AI Actors: The Saga of Tilly Norwood [View all]
AI Actress Tilly Norwood Condemned by SAG-AFTRA: Tilly Is Not an Actor
It Has No Life Experience to Draw From, No Emotion
SAG-AFTRA has issued a statement condemning Tilly Norwood, the AI actress who has become a contentious subject in Hollywood after her creator, Eline Van der Velden, recently claimed that multiple talent agents were interested in signing the AI creation. The acting guild believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered and is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.
The guild added, Signatory producers should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used.
Amid growing industry backlash against Tilly Norwood, who was created by the AI production studio Particle6, creator Eline Van der Velden issued a defense by saying Tilly is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work a piece of art.
I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool, a new paintbrush, Van der Velden added. Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories. Im an actor myself, and nothing certainly not an AI character can take away the craft or joy of human performance.
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/sag-aftra-tilly-norwood-ai-actress-1236534779/