Posted on 07/06/2026 3:30:47 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
AI-generated actor Tilly Norwood is set to make her big-screen debut, starring in the film "Misaligned" from the studio that created the polarizing digital thespian.
U.K.-based Particle6, which describes itself as an "AI-first and AI-hybrid" developer of movies and TV programming, announced on Monday that it has begun developing the film, in which Norwood, who is not a sentient being, will "take the lead."
Particle6 founder Eline van der Velden, herself a former actor, unveiled Norwood to the public in 2025 after her team at the studio developed some 2,000 iterations of the AI tool and gradually taught her to act.
Particle6 describes the forthcoming film, which is set in what the studio calls "a surreal digital world located somewhere up in the Cloud," as a "coming-of-age story infused with existential AI chaos."
The plotline is self-referential: Norwood plays an AI being with no lived experience but access to other humans' childhoods and backstories.
Van der Velden said the studio's goal is to demonstrate AI's capabilities to the film industry and to the wider public. The studio will produce the movie using traditional film professionals, including directors, writers and editors, as well as AI specialists, according to Particle6.
"The film will absolutely be funny, chaotic and self-aware — very Tilly," she said in a statement. "But underneath it, there's something deeper about identity, performance and our very human fears around AI. And yes, art will most definitely be imitating life."
Van der Velden also said she wants to prove that "AI can support premium narrative filmmaking, but only with substantial amounts of human craft, skill, judgment and time. That's not a limitation of the technology. That's the point."
Norwood sparked industry backlash when she was first introduced, with movie pros protesting that acting parts should be reserved for humans rather than synthetic performers.
In September, the entertainment industry union SAG-AFTRA said in a statement that it doesn't consider Norwood an actor and that "creativity is, and should remain, human-centered."
Guardrails on the film and television industry's use of AI in production were a key sticking point in 2023 negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and major film studios, which led to industry professionals striking for the first time in 15 years.
The union sought guarantees that studios wouldn't rely on AI instead of human creatives, while the final labor agreement limits the use of the technology.
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Real actresses are fake enough.
Laz is currently working on his personal AI-Laz so he can ‘hit it.’
If Tilly can make you a sandwich, life will be good in AI Land. ;)
In twenty years she’ll be Dame Tilly Norwood.
I have no idea how this works, but wouldn’t they still have to pay a real actress, to have something realistic to sort of ‘map’ in some way?
I can’t imagine an AI character created from facial action codes to be very interesting or truly human-like. Individual humans are unique and quirky, and that’s what makes them intriguing.
This seems like another one of those things that they do simply because they can. I can see its use in something like an advertising or training video; but it’ll be a disappointing product as a character in a story script.
In a way, it will be just another kind of ‘cartoon’.
You win ‘Top post of the thread’.
I think the AI creator went too big on her nose and not big enough on her....
Well, you know.
I do not believe the "studios" are going to be the primary producers of content going forward.
$50,000 of computer equipment and you can produce AI/CGI movies that are as good is Pixar's.
What’s the cash value? 💵
I can’t tell if the eyes look unnaturally even.
When are the blacks going to complain that the role didn’t go to a black AI-generated actor?
LOL! Love it! :)
Not too much. Just a trim.
Harvey just missed out on the real action
Tilly in repose on the casting couch, oooh la la
Real or fake, Tilly is definitely Not Guilty.
Wonder if the realization that they can be replaced by a 25 cent computer program will deflate any of the thousands of overinflated egos in Hollywoodland? Just think, AI ‘personalities’ might not inflict their political views on the rest of the country - and if they do, anyone with a double digit IQ will know those views are literally dictated by some unseen clown behind the curtain...
It’s probably going to be very big in porn.
It NEVER turns out well...
I don’t think it’s quite as disastrous as bringing back dinosaurs; I just think it’s going to be very disappointing for certain uses.
Excellent point!
I could live with AI used strictly for porn. It would save the ruination of countless HUMAN young men and women, for sure.
Maybe there IS an upside? Time will tell. ;)
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