From S1mOne to Tilly Norwood: How AI actresses are blurring Hollywood’s reality and inspiring viral TikToks
Tilly Norwood is an AI-generated actress.
Image: Instagram
Remember the 2002 movie S1mOne? Chances are, you probably don’t. It wasn’t a massive hit, even though it starred Al Pacino.
Pacino played a washed-up film producer whose career is saved when he creates a gorgeous, talented, fully digital actress named Simone (short for Simulation One).
Simone becomes a global superstar, yet no one can meet her because, well, she doesn’t actually exist.
The movie did okay when it was released. It was seen as a clever satire about Hollywood, obviously just fiction.
Fast forward to 2025, and suddenly S1M0NE doesn’t feel like a quirky sci-fi film anymore. It feels more like a documentary.
The line between real and generated has blurred with the rise of AI stars like Tilly Norwood.
Unlike Simone, Tilly isn’t the secret of one paranoid producer. She’s a fully-fledged industry phenomenon, a virtual actress who is gaining real fame.
Tilly was created by Dutch actress and producer Eline Van der Velden, founder of AI production company Particle6 and AI talent studio Xicoia.
While AI images and videos aren’t exactly new, Tilly’s incredibly lifelike presence has sparked fresh backlash, with many actors seeing her as a direct threat to their jobs.
In response, Van der Velden defended her creation, saying: “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. Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories.”
Her explanation hasn’t silenced the debate. If anything, it’s opened up bigger questions about whether AI really can replace human performers.
But while some see danger, others see comedy.
On TikTok, creators are already poking fun at the idea of an AI actress navigating the absurdities of Hollywood.
One creator, KlaraKiwi, has gone viral with skits where she pretends to be Tilly Norwood auditioning for roles.
“Do y’all think she’s gonna book it or what?” she captioned one clip.
In it, she imitates an AI bot with a robotic monotone, never blinking, and delivering lines without a shred of emotion.
If you’ve ever asked ChatGPT to “scream like you’re scared,” you’d recognise the uncanny accuracy.
In another video, she plays Tilly on her first day on set, failing hilariously to follow simple instructions.
Again, anyone who’s prompted AI to count down from a number knows just how funny and frustrating that can be.
Through her sketches, KlaraKiwi highlights the inhuman side of AI, no matter how real it might look on screen.
We’ve reached a point where it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s generated.
But look closely enough, and you’ll still see the absence of genuine human touch.
Even though Tilly is a far cry from Simone, she leaves us with the same unsettling question: Is she the future?