It’s hard to imagine the amount of struggles and hardships people have had to undergo in the past in order to gain fame and success without the presence of social media. That’s not to undermine the hard work the new generation of celebrities put into their jobs in any way. It’s simply stating the obvious: that with the access of the internet and social media and the culture of internet celebrity, it’s lot easier to make your dreams come true with the help of a massive online community or following.
Many of the social media influencers have taken advantage of this sensation and shot their shot in the film industry. It doesn’t always work in their favour, nor are they exceptionally good at it, but at least they’re laying out their options and expanding the branches of their work. Here are 8 influencers who have tried the acting path.
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8 King Bach
Andrew Byron Bachelor, better known as King Bach, was once the most followed person on the now non-existent app called Vine. His humour and six seconds long content helped bring the attention of then 11.3 million people. It was only a matter of time until he would take the opportunity and use his wit to act professionally. Although he made his small acting debut in a popular American TV show Black Jesus (2014), many were surprised to see him there and called his performance corny. But isn’t that exactly what he’s internet-famous for? His later 2016 comedy movies Meet The Blacks and Fifty Shades of Black have proved that he never fails to make people laugh. The biggest role of his acting career came with the release of the horror-comedy Babysitter (2017), which has received mixed reviews.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
7 Noah Beck
In contrast with King Bach, Beck has risen to fame only recently, after the COVID pandemic had already started. After starting a Tiktok account mostly dancing to different songs, it took him only a month to go viral and to gain milllions of followers. Surprisingly, Beck had some small acting roles before he had made a name for himself as a popular Tiktoker. Although he started taking acting lessons only in 2021, he had appeared in little-known short comedies such as Meet Nancy Wu in 2017 and Back to the Feature in 2018.
6 Liza Koshy
Vine is certainly a website that has started and helped build careers for an abundance of people. Liza Koshy is one of those who took a leap to stardom through Vine and Youtube respectively, by making creative funny content and gaining over 17 millions subscribers thanks to that. She made her acting debut in 2016 starring in Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween and later transported her audience to another world with her performance in a Hulu drama series Freakish. She has challenged her skills by producing and starring in a Youtube Premium show Liza on Demand where she plays an ambitious funny character identical to herself. What eventually earned her an Emmy nomination was her hosting in Double Dare.
5 Grace Helbig
Helbig started her Youtube channel back in 2007 just because she was experiencing boredom during a house-sitting job. Just like most of the Youtubers of older generation, she didn’t expect to blow up and gain so many subscribers. She has always taken interest in acting as she took improv classes back in New York. It was no surprise that her acting debut followed sort of naturally in a movie called Camp Dakota (2014) which she co-produced. For many millenials, this movie had become a significant part of their twenties thanks to its iconic trio. Two years later, Helbig joined her friends Hannah and Mamrie Hart in a comedy Dirty 30 where they showcased their quippy personalities. Helbig’s getting work even as of recent being the voice of Cindy Bear in the animated series Jellystone!.
4 Ryan Higa
Ryan Higa has a lot of Youtube firsts under his sleeve thanks to the popularity of his comedy videos in the early days of Youtube. Not only he was the most subscribed to creator from 2009 to 2011, he was also the first person on Youtube to hit 2 and 3 million subscribers. One could argue that he starred in the first Youtube movie ever made - Ryan and Sean’s Not So Excellent Adventure (2008), playing a Youtuber casted for a movie by a struggling director. Due to his comedic personality, many were shocked to see him star in a horror movie Tell Me How I Die (2016). As of recent, he has appeared in Netflix’s Finding Ohana (2021), riding a horse.
3 Baby Ariel
Ariel Martin rose to mainstream popularity back when Tiktok was still known as musical.ly. Her impact on the social platform was so strong that in 2017, she was named as one of the most influental people on the Interne by TIME. This Florida content creator went on to star and produce her own YouTube series called Baby Doll Records (2018). A year later, Nickeldeon announced her role in an upcoming sleuthing comedy Bixler High Private Eye. But, her biggest role as of yet is her werewolf character Wynter in a Disney movie Zombies 2 (2019).
2 Loren Gray
For most of her career, Gray has focused on her social media presence by making musical.ly videos, now Tiktok ones, making her the 11th most followed content creator on this platform. She has followed the common trajectory for social media influencers by getting into music and recently branching out into the film industry. In an animated movie 100% Wolf (2020), about Freddy Lupin who instead of turning into a werewolf turns into a fluffy poodle, she dubs the character of Twitchy. She has also secured herself a small role of Cleme Crane in a thriller called No Running (2021).
1 Addison Rae
Addison Rae has collected 81 million followers and counting for herself on the Tiktok platform thanks to her dancing videos. She is the fourth most followed content creator on this app. Before she had decided to make her acting debut with her own face, she lent her voice to an animated cat character Rosalinde in a 2018 movie Spy Cat. What really made her the talk of the town, was her acting debut in the 2021 gender-swapped remake He’s All That. The project has received mixed reactions from the audience; one side calling it a cringey attempt at acting and the other showing their support. The movie has a rating score of mere 31% on Rotten Tomatoes.
