Hollywood is facing a new kind of star power with “AI actor” Tilly Norwood and the newly announced “Tillyverse,” a digital world where artificial intelligence characters can collaborate and build AI acting careers.
Norwood’s creator Eline van der Velden, a Dutch producer and comedian, said she is planning a “rapid expansion” for her digital acting creation by building a universe around her.
Van der Velden will be joined by Prime Video’s Mark Whelan as head of strategy of the Tillyverse and operations at her new AI talent studio Xiocia, Variety reports.
Whelan will help create the Tillyverse, set to launch later in 2026 and described in a press release as a “dynamic, constantly evolving digital universe where Tilly and a new generation of AI characters will live, collaborate and build careers.”
Xiocia is “building IP at scale and redefining how talent is created, developed and experienced in the AI era,” according to the press release.
The plan is to also create “bespoke AI talent” for third parties.
“Tilly Norwood isn’t just an AI character — she’s a personality, a brand, and a future global superstar with a compelling narrative arc. Mark will help us craft and shape every layer of her world, from her humour, daily life and career choices to how she interacts with fans across various platforms. It all promises to be bold, playful, a little chaotic – and impossible to ignore,” Van der Velden said.
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Whelan said Tilly, a character made entirely by artificial intelligence, “already has the momentum, an audience and the cultural spark.”
“Now we’re writing her story and building her universe. It’s a huge responsibility — but an incredibly exciting one. I think the world is going to have a lot of fun watching what happens next,” he added.
Norwood was first announced last October after she started negotiating with talent agencies.
“We were in a lot of boardrooms around February time, and everyone was like, ‘No, this is nothing. It’s not going to happen.’ Then, by May, people were like, ‘We need to do something with you guys,’” Van der Velden told Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose.
“When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What’s that?’ and now we’re going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months.”
Not everyone was excited about Norwood potentially signing with a talent agency.
In a statement, the Screen Actors Guild said that “creativity is, and should remain, human-centered.”
“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 guild 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.”
In response to the backlash, Van der Velden shared a statement on Norwood’s Instagram, writing, “To those who have expressed anger over the creation of our 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,” Van der Velden continued. “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.”
Van der Velden said she believes that AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre and on their own merits rather than compared directly with “human actors.”
“Each form of art has its place, and each can be valued for what it uniquely brings. 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 wrote. “When we celebrate all forms of creativity, we open doors to new voices, new stories, and new ways of connecting with each other.”
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