Gen Z’s Attachment to Celebrities is Evolving, and so are the Media’s Marketing Tactics

“Are Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell seeing each other now?” “Christopher Briney is for sure the white boy of the month.” “Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie have the cutest friendship!” A good plot and some billboards aren’t enough in film and TV marketing nowadays.

The public has been intently interested in actors’ lives since the idea of “celebrities” became prevalent in the late 18^th century, but in the past decade, with the growth of social media platforms, parasocial relationships with celebrities have become increasingly common. Gen Z in particular loves to invest their time and emotions into what celebrities are doing in their personal lives. At first, this started by watching a TV show or film and looking into the actor after the fact. In very recent years, it feels like the converse is happening, where Gen Z is already very invested in an actor’s life and will watch anything, simply to see the star.

This means a lot for the film and TV industry’s future for casting and marketing. Firstly, this seems to heavily affect casting in ways the public has noticed with actors such as Glenn Powell, Florence Pugh, Jacob Elordi and Timothée Chalamet who are seemingly in every movie as of late. The term “Glen Powell contract” was even circulating on the Internet as a quippy term for an actor who, it feels, is in every upcoming movie.

Secondly, marketing is changing in huge ways and must if the piece of media wants high ratings. Films and shows I have seen that do amazingly are the ones that get the public preemptively invested in their actors. I first saw this with the rise of Reece Feldman, or @guywithamoviecamera on social media, who has paved the way for this new form of celebrity marketing. Reece films behind-the-scenes TikTok’s, featuring the actors simply doing TikTok trends or short clips of them goofing around while on set. These viral videos humanize the actors, allowing the audience to connect with their off-screen personalities.

Another recent extreme example of an overly invested public is with the actors from the new hit show “Heated Rivalry.” The Internet is either raving about the adorable friendship between the main actors, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, or crushing on them. I have seen minimal traditional marketing tactics from the show, but largely online interviews with the actors. Fans who are enamored with the actors are posting thousands of clips and edits of interviews/videos of the two of them. This strong fandom, based on love for the actors and show, serves as free marketing for “Heated Rivalry,” undoubtedly helping it become the global hit it is.