Hollywood is facing a new kind of star power with the newly announced Tillyverse, a digital world where AI actor Tilly Norwood and artificially intelligent characters can work together to build the AI actor's career.
Norwood creator Elaine van der Velden, a Dutch producer and comedian, said she plans to “rapidly expand” her digital acting work by building a universe around her.
Van der Velden will be joined by Prime Video's Mark Whelan as head of strategy for Tillyverse, and head of operations for new AI talent studio Xiocia, Variety reported.
Whelan will help create Tillyverse, which is scheduled to launch in late 2026 and is described in a press release as “a dynamic, ever-evolving digital universe in which Tilly and a new generation of AI characters will live, collaborate, and build their careers.”
According to a press release, Xiocia is “building IP at scale and redefining how talent is created, developed, and experienced in the age of AI.”
The plan will also create “tailor-made AI talent” for third parties.
“Tilly Norwood is more than just an AI character. She's a personality, a brand, and a future global superstar with a compelling story to tell.” They help build and shape every layer of her world, right down to the way she interacts with her fans. Everything promises to be bold, playful, a little chaotic, and impossible to ignore,” Van der Velden said.
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Whelan said Tilly is a character created entirely by artificial intelligence that “already has momentum, a large audience and a cultural spark.”
“Right now we're writing her story and building her world. It's a big responsibility, but it's incredibly exciting work. I think it's going to be a lot of fun for the world to see what happens next,” he added.
Norwood was first announced after starting negotiations with talent agencies in October last year.
“Around February, we were in a lot of boardrooms and everyone was like, 'No, this is nothing. That's not going to happen.' And by May, people were like, 'We need to do something with you guys,'” van der Velden told Deadline's Diana Rodderhorse.
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“When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What?’ And we’ll be announcing which agency will be representing her in the coming months.”
Not everyone was excited about Norwood potentially signing with a talent agency.
“Creativity is human-centered and must remain human-centered,” the Screen Actors Guild said in a statement.
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“To be clear, 'Tilly Norwood' is not an actor; she is a character generated without permission or compensation by a computer program trained on the work of countless professional performers,” the guild said. “This movie has no life experience or emotion to draw from it, and from what we've seen, audiences aren't interested in watching computer-generated content divorced from human experience.”
In response to the backlash, van der Velden issued a statement on Norwood's Instagram, writing: “To those who expressed outrage over the creation of our AI character, Tilly Norwood. She is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a work of art.”
“Like much art before her, she evokes conversation and as such shows the power of creativity,” van der Velden continued. “I don't see AI as a replacement for humans, but as a new tool, a new paintbrush. Just as animation, puppetry, and CGI opened up new possibilities without taking away from live performance, AI offers another way to imagine and construct stories.”
Van der Velden said he believes AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre and on their own merits, rather than being directly compared to “human actors.”
“Each art form has its place and is valued for what it uniquely brings to the table. We hope that we can welcome AI as part of the broader arts family. Along with theater, film, painting, music, and countless other arts, it is another way to express ourselves,” she wrote. “When we celebrate creativity in all its forms, we open the door to new voices, new stories, and new ways to connect with each other.”
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