LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Elle Fanning, 25, who has been a part of the Disney ‘Maleficent’ franchise, says that she has lost out on a big franchise role as she did not have enough social media followers. 'The Great’ actress said she was told that she “didn’t have enough Instagram followers at the time.”
During her recent appearance on ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast, when she was asked whether she felt any pressure to become a part of a big franchise, her reply was negative. Fanning said, “I don’t feel that [pressure]. I don’t.” However, she added that while joining a large franchise like ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Marvel’ may boost other actors’ careers, there is not always a guarantee. “But you also don’t know if they’re going to work sometimes, which is scary,” the star said.
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Elle Fanning was denied role by a major franchise
In the podcast, she further added that while she did audition for a role in a big franchise once, she did not land the role because of her low count of followers on Instagram then. “I did try out for…I’m not going to say what it was, but 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,” said the ‘Mary Shelley’ actress before continuing, “So that was a little like…I firmly don’t believe in not getting a part [for that]. It was for a bigger thing, a franchise thing.”
‘Teen Spirit’ star then continued, “I would never say no to those things, but I would have to have a meeting and really talk to see what it is.” While referring to her ‘The Great’ co-star Nicholas Hoult’s missing out on the Batman role to Robert Pattinson, Fanning said, “I didn’t have to go through what Nick did…they made him try the [Batman] suit on. You need a balance. If you want to do your indie work, especially in producing now…[having a big franchise] does make you breathe better.”
'I am not watching this!'
Fanning hilariously shared her experience of losing out on a ‘Friends’ role to her elder sister, ‘I Am Sam’ actress Dakota, 29, in an interview with PorterEdit. “I might be remembering this wrong but I think I was gonna be one of Phoebe’s triplets,” said the ‘We Bought A Zoo’ actress before adding, “I auditioned for it but I didn’t get it and I was like, ‘I’m boycotting the show, I’m never watching this again',” reports People.
However, her misfortune didn’t just end with not getting selected for the role, as it was revealed later that the role that she missed was later played by none other than her elder sister. Fanning said, “Then my sister was on it and I refused to watch the episode,” before adding “I was like, ‘I am not watching this!'”
'Talent means nothing followers mean everything'
As Elle Fanning made the big revelation, her fans started with their detective work. While one fan commented, "UH-OH SOPHIE" with a snapshot of what seems to be an interview piece of Sophie Turner where she says she landed a role because of her huge social media following, another commented, "Oh she was FOR SURE talking about dark phoenix. Elle dodged a bullet." However, another fan opined that it was Saoirse Ronan, "No, it was Saoirse Ronan." The third hypothesized, "It was Bumblebee, the Transformers spinoff, in case anyone’s wondering."
"That makes sense why she got so excited when Selena Gomez posted her on her insta," commented another fan. Someone else wrote a lengthy discourse to speak about their disdain for the trend, "This insistence of equating large numbers of social media followers with increased opportunities in the artistic field will lead to the slow decline in the mediums of film, theatre, music, and all forms of mainstream art as we currently know it..." Another fan said, "I guess I kind of get it. Obviously, it’s not fair but films will cast popular well-known actors over smaller actors because they know they’ll get a profit (hypothetically)." "To sum it up - Talent means nothing Followers mean everything," said another.
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