Elle Fanning Reveals She Lost Franchise Role Because She 'Didn't Have Enough Followers'

If don't think that social media plays a real role in being famous or successful – you may not have had your career depend on it. Actress Elle Fanning (The Great, Maleficent) reveals that she has actually lost roles in major franchises because she didn't have a big enough social media following! 

"I didn't get a part once for something big – and it might not have just been this reason, but this was all the feedback that I heard – because I didn't have enough Instagram followers at the time," Fanning told Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "And so, that was a little like, OK, I mean that I firmly don't believe in like ever not getting a part [because of that]."

Now, for the current context: Elle Fanning's Instagram is 6.2 million followers strong – not exactly an underwhelming number, and well worthy of a major blockbuster franchise actress. Her Twitter account has 24K followers – which is, admittedly, kind of small for a major Marvel or DC actress. Then again, it's debatable whether or not those actors had such big followings BEFORE or AFTER their superhero movie roles. After playing a Disney princess, it's arguable whether or not Elle Fanning should have a bigger following.

It is interesting to hear such a talented and acclaimed young actress say that she's had to have her career rest on social media followers. It's actually made Fanning not pressure herself into taking on roles in big franchises like Marvel, DC, or Star Wars. Not only does it make demands to interact with the fanbase into a serious reality of the job – it can also ask all of that commitment for a project that could ultimately fail: "It does something for people, you know," Fanning said. "But you also don't know if they're gonna work sometimes, which is also scary."

For now, Elle Fanning seems to want to balance those blockbuster movie obligations with the freedoms (and risks) of indie movie work. 

"If you want to do your indie work, especially in producing, now I realize, well, there are scripts that I want to take a chance on and produce and they're small, but then you know, you have to know, maybe it's about the experience," Fanning explained. "But then ... if you have the backing of knowing that you have that thing [a studio], it does make you breathe better."