Hollywood Erupts as AI Actor Tilly Norwood Debut Sparks SAG-AFTRA and Stars’ Outrage
The new AI “talent” studio Xicoia launched at the Zurich Film Festival’s Summit and introduced an AI-generated performer called Tilly Norwood. Since then, Hollywood actors and the SAG-AFTRA union have publicly pushed back, citing that the model was trained on real performers’ work without permission and that synthetic performers raise legal and labor concerns.
Xicoia and Tilly Norwood
Xicoia officially launched last weekend during the Zurich Film Festival’s Zurich Summit Conference with the stated goal of creating AI-generated “talent” for films, TV series, and social media marketing. The studio introduced an AI “actor” named Tilly Norwood, whose social account can be seen on Tilly Norwood’s Instagram.
According to founder Eline Van der Velden, Xicoia is in the process of signing Tilly Norwood to a talent agency. The company describes the creation as a form of creative work intended for multiple media uses.
Industry reaction
Responses were swift. SAG-AFTRA issued a public condemnation, and several well-known actors spoke out against the project. For example, Emily Blunt called the situation “terrifying” and said, “Good Lord, we’re screwed.” Her comments were reported in Variety.
Other actors, including Ralph Ineson, Melissa Barrera, and Nicholas Alexander Chavez, also criticized Xicoia and Tilly Norwood in coverage compiled by Deadline. Public comments on social posts about Tilly were largely negative, with calls for transparency and compensation for the performers whose work was used to train the model.
Xicoia’s response
Before the union statement, Van der Velden posted a response on the AI creation’s account. On Sept. 28 she wrote that the AI was “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art.” The Instagram post can be read on that Instagram post.
Legal and wider context
Industry and legal disputes over generative AI have been increasing. Lawsuits and settlements have targeted AI companies for training models on people’s work without permission. For instance, NPR reported that Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement in a case brought by authors.
In addition, unions and signatory producers have existing contractual rules about using synthetic performers, including notice and bargaining obligations. These contractual points are a central part of the union’s concerns about synthetic talent replacing human performers.
SAG-AFTRA statement (full)
“SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.
“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. 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 doesn’t solve any “problem” — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.
“Additionally, signatory producers should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which generally require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used.”
