You didn’t think I’d be able to do it, did you? You didn’t think I’d be able to post anything that wasn’t about Hamilton today. But you’d be wrong, because I am intensely focused on distracting myself until my family’s agreed-upon showtime tonight, and I’ve been engaging in all manner of procrastination, avoidance… even work. 

 

Which is how this joy first came to my attention. Meet Julian Bass. He’s 20. He’s on TikTok: 

But obviously he’s also on Twitter. And smartly so, because as you can see, the caption says it all: 

“If y’all can retweet this enough times that Disney calls, that’d be greatly appreciated”

And …you guys?

Disney called.

 

To be precise, first he got attention from legit-but-also-Twitter celebs like Oscar winner Matthew A Cherry, Mark Hamill, James Gunn, and Zach Braff – and then Bob Iger, Executive Chairman of Disney,  tweeted: 

(I’m sorry to say that if you thought there would be some relief from constant Hamilton references in this article, I was trying to help you out, but Bob Iger’s tweet is a quote from the show… which drops today on Disney+. The man didn’t get to be where he is without seeing opportunities for corporate synergy, you know?) 

The bigger news here, though, is one I’ve been yelling for years but that bears repeating again – you will never, ever get to be a star, a true tastemaker and creator in your own right, by doing what other people do. You will always, always get noticed by doing what *you* think is cool, especially if you’re not sure if it is, in fact, cool or smart or important because you don’t see anyone else doing it. That’s a sign for an opportunity, not that you should back away. 

 

In The Hollywood Reporter piece linked above, Bass says he got started learning VFX because he didn’t want to wait to be ‘grown up’ to express the ideas in his head, and that he started, years ago, with Lego stop-motion videos. I know the world has changed and that people understand nerds are cool – but it’s definitely not even the expected path to TikTok success, you know? I’m just filled with joy that Julian got some affirmation that he’s heading so clearly in the right direction. 

As of right now, people are calling for him to be cast in a live-action Miles Morales movie, and whether or not that is even a thing, Bass looks like he’s up for it – he told THR everything he learned and posted was because he wanted to be a performer anyway. I hope it happens. If not in the next six months, then in six years or whenever he’s ready. But judging by Julian’s obvious talent and inspiration, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be right now. He’s ready – he’s been ready – and clearly, the world is so ready for him. The first star who will VFX his own films? Who wouldn’t be here for that?