Lame is developing an action comedy film that will be filmed in Brazil, India, and the United States.
Khaby Lame, the most popular TikToker globally, is likened by some to iconic comedians like Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, and is now poised to embark on a film career in Hollywood, capitalizing on his meteoric rise to fame on social media.
“I’ve always dreamed of working in the film industry, and now I’m fully committed to it. I hope this will be my lifelong career,” Lame said with a smile in an interview with AFP.
“And I’ve always dreamt of having an Oscar, maybe more than one.”
The 24-year-old Italian influencer with Senegalese ancestry tops the TikTok platform with 162.8 million followers.
Silent videos
He has gained fame for his brief silent videos parodying the complex tutorials of tips that proliferate on the Web.
Why do it simply when you can make it more complicated, he jokes on social media, offering his own easy remedies with his trademark gesture – palms turned towards the sky, accompanied by a knowing smile and wide eyes.
When did he realise his dazzling success?
“I began noticing people around the world, including Real Madrid players like Vinicius Junior, doing the same thing on television, which made me realize it was becoming a global phenomenon,” he stated.
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Lame is inconspicuous in his black baseball cap and beige leather jacket, his emotive eyes concealed behind heavy sunglasses.
But he readily poses for selfies with his admirers, who call out to him as he departs a restaurant across from Milan’s magnificent Duomo cathedral.
Hollywood debut
After a brief visit to the Italian fashion hub this week, where he walked the runway for German brand Hugo Boss on Wednesday, Lame has returned to Los Angeles, the TikTok star’s new residence and platform for his Hollywood breakthrough.
In an action comedy film titled “0 0Khaby,” Lame will portray a food delivery worker recruited as a spy by the American secret service, with the movie being filmed in Brazil, India, and the United States.
“He vowed to keep creating videos for TikTok.”
Lame’s TikTok idea emerged while he was roaming the housing complex where his family resided in Chivasso, near Turin, after losing his factory mechanic’s job in March 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding.
“I initially thought it was just an app for dancing or children, but during the pandemic, I started using it because there wasn’t much else to do,” he remembered.
Marketing deals
According to Forbes, his posts gained significant popularity, enabling him to earn an estimated $16.5 million through marketing agreements with companies between June 2022 and September 2023.
The former mechanic, who had worked various odd jobs to make ends meet, has achieved remarkable success. “I was a bricklayer, a window cleaner, I worked at Amazon, and I was a kitchen assistant,” he recalled.
He acknowledged that his school experience was a disaster.
“I enjoyed making people laugh and often acted the clown, but they let me down a few times in the end”.
His dual challenges, being both dyslexic and dyscalculic, also didn’t help.
But Tom Cruise “provided me with a lot of advice, as he is also dyslexic”, Lame said.
“I asked him if there were any issues in learning a script. He told me that ultimately, it comes down to good will.
“That’s the advice I get from most actors or famous people.”
