TikToker and He's All That star Addison Rae signs multi-movie deal with Netflix
Rae recently played an influencer in the streamer's modernized take on She's All That
For fresh proof that we are living in the worst timeline possible: Netflix has given TikTok star Addison Rae a big ‘ol movie deal. The influencer recently starred in the streamer’s gender-swapped She’s All That (1999) remake—the teen rom-com He’s All That.
“Getting the opportunity to work with Netflix was such a pinch me moment and now to be able to continue the relationship is beyond my wildest dreams,” Rae says. “I’m thrilled to be able to collaborate with this incredible team and am excited to develop projects while continuing to strengthen my skills as an actress.”
In He’s All That, Rae plays a social media influencer who tries to transform the school outcast (played by Tanner Buchanan) into the prom king. If you know anything about the original, she ends up falling for the boy she’s spends the majority of the film trying to change and then teams up with him for a rendition of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” Maybe in her future movies, they’ll bump up the budget so that Rae’s arms does not disappear when she’s delivering her TikTok dance moves (many viewers have pointed out that her arm seems to vanish into the background for a moment during her song number).
And, of course, Rae’s take on the ‘90s classic really didn’t live up to original. “He’s All That offers nothing beyond buzzwords, empty platitudes, and sponcon. While the original She’s All That is hardly a masterpiece of teen rom-com filmmaking, it has a goofy guilelessness that helps it go down easy,” Caroline Siede wrote in The A.V. Club’s review of Rae’s debut film. “He’s All That, by comparison, is painfully strained, with flatly overexposed cinematography, choppy editing, and stiff performances. Though Rae has the presence of someone who knows how to be affable on camera, she’s incapable of the sort of emotional vulnerability that’s needed to anchor a romantic comedy.”
The 20-year-old currently has more than 84 million TikTok followers, making her the third most popular person on the platform behind Charli D’Amelio and Khabane Lame. However, producers Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay want everyone to know that Rae did not just have the role for He’s All That handed to her, and she even—gasp—auditioned twice for her big movie role. “She did the work,” Panay says.
Still, it’s a little disconcerting to know that Netflix will continue its current path of bombarding us with quickly made, low quality content as Netflix prepares to give Rae what we’re calling “The Kissing Booth treatment.”