Before she rose to fame on TikTok, influencer Mads Lewis had already made a name for herself in the entertainment industry.
“I downloaded Instagram when I was in fifth grade, so that was like eight years ago [or] nine years ago,” the internet star explained while talking about her career during an April 2021 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “I just did it for fun and then my friend in sixth grade showed me this app called Musical.ly, which was what TikTok was before.”
When looking back at the beginning of her career during her podcast interview, Mads recalled social media being “so fun back then” and noted that she doesn’t “think it’s fun anymore.” She also remembered when Musical.ly made its transition to TikTok. “I went to that party … I think it was three years ago in November,” the actress said. “They were like ‘And TikTok is here.'”
At that time, Mads and Musical.ly’s original group of influencers decided to start exploring different aspects of her career. “We had our time … let’s pursue our dreams in acting, singing, dancing, modeling, everything because we believed in ourselves,” she said. “Then we, kind of, transformed into TikTokers.”
At one point, Mads even had a YouTube channel, which she’s since stopped using.
“I just stopped doing it because it was really draining, really mentally draining. Filming your videos, editing your videos, feeling like you have to film your life,” she said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
After gaining followers on the social media apps, which were known for its lip-sync videos at the time, Mads was cast in the internet series Chicken Girls. She played the role of mean girl Birdie Kaye on the YouTube show from 2017 until 2020.
“I try to bring out my inner Regina George. I play the mean girl. I’m actually really nice. I love everything about acting,” she told Everly Mag in 2018. “Sometimes it’s hard, but I don’t have to be super mean so it’s not too bad. Yes, I do sometimes worry that people will think that I’m really mean. Luckily, the fans I have had the pleasure [of] meeting know that I am actually really nice!”
Even though she’s moved on from this breakout role, Mads still has big acting dreams on her mind! In multiple interviews over the years, she’s revealed that she would love to be cast in a Marvel movie. There’s definitely big things in Mads’ future! Scroll through our gallery to meet the internet star.
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