Hollywood is witnessing outrage among actors over a new “actress” entirely developed using artificial intelligence.

This virtual actress, named Tilly Norwood, was designed by the studio “Xicoia” with the declared ambition to make her “the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.”

Last week, the company’s founder, Ellen Van Der Velden, revealed that many agencies have started racing to sign the virtual actress.

This has reignited fears that AI might replace human artists, one of the main drivers of the mass strikes that paralyzed Hollywood in 2023.

Actors took to social media to express their opinions.

Melissa Barrera, star of the horror films “Scream” and “Scream 6,” wrote on Instagram: “I hope all actors signed with the agency behind this drop their services. What a horrifying thing!”

Mara Wilson, who plays “Matilda,” said: “Shame on them. They stole the faces of hundreds of young women to create this AI actress. They are not creators, but identity thieves.”

In a less harsh tone, Lucas Gage from the series “The White Lotus” accused his virtual counterpart of being “a nightmare to work with” because she “cannot find her place on set and is always late.”

This controversy forced Van Der Velden to respond, clarifying on Instagram that “Tilly Norwood is not a substitute for humans, but a creative work.”

She added: “Just as animation, puppetry, and special effects opened new horizons without diminishing live performance, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories.”

She believes AI-developed virtual actors “should be judged as part of their own artistic genre, based on their merits, rather than being directly compared to human actors.”