TikTok star Addison Rae: ‘Give me a chance to show myself as an actress’

For her 16th birthday, Addison Rae was gifted a trip to Los Angeles. The producer then put a package together for Bill Block, chief executive of Miramax — the company in charge of the “He’s All That” remake — highlighting Rae’s social media statistics. To get the best performance out of Rae, Gibgot decided to go with a director who has a track record with young performers: Mark Waters, who “got the performance out of Lindsay Lohan in ‘Freaky Friday’ and gave Rachel McAdams her first big role in ‘Mean Girls.’” After being offered the gig, Waters downloaded TikTok and began binge-watching Rae’s videos. “People have a lot to say about ‘Did she work for it, does she deserve it, does she even like to act?’” she says. The actor, now 41, got to know Rae while playing her mother in “He’s All That” — a small role that is not a continuation of her original character, social-pariah-turned-prom-queen Laney Boggs.