In the latest chapter of "things nobody asked for or wants," Hollywood's hottest new talent is "actress" Tilly Norwood.
Why the quotes around actress? Because Norwood isn't real: She's a new "AI actor" created by AI studio Xicoia. And in a truly stupid sign of our truly stupid times, Hollywood agencies are apparently clamoring to sign her.
Norwood's creator, actor, comedian and apparent traitor to her own craft Eline Van der Velden, made quite a splash at the Zurich Film Festival where she unveiled Norwood.
But Norwood's real-life colleagues? They are absolutely not having it.
After Van Der Velden claimed that some of the hottest agencies in Los Angeles were hotly pursuing Norwood as the next big thing, several of today's hottest young things in Hollywood took to social media to excoriate everyone involved.
In an Instagram Story, actor Melissa Barrera, best known for the more recent films in the Scream franchise, wrote:
“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$."
"How gross, read the room.”
Actor Kiersey Clemons, known for playing Iris West in Justice League and The Flash, as well as the 2015 indie favorite Dope, responded to Barrera's post by saying:
“Out the agents. I want names.”
Former child star and writer Mara Wilson responded with probably the most salient pushback:
“And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn’t hire any of them?"
Of course, the announcement of Norwood generated lots of jokes, too, including from celebrities themselves like White Lotus star Lukas Gage, who said Norwood was a "nightmare to work with," and actress Trace Lysette, who accused Norwood of cutting the lunch line on set.
Social media was also full of jokes that made clear that not only is nobody buying Tilly Norwood but nobody wants this kind of content in the first place.
Many also pointed out that Norwood isn't even convincingly human (at least not yet, anyway).
Anyway, amid the uproar, Van Der Velden took to Instagram to post on Norwood's behalf to address the controversy, and suffice to say the statement is as poorly executed as Norwood herself.
In the statement, Van Der Velden claimed:
"[Norwood] is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work..."
The only problem with this statement, Ms. Van Der Velden, is that that is exactly what she is, in the exact same way that, say, the laptop and internet on which I'm typing this are replacements for the typewriter and printing press.
But one commenter on the statement summed the whole thing up perfectly:
@thesinkingcanoe/Instagram
Instagram user @thesinkingcanoe wrote:
"If she really was just an art piece, you wouldn’t be trying to get her an agent."
Yeah, nice try, Ms. Van Der Velden.
@winnieharlow/Instagram
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
