Addison Rae says she's had to work "much harder" than others to break into acting

28 July 2021, 13:20

Watch the first look at He's All That starring Addison Rae on Netflix

After playing the lead in Netflix's He's All That, Addison has two huge Hollywood movies lined up next.

Addison Rae believes she's had to "work that much harder" to break into acting as a TikTok star.

The 'Obsessed' singer recently starred in Netflix's He's All That, a remake of 1999 teen movie She's All That. The film sees Addison's main character, social media influencer Padgett Sawyer, turn an unpopular classmate into a desirable prom king.

One clip from the movie was shared on social media ahead of the release date and the reviews were, um, harsh. "Yeah I think it's time to cancel my subscription," one user wrote. And another commented: "How is this worse than what I've imagined and I had low expectations."

But those comments haven't had an affect on her acting career – which seems to be getting off to a flying start. Addison now has two big Hollywood movies lined up next.

Addison Rae says she&squot;s had to work "much harder" than others to break into acting… — Addison Rae says she's had to work "much harder" than others to break into acting…. Picture: @addisonraee via Instagram, Netflix

Since it was announced that Addison would be starring in the Netflix film, fans have wondered how she was able to land such a big role, with many believing it's because of her TikTok following. Addison is currently the fourth most-followed person on TikTok with 88.6 million followers.

In a 2021 interview with Elle, Addison revealed that making the transition from TikTok to acting hasn't actually been as easy as it looks. In fact, she's had to work harder because of it.

She told the publication: "In this industry, when you come in and get labeled as one thing... people like to keep you there. Which is understandable, and I get it, but what people don’t realize is I’ve always wanted to do acting, I’ve always wanted to do music. I’ve always wanted to do all these other things that they didn’t really get to see or know, because I just started being known when I was 19 years old.

"People haven’t really seen the background, or the classes I used to take and things like that. So I try to tell myself, ‘You have to work that much harder to get people to take you seriously.'"

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Contrary to popular belief, Addison actually trained hard for the role. She continued: "I was in acting classes probably three times a week, and doing personal coaching over Zoom as well as script analysis. [I tried to find] things I could relate to in my life and how I felt in that moment. The biggest part was being able to connect emotions and figure out exactly how I wanted to read a line or be in a scene.

"Delivery is the most important part. Even the day of, [before doing] a scene, I would call my acting coach Nancy, and she’d be like, ‘All right, what are you channeling today? What exactly is the mood you’re getting into? How are you going to feel? How are you delivering that line, and how is your character going through this event?’ Then I’d have to get myself in that space. I would sit in my trailer for a few hours before I’d go and do the scene and read my lines and then make sure I was mentally in that space."

Off the back of her Netflix leading role, Addison is now set to star in Eli Roth's upcoming horror thriller movie, Thanksgiving, alongside Patrick Dempsey, as well as Animal Friends, opposite Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa and Aubrey Plaza.