Expanding Characters and Performance
Since 2017, The Virtual Acting Studio has explored how rapid technological change is reshaping the field of character and performance.
The studio researches, creates, shapes, and questions character and performance across human, virtual, and AI-driven systems. Through this practice, it explores how presence and emotion are created, experienced, and understood—moving between speculative fiction and lived reality.
Not a replacement for human performance, but an additional layer within it.
R & D
Creation
Education
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 and performance, the studio was established as a space for exploration, experimentation, and the development of new creative possibilities. At its core lies a fascination with creating believable characters that move people.
The Virtual Acting Studio emerged from curiosity and imagination—and from an encounter with AI during the development of a new VR film in 2017. This encounter with emerging technologies and their possibilities raised a central question: what does ongoing technological development mean for the craft of character creation and performance?
Working with these emerging systems, Cassandra began exploring their creative potential and ethical tensions as they unfolded in practice. This approach continues to shape the work, moving between what is familiar and what is still uncertain, and between fiction and lived reality.
What began as a focus on actors performing in virtual worlds has gradually shifted: the virtual itself has become performative—shaping how characters, presence, and meaning emerge.
From the start of the studio collaboration has been central to its practice
This takes shape through engagements with technological innovation, often with startups and tech companies exploring emerging technologies and their creative potential. It also extends into research and innovation labs, educational institutions, and artistic practices.
Operating within a hybrid field, the studio connects multiple disciplines that continuously inform and reshape one another. It is structured for agility and responsiveness, allowing for rapid adaptation to ongoing technological and cultural change. Within this framework, Cassandra remains open to exploring new and relevant collaborations.
The logos above represent organisations, initiatives, and funders that have played a crucial role in the development of the studio across technological, creative, and financial contexts.