Elle Fanning Says She Once Lost A Role In A Big Movie Franchise Because She Didn’t Have Enough Instagram Followers

Elle Fanning currently has over 6 million Instagram followers, but apparently, there was a time when her lack of followers cost her a role in a big movie. Elle revealed in a recent interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast that she lost out on a franchise gig because she didn’t have enough Instagram followers. Welp, fuck… tragically for us, it seems that TikTokers like Addison Rae are gonna be in a lot more movies going forward.

Elle has been in the game since she was a little girl and starred in big movies like Super 8 and Maleficent, but that wasn’t enough for one movie franchise. Elle tells Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz that she doesn’t feel pressure to star in the big-budget franchise vehicles that the business cranks out–but she does admit that being in those movies “does something” for an actor’s career. She added, “But you also don’t know if they’re going to work sometimes, which is scary.” Yeah, ask Zachary Levi how Shazam! is doing if you want to see a grown man cry. Elle auditioned for a role in a big franchise but was later told that they went with another actress and partly because of her lack of Instagram followers at the time. via Variety:

Fanning confirmed that she has auditioned for at least one big franchise movie. She revealed she lost out on a role because her social media wasn’t sufficient enough for the studio.

“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,” Fanning said. “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.”

Elle, who stars in Hulu’s The Great with Nicholas Hoult, went on to say that at least she didn’t have to go through what he went through when auditioning for The Batman.

Her co-star has been more vocal recently in discussing how he’s missed out on franchise films such as Top Gun: Maverick and Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Hoult lost the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman to Robert Pattinson.

“I would never say no to those things, but I would have to have a meeting and really talk to see what it is,” Fanning added about joining a franchise. “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.”

Here’s Elle talking more about the third season of her show and being not Instagram famous enough for Hollywood:

What a time in Hollywood when even the Nepo Babies are losing roles to actors who moonlight as influencers (or influencers who moonlight as actors)!

Pic: Abaca Press/INSTARimages