Joseph Gordon-Levitt posted an Instagram video on 30 September rejecting the idea that Tilly Norwood, the AI-generated "actress" built by Eline Van der Velden's studio Particle 6, can be called a performer at all.
In the clip he argued that AI is not a new kind of being but software that recombines work made by people, from films and songs to everything posted online, gathered without permission or payment. Acting needs an actor, he said; what Particle 6 sells is a made character, comparable to Donald Duck, whom nobody calls an actor and whom audiences credit to the animators, writers and voice actors behind him.
Norwood has drawn criticism from Whoopi Goldberg, Sophie Turner and Toni Collette, while Van der Velden calls the project a new creative tool, an experiment rather than a replacement for people. SAG-AFTRA answered the controversy with new guidelines covering synthetic performers.
The video extends Gordon-Levitt's campaigning. He co-founded the Creators Coalition on AI with Natasha Lyonne and Daniel Kwan in December 2025, became a UN advocate on digital governance in March, and says his target is how companies use the technology rather than the technology itself.
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