Going from influencer to actor is a big change. The expectations and audience are completely different than what they are used to. Now, I do not want to sound harsh but no one deserves a role. People work hard and earn it through dedication and practice. If the influencer was as skilled as their experienced co-stars it would be a different story, however, most of the time this is not the case.

Reading the title, your mind is probably going straight to the “He’s All That” Netflix movie featuring Addison Rae, or maybe “Attaway General,” which has even more TikTok-famous influencers such as Dixie D’Amelio and Diego Martir. Regardless of if you’ve watched it (or tried to), you probably have an opinion about social media influencers getting lead roles in TV shows or movies.

Many people have mixed feelings about their appearances on the TV screens. On one side, many people are excited about seeing their favorite content creators appear on a different platform. This would increase viewership since the fans, and the people who normally watch those genres of movies, are going to see it. Many people also watch just to see how good or bad it is going to be. That’s one of the reasons why I watched “He’s All That,” to see how Rae’s acting would hold up compared to the many familiar faces I saw next to her. I was hoping it wasn’t going to be as bad as people were predicting. Being honest, the beginning to middle was not as bad as I expected. However, the ending was too cheesy for me, and the acting only got worse.

On the other hand, many people are upset about how many social media stars are handed these big roles. The quality of the show just is not the same when it is being led by TikTokers. Many people go to school for acting and have done smaller performances while growing up. Influencers, in most cases, have not gone to school for acting or have had any smaller roles in the past.

People are also upset because their favorite shows, like “Sense8,” “The Society” and “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” are being cancelled while Netflix is planning to put out shows led by TikTokers. There has even been a petition to cancel Netflix’s reality show “The Hype House” with over 22,500 signatures.

Taking these roles are good opportunities for these social media influencers to branch out and try new things, in addition to reaching a new audience in a new way. On the flip side, this could be a bad thing because of all the negative backlash they receive from it.

I admit, it can be entertaining to watch these types of shows/movies with friends to laugh together at the awkward scenes and the bad acting. In the end, however, it is still cringey and bad.

I personally believe that these influencers do not deserve these roles, and if they are still given them, they have to be able to prove that they can take on the big role.