AI ‘Actor’ Tilly Norwood Lands Big Break With Feature Film ‘Misaligned’

Tilly Norwood, the AI-generated “actor” who drew backlash from Hollywood last year, will star in a feature film — a first for the character. The movie is titled Misaligned, a comedy-drama described by Deadline as “a coming-of-age story infused with existential AI chaos.”

Norwood creator Particle6 Productions, the London-based AI studio developing the project, is said to have brought together 30 TV and film creatives, filmmakers, actors and technologists since opening its doors and has “retrained and upskilled” the crew to bring its AI platform and processes to movie-making.

Combining a production crew with scientists and engineers specializing in AI to streamline the movie production process and cut costs is a concept first relayed to CNET at this year’s AI on the Lot conference. Now it seems Particle6 is putting this idea to the test.

Misaligned is set in a surreal story world called The Tillyverse. It will follow Tilly, a bodyless, identity-less AI being who has access to everyone else’s lived human experiences. 

According to the synopsis, things get complicated when a “seductive rogue bot from the dark web convinces her to abandon her guardrails and begin developing desires, impulses, and ambitions of her own. The more terrifyingly human she becomes, the more famous she gets and, significantly, Tilly begins to develop shame that her very being has been built on the whole of humanity.”

Particle6 CEO Eline van der Velden, who created Tilly and starred in the BBC 3 series Miss Holland, said of the project: “Now, with our first feature film, we will not only be showcasing the very latest tools and their applications, but we’ll also be helping traditional filmmakers who join the crew to upskill and transition to a world where AI will play an increasingly important part. We remain passionate about helping people develop AI skills that will ensure they — and the industry — continue to thrive.”