AI 'actor' Tilly Norwood's creator addresses backlash and announces 40 more AI characters in the works

The creator of controversial AI-generated 'actor' Tilly Norwood has addressed the massive online backlash that the project received following a viral video in September.

The creation of Norwood, led by Eline Van der Velden of AI studio Particle6, pre-dates the recent mainstream attention, which focused on a generated short film in which Norwood took 'her' first acting role.

The American actors' union SAG-AFTRA condemned the endeavour, saying that "creativity is, and should remain, human-centred" and criticised training an AI 'actor' on "the work of countless professional performers – without permission or compensation".

"It doesn’t solve any 'problem' — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardising performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry," the guild added.

Norwood also became the subject of heated debate on social media, with many film buffs sharing the stance of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and other industry figures.

Reflecting on the tumultuous period, Van der Velden told Deadline: "It's been crazy, I'm not going to lie. I could never have imagined this story would blow up as much as it did.

"When I first envisioned Tilly, I did imagine global stardom for her, that's what she was built for. For that to come true has been a funny self-fulfilling prophecy."

She continued: "I think it showed off our quality, and a lot of people were amazed by that, and that the quality of Tilly sparked a conversation that needed to be had around the world about how is this tech going to fit into this industry."

Van der Velden proceeded to express regret that Tilly "upset people", particularly within the acting profession, and made her case for why the advent of AI-generated actors shouldn't be perceived as a threat.

"It is not my creative pursuit to take [actors'] jobs away in any shape or form," said Van der Velden. "I'm sympathising and feel upset they were upset. I hope that I can make them feel better by saying that is not the intention.

"That is not what Tilly was made for. And just because there's a new art form like AI, doesn't mean that the old art form becomes obsolete, right? We still paint, we still write, we still do photography."

She added: "Just because you can now do those things digitally doesn't mean we don't do the old art."

Suffice to say, Van der Velden and her businesses – AI studio Particle6 and AI talent company Xicoia – don't intend to slow down despite the frosty reception they have received publicly.

Privately, she claims that "lots" of talent agencies have expressed interest in representing Norwood.

Moving forward, Van der Velden intends to "create 40 very diverse characters to build her whole universe and to play in this AI genre with a whole new cast", but added that no others are "ready for release" just yet.

The Dutch-born entrepreneur is now based in the UK and has expressed a desire for Britain to be an "absolute frontrunner" in the field of AI-generated screen talent.

However, the UK's own actors' union Equity has pushed back against such development.

In a statement, they said: "Equity believes that the creative process is a human prerogative, and generative AI must remain a tool that is used to empower human creators, not replace them.

"We are calling for greater transparency and protections for artists' work, to ensure that new AI-generated performers like 'Tilly Norwood' do not infringe our members' likenesses, and human artistry is protected at all costs.

"AI-generated performances do not appear from thin air – they are made by digitally imitating real work made by real people. These AI systems have been trained on human likeness and human voices.

"Sometimes this is done with performers' permission, but often it is not. This Wild West must end, and robust protections must be implemented to ensure artists' work is not stolen."

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