ENTERTAINMENTAI Actress Tilly Norwood's Creator Insists She's Not a 'Replacement' for Real People But a 'Tool' for Hollywood After Backlash
Tilly Norwood is Hollywood's first AI actress.
Sept. 29 2025, Published 11:03 a.m. ET
The debut of the very first AI actress, Tilly Norwood, didn't go as expected for creator Eline Van der Velden.
When introducing Norwood at the Zurich Summit on Saturday, September 27, Van der Velden revealed multiple agencies were thinking about signing the AI creation, which led to numerous Hollywood stars slamming the idea.
Creator of AI Actress Speaks Out
Eline Van der Velden (left), the creator of AI actress Tilly Norwood, insisted the latter isn't a 'replacement' for real actresses.
A day later, Van der Velden responded to the backlash by writing on Instagram, "To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood, she 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. I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool, a new paintbrush. Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories," she explained. "I’m an actor myself, and nothing — certainly not an AI character — can take away the craft or joy of human performance."
'She Brings Experimentation, Not Substitution'
The creator said that crafting Norwood took "time, skill and iteration to bring to life."
"She brings experimentation, not substitution," she noted.
"I also believe AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre, on their own merits rather than compared directly with human actors," Van der Velden continued. "Each form of art has its place, and each can be valued for what it uniquely brings."
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Norwood was created as 'tool' for Hollywood and shouldn't be 'compared directly with human actors,' Van der Velden said.
"I hope we can welcome AI as part of the wider artistic family: one more way to express ourselves, alongside theatre, film, painting, music and countless others," she concluded. "When we celebrate all forms of creativity, we open doors to new voices, new stories, and new ways of connecting with each other."
The message was also uploaded to Norwood's own Instagram account.
Hollywood Stars Slam AI
Melissa Barrera called the idea of the AI actress 'gross.'
Actresses that slammed the idea included Scream VI's Melissa Barrera, who wrote online, "Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$. How gross, read the room."
"And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn’t hire any of them?" asked Mara Wilson.
"Not an actress actually nice try," commented Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story star Nicholas Alexander Chavez.
