Ethan Hawke recently shared that a number of Hollywood studios and production companies are casting actors based on their number of Instagram followers.
Hawke discussed this practice in the wake of his daughter, Maya Hawke, who plays Robin Buckley in Stranger Things, previously bringing it up in an interview on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast.
While discussing how celebrity and acting has become blurred, Maya Hawke stated, “Also, how difficult it is to get things made. And it’s like, ‘I don’t care about Instagram. Instagram sucks.’ ‘Right, just so you know if you have over this many followers you can get the movie funded.’ Well, I want to make the movie so… It’s a really confusing line to walk.”
She added, “And I’ve talked to so many smart directors who tell me that they get a-. I’m talking about how I’m going to delete my Instagram and they’re like, ‘Just so you know when I’m casting a movie with some producers they hand me a sheet with the amount of collective followers that I have to get of the cast that I cast. So if you delete your Instagram and I lose those followers, understand that these are the kinds of people that I need to cast around you.’ It’s confusing.”
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Her father, Ethan Hawke, known for his role as Jake in Training Day and Arhur Harrow in Moon Knight affirmed this practice was occurring while speaking with the press during an appearance at the Berlin Film Festival.
As reported by Variety, Hawke said, “I really feel for these people. It’s really hard. Sometimes I’ll be setting a movie up and someone will say, ‘Oh, you should cast Suzie.’ I’m like, ‘Who is she?’ ‘She has 10 million followers.’ I’m like, ‘OK cool, has she acted before?’ ‘No, but…’ And you’re like, ‘Wow, so this is going to help me get the movie made? This is crazy.'”
He added, “So if I don’t have this public-facing [platform], I don’t have a career? And if I get more followers I might get that part? What?”
What do you make of Hawke’s comments?
Not surprisingly in the least. The swamp that really needs draining is on west coast, just a little above San Diego….
That explains why movies suck—putting Instagram stars in the movies.