An AI actress named Tilly Norwood is being criticized by Hollywood actors and their union. The white, brown-eyed brunette creation represents a new technology that many believe threatens the jobs, creative contributions, and livelihoods of real human actors. Tilly, created by the European AI company Particle6, has been promoted as potential talent for agency representation and roles in film and TV, sparking immediate backlash from actors, unions, and industry figures.
Many high-profile actors, including Emily Blunt and Whoopi Goldberg, as well as the actors' union SAG-AFTRA, have condemned the use of Tilly Norwood. The union said in a statement, "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."
Emily Blunt commented during a Variety podcast: “Does it disappoint me? I don’t know how to quite answer it, other than to say how terrifying this is.” When she was then shown an image of the AI actress, she said: “No, are you serious? That’s an AI? Good Lord, we’re screwed. That is really, really scary. Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”
Although the AI's creator, Particle6 founder Eline Van der Velden, insists that Tilly is meant as "a work of creativity — a piece of art" rather than a true replacement for actors, she also said a number of entertainment companies have expressed interest in signing deals with brunette creation, which further instills industry fears about the potential for AI to replace human talent.
The controversy revives unresolved issues from recent Hollywood strikes, where the use of AI to replicate or replace writers’ and actors’ work was a major point of contention. Unions argue that AI-driven roles risk undermining hard-won contractual protections for human artistry.
Actors and SAG/AFTRA and calling for boycotts of agencies or studios that collaborate with Tilly Norwood. Some criticize it as "deeply misguided," viewing the creation of AI actors as exploitative and devaluing the richness and nuance of human storytelling.
Would you go see a movie that uses AI actors? Tell us in the comments below. ~Alexandra Heilbron