We discuss 10 TikTok Influencers Who Have Landed Movie Roles. After the rise of the social media platform, we deep dive into the influencers who tried out new careers.
TikTok is the latest online platform to have given rise to a group of influencers. Following in the footsteps of YouTube and Instagram, the social media app has catapulted people of all kinds to fame based on a variety of types of content. We’re now seeing some of those “TikTokers” make their way to Hollywood to star in films, some of which are better than others.
Some people have criticized TikTok influencers being given the opportunity to join films over other actor hopefuls, but it’s important to keep in mind that not every social media influencer who makes it to Hollywood is doing so entirely off of their viral videos. There are many trained aspiring actors, including acting students, who are working to leverage their TikTok platforms that they’ve gained off of their creativity and talent to help them make it in a competitive business. Some use it to help pay their bills while they pursue a career in the arts.
Regardless of how you feel about their usual online content, each of these influencers-turned-actors has gotten the industry’s attention by building a platform on a new and exciting app.
10 TikTok Influencers Who Have Landed Movie Roles
Charli D’Amelio
Charli D’Amelio is largely considered the most famous TikToker. With a background as a competitive dancer, she started posting dancing videos in 2019 which frequently trended. She now has over 148 million followers on the app. She has released two books, a makeup line, and a clothing line, amongst other endeavors since rising to fame. She and her sister have starred in the Hulu docuseries The D’Amelio Show and the reality show Charl v. Dixie, and she participated in Dancing with the Stars in 2022.
D’Amelio made her film debut in StarDog and TurboCat, an animated feature in which she voiced a character called Tinker. Nick Frost, Luke Evans, Gemma Arterton, and Bill Nighy were also in the voice cast. The film received mixed reviews and has a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Addison Rae
One of the most well-known names amongst TikTokers is certainly Addison Rae. The 22-year-old shot to fame for her dancing videos on TikTok, which she started posting in July of 2019. She is one of the most followed people on the app, clocking in at over 88 million followers. In 2021, she released her first single “Obsessed,” which did not receive positive reviews.
Rae made the jump to film with her acting debut in Netflix original film He’s All That, which was released in August of 2021. The film is a gender-swapped remake of the 1999 film She’s All That and was directed by Mark Waters, known for Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. The film has a 30% score on Rotten Tomatoes with a 23% audience score.
Loren Gray
Loren Gray started out her online career on the app Musical.ly in 2015 and made the transition when it became TikTok. The 20-year-old from Pennsylvania has achieved impressive success, including a record deal with Virgin Records for her music career and a role in Taylor Swift’s music video for “The Man.” She has over 54 million followers on TikTok.
While mostly focused on her music career, Gray has appeared in two films. She had a cameo role in the 2021 film No Running and provided the voiceover for Twitchy in the English person of the 2020 cartoon 100% Wolf.
Ariel Martin
Ariel Martin, who also goes by the name Baby Ariel, also got her start on Musical.ly in 2015. Now the Floridian has over 36 million followers on TikTok and has been in several movies. In addition to releasing music, Ariel has had guest roles in the Nickelodeon show Henry Danger and Netflix show Family Reunion.
After playing a role on an episode of Bizaardvark on the Disney Channel, she landed a role in the DCOM Zombies 2. She returned to play the werewolf Wynter Barkowitz in Zombies 3 as well. The sequel film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the third film has a 75%.
Jack Martin
Jack Martin is a great example of a TikToker-turned-actor who has all the right credentials for a film career. The Maryland native graduated from Georgetown University in December 2019 and also took summer courses at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and NYU Tisch’s School of the Arts. He was contacted by his manager after gaining popularity on TikTok, on which he posts funny skit videos and more personal content. He currently has over 800,000 followers on the platform, as well as posting to his Instagram and YouTube channel.
He has had a starring role on NBC’s show La Brea. The sci-fi drama may only have a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it did get a second season.
Anania Williams
22-year-old Anania Williams is a recent graduate of Emerson College, with a major in musical theater. Williams, who uses he/they pronouns, began posting videos to TikTok in 2020 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. However, he has expanded his content far beyond that, amassing over two million followers.
Their first film role was in the Oscar-nominated film Don’t Look Up, directed by Adam McKay. He shared a scene with Jennifer Lawrence and Timothée Chalamet, wearing the same iconic yellow beanie seen in his TikTok videos. It’s an auspicious start to what will hopefully be a fruitful entertainment career.
Cole Chase Hudson
Cole Chase Hudson, or as he’s sometimes known Huddy, shot to popularity on TikTok and became known as a co-founder of the TikTok Hype House. The California native currently has over 32 million subscribers on the app and has also used it to launch a music career. He is credited as having helped launch the 2020s pop punk revival.
He starred in the short film adaptation of Machine Gun Kelly’s Ticket to My Downfall album alongside Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney. The video has over 29 million views on YouTube. He also played a large role in the Netflix reality series Hype House.
Johnny Berchtold
Johnny Berchtold has built a TikTok following of almost 400,000 followers making videos parodying movie scenes and characters. The 27-year-old attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia before breaking into the industry. He may have already been in the film business when he started making TikToks, but it’s certainly helped his reach.
He played Quinn in the 2020 Amazon Prime drama The Wilds and Jay Jennings in the 2022 mini-series Gaslit which starred Julia Roberts and Dan Stevens. He also will appear in the upcoming Netflix film Dog Gone with Rob Lowe and the TV movie The Passenger.
Cameron Dallas
28-year-old Cameron Dallas first found popularity on Vine and YouTube before switching over to TikTok, where he now has 17.5 million followers. In addition to a Netflix reality show Chasing Cameron, and briefly playing the role of Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls on Broadway in 2020, he has also released an album. Dallas notably was arrested and charged with assault during an incident in December of 2018.
He has been a part of three films, including doing the English voiceover dub for a character in the Chinese animated film The Frog Kingdom. He also appeared in the 2014 teen comedy Expelled and the 2015 sports comedy The Outfitted. It’s unclear if he plans to return to acting.
Eric Montanez
Another TikToker who began posting videos in 2019 is San Diego native Eric Montanez. He starred in 18 episodes of Brat TV’s Attaway General from 2020 to 2021, but unfortunately, the series didn’t do well critically. Fortunately, Montanez is still doing well on TikTok, with almost 3 million followers.
Do you know of any other TikTok Influencers who have landed movie roles? Do you know TikTok influencers you’d like to see in a movie? Let us know!
