norwood, it seems like they’d be willing if not equipped to fight back — at least more so than rank-and-file actors. The way the industry is heading, it’s background and voice actors who are more vulnerable to AI replacement.
The past two years, since SAG-AFTRA went on strike while negotiating a new contract that dealt with studios’ use of generative AI, have brought these concerns to light — in particular, “body scanning,” the process in which studios create digital copies of background actors to use in additional scenes in order to cut expenses. Body scanning is allowed under the new SAG-AFTRA contract with actors’ consent and compensation, as is using AI for voice dubbing under the same requirements. At the time the contract was signed in December 2023, though, some SAG members still felt the new clauses around AI weren’t protective enough and contained too many loopholes.
The panic surrounding Norwood is maybe more of a misdirection than an overreaction, given the AI-fueled dread lingering in the air recently. Around the same time that Norwood made headlines, big tech companies, like OpenAI and Meta, have rolled out even more AI technologies meant to entertain us. This past week, OpenAI launched its social network app Sora, an endless scroll of AI-generated slop and brainrot that allows the use of copyrighted works and human likeness through deepfakes. Meta recently introduced a similar AI feed called Vibes.
Overall, claiming that an AI-generated avatar is the next Hollywood “it” girl may be jumping the shark, but it’s clear that more AI slop is heading our way. The entertainment industry’s hypervigilance to at least slow the flow might be our best hope to keep big screens slop-free.
