Why Tilly Norwood Made Me Rethink My Acting Career

Last week, our Romeo & Juliet production premiered at Folkteatern. That first night reminded me why theatre exists at all — the moment when, after months of rehearsal. The audience finally enters and breathes life into our imagined world.

During that same week, my feed filled with headlines about an “AI actress” named Tilly Norwood. A digital creation developed by Xicoia, the AI division of Particle6 Group, in 2025. Her photos appeaed online as if she were a real, upcoming London-based performer. Within hours, social media was filled with a wave of anxiety among actors and filmmakers. I even attended a BBC interview discussing the topic with fellow filmmakers.

The overall question seemed to be: Will AI actors take over the industry?

But to me, the more important question is: What does this force us to rethink about acting itself? In this article, I will talk about the jobs I have lost to AI. What the craft of acting really is about, at its core. And how I believe AI filmmaking will create a new genre for itself.

History Repeats — Technology Evolves

Every generation faces a moment when technology feels like an existential threat.

When cinema turned from analog to digital in the 1990s. Filmmakers feared that the texture of film — the grain, the imperfection, the ritual of splicing reels — would disappear forever. In music, the move from vinyl to streaming made musicians fear the death of the album as an art form.

Yet both industries survived, resstructured. And artists adapted.

Even theatre, which prides itself on tradition, has evolved through microphones, sound design, projection mapping, and virtual scenography. Each new invention was met with the same worry: “This will destroy the art.”

The difference now is that AI can imitate human expression, not just record or project it.

What Makes Acting Unique (and Hard to Replicate)

Acting, to me, isn’t about pretending on the surface. It’s about exploring intuition and expressing what emerges through the body.

The performances that resonate most deeply with audiences. Always come from alignment between my inner life and the character’s experience. That exchange is what creates empathy and connection.

This isn’t just a feeling — it’s been studied. Psychologists Rachel Henderson and Liane Gabora (2013). Found that audiences can reliably detect when performances are authentic versus imitative.

Similarly, media scholar Gunn Enli, in Mediated Authenticity. Describes how audiences have an implicit “contract” with performers. They accept a performance as real only if it feels vulnerable, imperfect, and emotionally honest.

Anyone who has performed infront of a live audience knows this. And each night is different. Depending on the performers ability to connect and the audiences ability to perceive.

AI can replicate tone, rhythm, even micro-expressions. What it cannot replicate is the lived experience — the decision to risk vulnerability in front of another human being.

The Voice Actor Paradox: Loss and Gain

I’m quite sure I’ve already lost work to AI — especially the repetitive voiceover jobs: telephone systems, technical manuals, e-learning modules. Those gigs are gone. AI voices are cheaper, scalable, and “good enough.”

But paradoxically, the more AI fills that space. The more valuable authentic imperfection becomes. Clients I talk to, now seek what synthetic voices can’t deliver — breath, hesitation, emotional unpredictability. The warmth of a human mistake.

This has changed the market. My overall income from voiceovers may have dipped, but the jobs I do get are much more creative. And — honestly — more fulfilling.

AI has commodified imitation. And in doing so, it’s making authenticity into a luxury good.

Using AI Without Losing the Core

Personally, I don’t see AI as an enemy. I see it as a collaborator — an assistant that helps me focus on the part of my craft that matters most.

Here are some ways I use it:

• To review self-tapes (highlight pacing or emotional beats I might miss.)
• To research historical and character context.
• To get dramaturgical feedback on my choices.
• To structure writing projects and even negotiate contracts.

It’s not replacing my instincts; it’s clearing space for them. AI takes over the analytical parts. Leaving me freer to make intuitive decisions — and ultimately, intuition is where all creativity begins.

Philosopher Marshall McLuhan once wrote, “Every new medium both extends and amputates human capacity.” And this is exactly what AI does. It takes over the technical surface-level labor. And thereby forces us to dig deeper into what can’t be automated.

A New Genre of Storytelling

Just as animation, CGI, and motion capture once redefined cinema. I believe AI-generated storytelling will become a new genre in its own right.

We’ll likely see two kinds of audiences emerge: One that enjoys AI-generated entertainment for its aesthetics, speed, and spectacle. And another that seeks out human performances. Precisely because they know they’re human.

Walter Benjamin wrote about “the aura” of original art — the presence that vanishes in mechanical reproduction. That same aura exists in acting: the unrepeatable moment when a living person risks something in front of an audience.

That’s why I believe we will see a new golden age for the theatre. And live performances in general.

Redefining Authenticity in the Age of AI

Should actors be worried? I dont think so. Not if we understand what our job actually is.

Once again. Acting at its highest level isn’t about mimicry; it’s about presence, risk, and relationality.

Great actors put their hearts on the silver plate — not their looks, not their technical precision, but their vulnerability.

As AI grows, the demand for real human experience will grow in parallell. Because the need for authenticity and connection is a basic human need.

Conclusion: A Creative Turning Point

Tilly Norwood won’t replace us. But she might remind us what acting was always meant to be — an act of being, not pretending.

The future will likely demand more from actors, not less: More truth, more presence, more humanity.

And that’s a challenge I´m eager to pursue.