WHY IS HOLLYWOOD BUZZING ABOUT AI ACTRESS TILLY NORWOOD?

Thu 02 October 2025:

The U.S. labor union for actors and media professionals is opposing the introduction of “Tilly Norwood,” an AI-generated character seeking industry representation, arguing it endangers the jobs of human performers.

Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), in a statement on Tuesday, said creativity “should remain human-centered” and declared its opposition to “the replacement of human performers by synthetics.”

Why is Hollywood buzzing about AI actress Tilly Norwood?

Read more here: https://t.co/B32PiVp508 pic.twitter.com/gUrJUBz4rg

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) October 2, 2025

“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 union said.

“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,” it added.

SAG-AFTRA said such technology “creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”

Tilly Norwood is one of Hollywood’s hottest new actresses. Her Instagram following of 33K is engaged and growing. And a lot of talent agencies want to sign her. But all the attention she’s getting isn’t sitting well with a lot of people — because Tilly isn’t real. What’s your… pic.twitter.com/PNFJwYJx1R

— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) September 30, 2025

Tilly Norwood is Hollywood’s first fully AI-generated “actress”—a stunning, brunette digital character created in 2025 by Xicoia, the AI arm of Dutch production company Particle6, founded by actress Eline van der Velden.

Marketed as the next Scarlett Johansson, she’s starred in AI sketches like “AI Commissioner,” racking up 200,000 views, and boasts an Instagram full of promo reels touting her as a cost-cutting star who slashes production by 90%.

__________________________________________________________________________

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22

__________________________________________________________________________

The union also warned that signatory producers are contractually obligated to notify and bargain with SAG-AFTRA before using synthetic performers.

The announcement comes as Hollywood continues to grapple with the role of AI in entertainment, following labor disputes and strikes in 2023 that highlighted concerns over digital replication and performer rights.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

__________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22