SMRTR AIOct 1, 2025Daily.dev

Hollywood is not taking kindly to the AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood

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Tilly Norwood has 40,000 Instagram followers and is seeking Hollywood representation. She's also completely artificial — an AI-generated actress created by Dutch producer Eline Van der Velden's company Xicoia.

When Emily Blunt learned about Norwood during a Variety podcast recording, her reaction was swift: "Good Lord, we're screwed. That is really, really scary. Come on, agencies, don't do that. Please stop taking away our human connection."

Van der Velden introduced her digital creation at the Zurich Film Festival, positioning Norwood as a breakthrough in entertainment technology. But the Hollywood establishment isn't celebrating.

SAG-AFTRA fired back with a pointed statement: "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."

The timing feels particularly charged with OpenAI's recent release of Sora 2, making AI-generated video more sophisticated than ever.

Van der Velden defended her creation on Norwood's Instagram account, calling her "not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art."

The union warns producers they must negotiate before using synthetic performers, as the entertainment industry grapples with AI's expanding capabilities.

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