In almost two years’ time, Addison Rae has seen a meteoric rise in the entertainment industry. She’s a 20-year-old TikTok star at heart but has dipped her toes into reality TV, late night talks shows and the music industry. Now, she's even has her very first film role under her belt in the She’s All That remake. If that doesn’t sound exhausting enough for one so young, Rae’s apparent preparation for her first acting gig will do the trick.
Though she has had a busy (and sometimes controversial) past few years, Addison Rae didn’t have much official acting training or experience to speak of for her role in the remake of She’s All That. In fact, Rae was going to college at Louisiana State University for sports broadcasting before she dropped out to pursue the call of TikTok fandom. But apparently, the social media star put in the work to ensure her performance went smoothly. While speaking to Variety, Rae revealed exactly what she did to prepare for the role:
I was taking [acting] classes probably seven days a week before the film started and [spending] like hours and hours a day doing script analysis. I definitely made sure to take it seriously. … I’m a little nervous but I did my very best and that’s all I can do.
We commend Addison Rae for taking a film part seriously, because it is a far cry from a performance on TikTok or just showing up for drama and antics on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Her character is supposedly a social media influencer, so at the very least, she didn’t need much preparation for that. Hopefully, the acting proof will be in the pudding, so to speak, when the She’s All That remake premieres on Netflix in a few months.
For those unaware, the remake is actually a twist on the original story. Officially titled He’s All That, it will show a teenage girl’s perspective (rather than that of a young male). So in effect, Addison Rae is taking on Freddie Prinze Jr.’s original role as the popular student who will makeover the school nerd for prom. True to the gender swap premise, actor Tanner Buchanan (of Designated Survivor and Cobra Kai fame) will be the nerd that Rae transforms. Rae claims it was “modernized in the best way,” while Buchanan said:
Everyone who is a fan of the original are going to love and anybody not familiar with the original are going to love it as well.
Only a few He’s All That images and teasers have emerged, so it’s not clear as of yet how different the film actually be from the original. As we’d expect after two decades apart, the remake certainly has a more crisp and sleek look to it. But the original She’s All That film garnered a cult-like following over the years, and that isn’t something you can just emulate. Netflix seems to be banking on the power of social media influencers to solidify projects as smash hits, though.
Hopefully, for Addison Rae’s sake, viral sensations from social media can easily transition to performers with bonafide acting chops. He’s All That premieres on Netflix on Aug. 27.
