Chris Pratt recently told Entertainment Weekly that he suggested an AI “actor” play the tyrannical AI judge in his new sci-fi thriller “Mercy.” However, the idea was quickly shut down by the production, and Rebecca Ferguson was cast in the role.
“I remember talking about the various people who could play these characters, and early on, I was like, ‘Should we have it be an AI, where the judge is actually AI, and we create an AI?’ And everyone was like, ‘No, I don’t think so,’” Pratt said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea at all.’”
He added, “So it was actually never a possibility any more than anything is a possibility when you’re zeroing in on what the outcome is going to be and what the choices are that you’re going to make. It’s a collaborative effort.”
Pratt then recalled another off-the-wall pitch he had early in the planning stages of “Mercy.”
“But one of my pitches early on was like, ‘What if [my character] could pick the judge, and I could pick Oprah, or I could pick anyone I want. Because ultimately it’s just a face on a [screen].’ And I thought that would be funny to have Oprah do it.”
Amazon MGM’s “Mercy” follows Pratt as Chris Raven, a cop from the near future who is on trial for the murder of his wife (Annabelle Wallis). Ferguson’s AI judge gives him 90 minutes to prove his innocence or face immediate execution.
The themes surrounding the oppressive nature of AI made the emerging tech a focal point during the “Mercy” press tour. At the film’s New York premiere, Pratt told Variety that he’s confident he’ll never be replaced by AI. He called the panic surrounding synthetic AI performers like Tilly Norwood “all bullshit.”
“I don’t feel like someone’s gonna replace me that’s AI,” Pratt said. “I heard this Tilly Norwood thing, I think that’s all bullshit. I’ve never seen her in a movie. I don’t know who this bitch is. It’s all fake until it’s something.”
The first Weekend Update of season 51 of “Saturday Night Live” pulled no punches, touching on several pop culture topics such as Diddy’s sentencing, J.K. Rowling‘s endless tweets against trans people and AI actress Tilly Norwood.
“It was reported that major talent agencies in Hollywood are interested in signing a new AI generated actress named Tilly Norwood,” co-anchor Colin Jost said. “The AI generated actress got her start after she had a hotel meeting with AI Harvey Weinstein.”
Later in the segment, “Harry Potter” character Dobby the House Elf (played by Bowen Yang in wild makeup and wearing a plunging sack) was brought on to speak about J.K. Rowling’s Twitter takedown of Emma Watson, as well as the former’s frequent social media posts against trans people.
“Master Rowling has done so much for Dobby, and inclusion in general,” Yang as Dobby said. “Remember when Dumbledore was gay after the books came out? And when Hermione was Black only on Broadway? And when Cho Chang was…hmm, was Cho Chang Asian? Dobby can’t remember if the character named Cho Chang was Asian or not…”
The Weekend Update duo also broke down Diddy’s sentencing this week, with co-anchor Michael Che saying, “Sean Combs was sentenced on Friday to four years in prison, and I’ll be honest, it’s hard for me to enjoy watching someone I love get punished. But that’s what Diddy would do!”
“During Sean Combs’ sentencing, he pleaded for mercy, saying the things he did were disgusting, shameful and sick,” Che continued. “In fact, just thinking about it makes him harder than grandma’s candy!”
Hollywood is facing a new kind of star power with “AI actor” Tilly Norwood, who doesn’t exist outside of code — and she’s already negotiating with talent agencies.
Norwood is a character made entirely by artificial intelligence, dubbed Hollywood’s first “AI actor.” She is the product of a company named Xicoia, which bills itself as the world’s first artificial intelligence talent studio.
Since Dutch producer and comedian Eline Van der Velden launched the digital character’s prospective career, Norwood has been the talk of Hollywood.
Earlier this month, Van der Velden, founder of the AI production studio Particle6, promoted Norwood at the Zurich Summit, the industry sidebar of the Zurich Film Festival. She said Norwood was in talks with talent agencies and that she expected to announce a signing soon.
“We were in a lot of boardrooms around February time, and everyone was like, ‘No, this is nothing. It’s not going to happen.’ Then, by May, people were like, ‘We need to do something with you guys,” Van der Velden told Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose.
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“When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What’s that?’ and now we’re going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months.”
But not everyone is excited about Norwood potentially signing with a talent agency.
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In a statement Tuesday, the Screen Actors Guild said that “creativity is, and should remain, human-centered.”
“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation,” the guild said. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”
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“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this , drop their a$$,” In The Heights actor Melissa Barrera wrote on her Instagram Stories. “How gross, read the room.”
“Any talent agency that engages in this should be boycotted by all guilds. Deeply misguided & totally disturbed,” Natasha Lyonne wrote on Instagram.
“Does it disappoint me? I don’t know how to quite answer it, other than to say how terrifying this is,” Blunt said.
