Tilly Norwood, AI ‘actor’ denounced by actors union, to star in feature film

The company behind AI “actor” Tilly Norwood announced Monday it’s working on a full-length film starring its controversial creation, which has been blasted by a major actors union as “devaluing human artistry.”

Tilly Norwood was made by the AI company Particle6 Productions, led by comedian and writer Eline Van der Velden.

The feature film will be a comedy-drama called “Misaligned” and that it will star Tilly Norwood in a “hybrid production with traditional film and TV professionals — such as directors, writers and editors — working alongside AI specialists, with AI training and mentorship built into the production itself,” the company said.

“Our work this year has proven something we suspected all along,” Van der Velden said in a statement. “AI can support premium narrative filmmaking, but only with substantial amounts of human craft, skill, judgement and time. That’s not a limitation of the technology. That’s the point.”

Tilly Norwood has come under fire from Hollywood, including the actors union SAG-AFTRA, which blasted the studio for “using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”

The union emphasized that Tilly Norwood is “not an actor,” but “a character generated by a computer program.”

“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,” the union said.

Particle6 said Monday that for “Misaligned” it plans to work “with leading filmmakers and crew who want to bring their craft into AI production.”

The movie takes place in the “Tillyverse,” described by the production company as “a surreal digital world located somewhere up in the Cloud.” It will tell “a coming-of-age story infused with existential AI chaos,” Particle6 said.

“The film will absolutely be funny, chaotic and self-aware — very Tilly,” Van der Velden said. “But underneath it, there’s something deeper about identity, performance, and our very human fears around AI. And yes, art will most definitely be imitating life.”

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