Last updated on December 25, 2025
UNITED STATES, 30 September 2025 – The debut of AI-generated “actress” Tilly Norwood has sparked strong backlash from SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood performers, which condemned the growing use of “synthetics” in place of human actors.
Tilly Norwood was introduced on Saturday at a film industry conference in Zurich, with her creator boasting of interest from studio executives. The move immediately ignited controversy across Hollywood, reflecting widespread unease about the intersection of artificial intelligence and the creative industry.
The AI Launch
The official launch featured a 20-second parody video of the photo-real character, portrayed as a fictional ingénue in her twenties. Tilly, created by London-based AI studio Particle6, bears no resemblance to any real celebrity but comes with a social media presence, brown hair, brown eyes, and a British accent.
Dutch actor-producer Eline Van der Velden, founder of Particle6, said interest in the project had grown:
“We need to do something with you guys,” she quoted talent agents as saying, according to Variety, noting that a first-of-its-kind talent agency deal was only months away.
Union Pushback
SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors, announcers, recording artists, stunt performers, and other talent, denounced the development.
“Creativity is, and should remain, human-centered. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics,” it said in a statement.
The union also stressed: “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.”
Concerns about AI-driven exploitation of performers were central to SAG-AFTRA’s most recent contract talks with studios and streaming services.
Divided Opinions
Van der Velden defended the project, saying in an Instagram post:
“Tilly Norwood is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art. Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity.”
However, she had previously stated in an interview with Broadcast International:
“We want Tilly to be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman, that’s the aim of what we’re doing.”
Not all industry voices are convinced. Yves Bergquist, director of AI in media at the University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center, dismissed the hype:
“There is a lot of very understandable nervousness and fear out there about talent being replaced. But from my daily conversations with Hollywood executives, there is zero interest from serious people in developing entirely synthetic characters. Scarlett Johansson has a fan base. Scarlett Johansson is a person.”
