One of the most interesting aspects from Caroline Golum’s article is her observations of figures on social media platform’s rise in mainstream media. Golum comments on Addison Rae’s acting debut in the 2021 film “He’s All That”, a reimagining of the 1999 film “She’s All That”. While this is the most widely recognized transition from influencer to actor, it is not an isolated incident.
Many YouTubers have made the transition from their original platform to the big screen, especially when it comes to performers in the musical theatre space. Too big examples from the past year are Maria Rose Faith Casillas and Rachel Zegler. Both women began their careers by posting musical theatre covers online and mad the transition to Broadway and film. One could argue that Youtube better matches the film format. Videos are often filmed scene by scene and edited to portray a certain tone. In both this case and in the case of TikTok, the comedy in these videos is dependent on editing.
Great point! Social media does seem to be an emerging way of discovering new talent. Your post got me thinking of the success of the transitions for these stars. Addison Rae’s transition seems to have been far less well received than that of Rachel Zegler. Whilst I definitely think this could in part be because the YouTube format is more similar to film than TikTok, I personally think the transition has not been as smooth for her as she is going from dancing on TikTok to being a comedic actress on screen (whilst Zegler is going from singing musical covers to staring in a musical).