How Liza Koshy Diversified Her Social Media To Crossover As A Versatile Actress
Liza Koshy initially started to create social media content in the pioneering short-form video social platform Vine, where she was one of the first major stars during its first year in 2013. Once the platform sang its swan song in January 2017, Koshy’s comedic videos had the watchful eye of over seven million followers.
As the end of Vine was known since October 2016, Liza had already started her channel on a different video-sharing platform, YouTube. Just a month later, after the announcement, she achieved a major milestone on YouTube by interviewing President Barack Obama shortly before the 2016 presidential election with the aim of encouraging voter registration activity. Later, she became the fastest YouTube personality to reach 10 million channel subscribers.
Despite all of her social media success, as she has millions of followers on other platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, too, Koshy decided to pause creating new video content in 2018 to focus on becoming a full-time actor. Koshy had already been pursuing acting since 2016, when she starred as Violet Adams in Hulu's horror television series Freakish for both its two seasons. In 2018, she co-produced and starred in an original sitcom series on the YouTube platform, Liza on Demand, which ran for three seasons and really established her in the public eye as an actress, too.
Since then, Koshy has proven to be a true crossover success in various genres and types of acting, including voice credits, e.g., as the Autobot Arcee in the 2023 live-action blockbuster Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. 2025 was particularly successful as an actress for Liza Koshy, as she appeared in the most-watched original title in Netflix history, the 2025 animated musical KPop Demon Hunters, and starred in the action comedy The Naked Gun.
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How Addison Rae Used Her Content Creator Background To Launch Her Acting Career
Addison Rae was a competitive dancer from a young age, so when the social media platform TikTok took the United States by storm and became the most downloaded mobile app in the country in October 2018, the Louisiana native made what turned out to be the key decision: signing up in July 2019. As she created content by putting her skills on back then mostly dance-focused content platform back then, Rae quickly gained huge popularity and in only a few months hit the milestone of one million TikTok followers.
As Addison started to pursue a full-time career within the entertainment industry, she also set her sights on the acting field. Just about a year after becoming a social media star, Rae was cast for her very first movie role. The main role in the streaming platform Netflix’s teen romantic comedy He’s All That was a match made in heaven for the TikTok superstar, as her character Padgett Sawyer was also a social media influencer. As the film ended up being Netflix's top release of the week after it came out at the end of August 2021, Addison Rae’s stock went up even higher at every venture she has pursued.
Since then, TikTok star-turned-actress has starred in the 2023 slasher horror film Thanksgiving as Gaby, as well as the 2025 third season of Netflix’s true crime drama anthology series Monster. In Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Rae portrayed real-life teen Everlyn Hartley, who mysteriously disappeared in 1953. In 2026, Addison is set to appear in the comedy Animal Friends, which features an ensemble cast including Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza, Vince Vaughn, and more.
How Issa Rae Used Shot Form Video Content To Give Acting Role To Herself
Issa Rae did get her start in the entertainment industry as a short-form content creator on the social video-sharing platform YouTube. Yet at the same time, Rae did not gradually transition from creating social media influencer-style content to becoming an actress - instead, she made her acting aspirations more than obvious from the very get-go.
As Issa started acting during her high school years, she continued to explore her talents while studying at Stanford University by not only giving performances but also writing and directing, including creating a mock reality series, Dorm Diaries, as a fun pastime for herself and her peers. After college, she continued to pursue various acting opportunities in New York City, yet it was not a smooth ride, and she considered different fields of career instead.
Around the same time, Issa Rae also went on with her idea for a comedy series, The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, which she based on her own life’s experiences. While originally envisioned as an animated series, budget constraints forced it to be live-action and the creator herself playing the main role a J. The independently produced 5-minute episode series became a YouTube phenomenon, gaining over 20 million views and over 200,000 subscribers to its channel on the platform, as well as co-signs from show business stars such as Pharrell Williams.
The unprecedented success of an unknown artist being able to create their own original series on social media certainly caught the eye for Issa Rae’s talents, as she ended up signing a deal with HBO to produce her Emmy-nominated comedy drama series Insecure, which aired for five seasons from 2016 to 2021. Rae herself has also gone to appeared in both critically and commercially acclaimed films, including Barbie and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, as well as its sequel, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which is set to release in 2027.
