Artificial Intelligence is dominating the world, and Tilly Norwood has become a nightmare for Hollywood. The AI actress touted as the next Scarlett Johansson hints at the future of cinema as the industry continues to embrace AI in filmmaking. Norwood’s resume thus far has been quite impressive, yet it paints an unsettling picture of what might be.
Already, filmmakers are increasingly embracing AI to overcome creative limitations. From creating and enhancing visual effects to generating CGI characters and film editing, creators are finding artificial intelligence incredibly useful in telling their stories. While it’s a powerful tool that helps streamline the tedious process of making a movie, Tilly Norwood is a stark example of how AI can change and possibly ruin the industry.
How Dutch Actress Eline Van der Velden Created Tilly Norwood
Dutch performer Elien Van der Velden is the brain behind the AI actress. A multi-talented creative based in London, Van der Velden is originally from Curaçao, Netherlands. She relocated to the United Kingdom in her early teens to attend Tring’s Arts Educational School, where she studied Drama & Musical Theatre. To further her education, she studied Physics at London’s Imperial College alongside Nuclear Fusion at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL).
Merging her passion for performing arts and science, Elien Van der Velden founded Particle6 in 2011. The AI production company based in London creates digital content for notable networks, including BBC, Sky, and Channel 4. As culled from Ven der Velden’s LinkedIn profile, the company “specializes in high-quality shows, commercial content, immersive experiences and digital media campaigns, using its unique methodology that blends scientific creativity with technology, data analysis, and AI.”
Van der Velden claims that “Particle6 method results in more sharable, resonant, and viral content while reducing the cost of video production ten-fold.” Particle6 is the mother company of Xicoia, the AI talent studio that created Tilly Norwood. Xicoia is committed to creating and managing what it describes as a new generation of digital stars, and Norwood is the first of the AI talents the company aims to introduce to the entertainment industry.
The AI Actress Made Her Professional Debut In July 2025
When Tilly Norwood was first introduced on Instagram, where she has now garnered over 63k followers, the actress described herself as a “broke uni girl.” That was on May 6, 2025. The following month, Norwood made her professional debut, starring in AI Commissioner, a comedy sketch from Particle6 Productions. “Can’t believe it… my first ever role is live!” reads a post on Norwood’s Instagram page. “I may be AI, but I’m feeling very real emotions right now. I am so excited for what’s coming next!”
At the Zurich Film Festival’s Summit in September, Van der Velden introduced Norwood to industry stakeholders, asserting that the AI actress has increasingly gained acceptance. “When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘No, that’s not going to happen,’ and now we’re going to announce which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months. So it is all changing and everyone is starting to see the light, fortunately.” Earlier in July, the Particle6 founder told Broadcast International that her company wants Tilly to become the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman, “that’s the aim of what we’re doing,” she said.
Hollywood Insiders Condemn Tilly Norwood
@nbc10boston AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood is making her debut, and it’s causing a stir in Hollywood. #nbc10boston #ai #hollywood #actress #movie
The AI actress has faced backlash from industry members since Van der Velden unveiled her at the Zurich Summit. From Emily Blunt to Ariel Winter, Bronson Pinchot, and Sophie Turner, numerous performers have spoken out against Norwood, condemning the AI for being exploitative, superficial, and inauthentic. Amid calls for the actress to be boycotted, several agencies distanced themselves from Norwood.
Similarly, unions like Equity, ACTRA, and SAG-AFTRA have ganged up against the AI, protesting that it has no place in the industry. The latter’s statement asserted that Tilly Norwood isn’t 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,” reads part of the statement. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion, and from what we have seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”
In response to the backlash, Van der Velden issued a rebuttal arguing that Norwood isn’t a replacement for human performers, but a creative work. “I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a tool… Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories,” reads an excerpt from her statement. Check out the top 5 celebrity breakups of 2025, ranked by drama.
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