Comedic actor and producer Eline Van der Velden, who created the AI-generated character Tilly Norwood, says the project is helping create jobs rather than eliminate them, according to CBS News.
Van der Velden said her production company, Particle6, has grown its team sixfold since leaning into AI, adding actors, creative producers and writers. She said the company now employs roughly 40 people.
Norwood is set to make a film debut in Misaligned, which Particle6 describes as a coming-of-age story set in a surreal digital world. Van der Velden said the film is in production and will feature other AI-generated actors.
The character has drawn backlash from SAG-AFTRA, which said in a September 2025 statement that Tilly Norwood is not a real actor but a computer-generated character trained on the work of performers without permission or compensation. Van der Velden has rejected that criticism, saying Norwood will stay in her AI world and will not be used in live-action films.
