The future of believable characters
Since 2017, the Virtual Acting Studio has been exploring how rapid technological change reshapes character development, performance and the human experience.
The studio creates, researches, and questions how humans and technologies collaborate, what new possibilities emerge, and what ethical questions arise—moving between speculative fiction and lived reality.
Not a replacement for human performance, but an additional layer to it.
R & D
Connecting tech innovations to character development, the studio explores the future of human-character relationships. Discover the process of critically questioning and advancing new techniques. View R&D.
Creation
Developing characters to their ultimate believability provides vital insights into human psychology. Explore how the studio creates through a unique mix of human behavior, craft and technology. View Creation.
Education
We are only just beginning to see how tech-driven characters integrate into society and shape the human experience. Discover educational programs designed to critically navigate the technical possibilities, benefits and threats of this new future. View education programs.
A pioneering practice
The Virtual Acting Studio was founded by filmmaker, researcher and performer Cassandra de Klerck.
Emerging from a filmmaking practice rooted in storytelling, the studio was established as a space for exploration, experimentation, and new creative possibilities. At its core lies a fascination with creating believable characters that deeply move people and the impact they have the moment people identify with them.
The Virtual Acting Studio was born in 2017 during the development of a VR film. An early encounter with AI sparked a central question that still drives the studio today: what does ongoing technological advancement mean for character creation and the human experience?
Working directly with these emerging systems, Cassandra explores their creative potential and ethical tensions as they unfold. What began as a focus on actors performing within virtual worlds has gained an additional layer: the virtual itself has become performative, shaping how characters, presence and meaning emerge.
The studio’s ongoing pioneering journey is supported by partners including:
