Some Hollywood Studios Are Casting Big Franchise Films Based on Actors Social Media Numbers Instead of Talent

Actress Elle Fanning (The Great, Maleficent, The Neon Demon, Super 8) recently offered some fascinating yet disheartening insight into how some major Hollywood studios are casting for their big franchise films. During a recent interview in the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Fanning revealed that she didn’t land a role in an unnamed franchise movie because her Instagram following count wasn’t big enough for the studio’s taste.

The actress explained: “I didn’t get a part once for something big because – it might not have just been this reason, but this was the feedback that I heard – was because I didn’t have enough Instagram followers at the time.” Fanning currently sits at 6.2 million followers.

Fanning added, “That’s something I firmly don’t believe in, for not getting a part.” She goes on to say that she isn’t under pressure to join these big franchise movies saying: “I don’t feel that way. I don’t. It does something for people, you know, but you also don’t know if they’re gonna work sometimes, which is also scary.”

I just have to say that it’s absolutely ridiculous that some studios are casting actors based on their social media follower count instead of their talents and what they can bring to the character that they are auditioning for. Fanning is an incredibly talented actress, and the fact she was passed on for a role because of that is just insane to me!

It makes me wonder how many other talented actors are passed up on due to their social media numbers. This is obviously a thing that Studios are doing and now there’s another thing on the list that I hate about Hollywood. Cast for talent, not social media followers!