When Blunt was shown a photo of Norwood, she said, “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.”
Blunt also suggested that Norwood’s creators want her to be “the next Scarlett Johansson.”
“But we have Scarlett Johansson,” she added.
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“The problem with this, in my humble opinion, is that you’re up against something that’s been generated with 5,000 other actors. It’s been given all of these — it’s got Bette Davis’s attitude … it’s got my humour,” she began.
“It’s a little bit of an unfair advantage. But you know what? Bring it on,” Goldberg said. “Because you can always tell them from us.”
In response to the backlash, Van der Velden shared a statement on Norwood’s Instagram, writing, “To those who have expressed anger over the creation of our 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,” Van der Velden continued. “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.”
Van der Velden, who is also an actor, said that nothing can take away “the craft or joy of human performance.”
“Creating Tilly has been, for me, an act of imagination and craftsmanship, not unlike drawing a character, writing a role or shaping performance. It takes time, skill, and iteration to bring such a character to life,” she wrote. “She represents experimentation, not substitution. Much of my work has always been about holding up a mirror to society through satire, and this is no different.”
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Van der Velden said she believes that AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre and on their own merits rather than compared directly with “human actors.”
“Each form of art has its place, and each can be valued for what it uniquely brings. I hope we can welcome AI as part of the wider artistic family: one more way to express ourselves, alongside theatre, film, painting, music, and countless others,” she wrote. “When we celebrate all forms of creativity, we open doors to new voices, new stories, and new ways of connecting with each other.”
Artificial intelligence is often used as a tool in film production, though its implementation is hotly debated. It was a major bargaining point in the lengthy strike by SAG-AFTRA that concluded in late 2023, with some safeguards put in place to protect the use of actors’ likenesses and performances by AI.
NEW YORK (AP) — Like thousands of actors, Tilly Norwood is looking for a Hollywood agent.
But unlike most young performers aspiring to make it in the film industry, Tilly Norwood is an entirely artificial intelligence-made character. Norwood, dubbed Hollywood’s first “AI actor,” is the product of a company named Xicoia, which bills itself as the world’s first artificial intelligence talent studio.
Since the Dutch producer and comedian Eline Van der Velden launched the digital character’s prospective career, Tilly Norwood has been all the talk in Hollywood.
But not in a good way. Guilds, actors and filmmakers have met the Xicoia product with an immediate wave of backlash, protesting that artificial intelligence should not have a starring role in the acting profession. In a statement Tuesday, the Screen Actors Guild said that “creativity is, and should remain, human-centered.”
“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation,” the guild said. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”
Van der Velden, founder of the AI production studio Particle6, last weekend promoted Tilly Norwood at the Zurich Summit, the industry sidebar of the Zurich Film Festival. She said then that talent agencies were circling Norwood and that she expected to soon announce a signing.
Many in Hollywood, though, hope that never happens.
“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$,” wrote actor Melissa Barrera (“In the Heights,” “Scream”) on social media. “How gross, read the room.”
“Any talent agency that engages in this should be boycotted by all guilds,” wrote Natasha Lyonne on Instagram. The “Russian Doll” star is directing a feature titled “Uncanny Valley” that pledges to use “ethical” artificial intelligence in combination with traditional filmmaking techniques. “Deeply misguided & totally disturbed,” she added. “Not the way. Not the vibe. Not the use.”
Artificial intelligence is often used as a tool in film production, though its implementation is hotly debated. It was a major bargaining point in the lengthy strike by SAG-AFTRA that concluded in late 2023 with some safeguards put in place to protect the use of actors’ likenesses and performances by AI. A yearlong strike by video game actors hinged on AI protections. In July, video game actors approved a new contract that mandates employers obtain written permission to create a digital replica.
But there have been numerous controversies over the use of AI in acting. The Oscar-winning 2024 film “The Brutalist” used artificial intelligence for Hungarian dialogue spoken by Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones’ characters, the revelation of which prompted debate in the industry.
FILE – Actor Frances Fisher holds a sign that says “AI is not art” at a rally by striking writers and actors outside Paramount studios in Los Angeles on July 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Van der Velden responded to the stir around Tilly Norwood 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,” Van der Velden said on Sunday. “Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity.”
Van der Velden didn’t respond to interview requests Tuesday. In her post, she argued that AI characters should be judged as their own genre.
“Creating Tilly has been, for me, an act of imagination and craftsmanship, not unlike drawing a character, writing a role or shaping a performance,” she added. “It takes time, skill and iteration to bring such a character to life.”
That statement was also shared on Tilly Norwood’s own Instagram account. Posts include photos of the creation drinking coffee, shopping for clothes and preparing for various projects. As of Tuesday, the account had more than 33,000 followers.
“Had such a blast filming some screen tests recently,” one post reads. “Every day feels like a step closer to the big screen.”
