This year’s Young Hollywood creators are focused on the people at the front of the culture, pushing us to think, laugh, dance, and cry. It takes extraordinary talent to shine through a year of pandemic, protests, and a presidential election. But these rising stars did just that. Meet the Class of 2021.
With more than 100 million followers on TikTok, it’s safe to say that 16-year-old Charli D’Amelio knows about life in the spotlight. Charli, born in Norwalk, Connecticut, is the most followed person on TikTok asserting in her bio at one point: “don’t worry i don’t get the hype either.”
But long before the global pandemic, Charli was relevant, even if she wasn’t sure why. She starred as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, attended Paris Fashion Week, garnered lucrative corporate sponsors, and appeared in a 2020 Super Bowl commercial. And while the exact amount of money the teen is making is not public, she’s made enough to warrant a move to Los Angeles with her family to create content.
Fans are drawn to her bubbly sincerity and dance moves that she encourages followers to replicate. Since the age of 3 Charli has been studying dance, and until joining TikTok in March 2019, enjoyed the art form without an audience of millions. Now, in addition to viral dance videos, she posts with her sister, Dixie, and her parents, Mark and Heidi who have helped the two branch out beyond social media. Her book, Essentially Charli: The Ultimate Guide to Keeping It Real became a New York Times bestseller in 2020, and the year ahead will likely make her an even higher profile.
With the good, comes the bad and Charli is no stranger to controversy. From accusations of cultural appropriation to being criticised for travelling during the pandemic or a seemingly innocent video with friend James Charles—she’s always under a microscope, being criticized, if not harassed. Charli has responded to these moments with grace, apologising or making efforts to elevate Black creators. But it’s a lot of pressure for someone so early in their career and despite it all, she manages to stay open and refreshingly positive—a rarity even among Hollywood’s newest transplants.
Q: Who are some of the dancers or just personalities who kind of inspired you when you were growing up?
Charli D’Amelio: The dance world is built up of so many different types of people that I’ve been able to take stuff from. I feel like the Royal Family and their entire dance team, I’ve been watching and following them for years and years, and I actually got to meet them at the Super Bowl because they were dancing with J.Lo and that was something that was insane to me. And people like Brian Friedman and Travis Wall and Lauren Froderman, all of those people that I’ve been watching since I was so young and I’ve even been able to take classes and learn and talk to some of these people, and it’s just so amazing how much they don’t even know that they’ve helped me on this journey, you know?
TV: You recently announced that you and your family are doing a Hulu TV series. How are you feeling about that?
Charli: I am super excited, actually. It’s something that I never expected I would be doing. I’m just excited to show people the whole family dynamic and what our lives are like when the cameras aren’t on.
TV: Fame can be really, really hard. How are you and your family dealing with such attention?
Charli: We obviously all have our ups and downs. It’s a difficult thing to understand, especially when you’re in the beginning of this, but if I didn’t have my family around to lean on and if we weren’t all in this together, I think I would be a completely different person right now, because at the end of the day, I can call my sister or go to her apartment, or go upstairs and talk to my mom and dad and be like, “This isn’t fun anymore,” and they would be like, “Then we’re not doing it.” The second I’m not having fun and not enjoying this, they are the first people to be like, “You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do.” I’m just so thankful to have them be such supportive parents when this is something so new to me, but also so new to them. And it’s been difficult definitely, but just so thankful to have them and we all are here together at the end of the day.
TV: You’ve shared some really hard truths and I think that resonated with a lot of people. Can you talk a little bit about your decision to share tough things with your audience?
Charli: A lot of the times people will be questioning things or wondering, and although some things are hard to talk about, even for me, I know how important it is that if I’m open with everyone else. [When I am] they might feel better and be able to talk to people if they need support or if they need help or if they’re struggling with their mental health. I know that I’ve been there and I know how difficult it can be to talk about it or even admit it to yourself, but if I can do that on such a big scale with so many people watching, maybe it’ll help someone else that feels alone and they might not feel as alone. And that feels really good because I wish I had someone like that to look up to and feel like I wasn’t alone.
TV: What is guiding you through the year? What kind of feelings and what kind of support and what do you want to share with folks?
Charli: I just really want to focus this year on being myself — and not feeling bad about being myself and putting myself first. I’m a person that likes to think of other people before myself, and I understand now that I’ve been that for everyone else, so it’s time to just focus on what I want. There’s so much coming this year and I’m just so excited to see how it all plays out, whether it’s picture-perfect or ups and downs, I’m just ready to have a great year.