Emily

30 September 2025

Emily Blunt has branded AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood “terrifying”.

Emily Blunt is not a fan of AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood

Newly-launched AI talent studio Xicoia have created the digital performer, with Eline Van der Velden unveiling the project at the Zurich Film Festival and it already attracting interest from talent agents, and the Smashing Machine actress is horrified by the prospect.

Shown a report on Tilly, Emily told Variety: “Does it disappoint me? I don’t know how to quite answer it, other than to say how terrifying this is.

“No, are you serious? That’s an AI? Good Lord, we’re screwed. That is really, really scary, Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”

The 42-year-old actress noted Tilly was designed to resemble a composite of familiar stars and was told she was designed as “the next Scarlett Johansson”.

She replied: “But we have Scarlett Johansson.”

Emily isn’t the only Hollywood critic of the project.

Scream actress Melissa Barrera has branded the arrival of Tilly “gross”.

She posted an Instagram Story about the news and captioned it: “Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$. How gross, read the room.(sic)”

Matilda star Mara Wilson was equally horrified.

She posted: “And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn’t hire any of them?”

Whoopi Goldberg blasted the idea on The View and insisted the AI model would have an “unfair advantage” – but noted the technology isn’t yet “seamless” enough for them to pass as human.

She said: “The problem with this, in my humble opinion, is that you are suddenly up against something that’s been generated with 5,000 other actors.”It’s got Bette Davis’ attitude, it’s got Humphrey Bogart’s lips.

“It’s got my humour, thank you darling. And so it’s a little bit of an unfair advantage. You know what? Bring it on. You can always tell them from us. We move differently, our faces move differently, our bodies move differently…

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to hold on because what this means is AI in the workplace — not just my workplace, but in every industry.

“Some industries are using AI now. People talk about people are so lonely they don’t have a connection, if you stick with this, with AI, you won’t have any connection to anything but your phone.”

Simu Liu also condemned the project.

He sarcastically wrote on his Instagram Story: “Movies are great but you know what would be better is if the characters in them weren’t played by actual humans but by AI replicas approximating human emotion.”

Creator Eline insisted Tilly is “a piece of art” and she doesn’t view AI as a “replacement” for real people.

She wrote 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.

“I’m an actor myself, and nothing – certainly not an AI character – can take away the craft or joy of human performance.”