Elle Fanning Missed Out on Major Franchise Role Because of Low Instagram Following

Elle Fanning says she missed out on a major film role all because of her… follower count? 

Despite starring in popular films like Disney’s Maleficent movies, and being nominated for several awards, including an Emmy and Golden Globe, the actor, 25, opened up about losing a part in a popular franchise because of her lack of social media followers. 

“I didn’t get a part once for something big,” Fanning said during an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, released Thursday. “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 currently has 6.2 million followers on Instagram, but who’s counting? (Movie execs, apparently.)

She continued: “And so, that was a little like, okay. I mean that I firmly don’t believe in like ever not getting a part [for that].”

Fanning was careful not to spill which role she auditioned for, but confirmed it was “for a bigger thing, a franchise thing.” 

The conversation came up because Fanning was discussing the pressure actors are under to do big franchises including Marvel, DC, or Star Wars. But she added that while those roles work out for some people, “you also don’t know if they’re going to work sometimes, which is scary.”

Fans recently speculated that Fanning was up for the role of Princess Irulan in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, which ultimately went to Florence Pugh. But Fanning shut down those rumors during this recent interview, saying she never even had a chance to audition for the role because of scheduling conflicts with her show, The Great. 

“I wasn’t up for it at all, because of The Great,” she continued. “It feels better because there was no rejection, which that’s like nice. But it was a scheduling thing… But hey, I might not have gotten it.”

While fans might never know which elusive franchise role Fanning lost out on due to her follower count, it’s important to point out that the actor has been vocal about her privacy and lack of social media use. Up until her 18th birthday in 2016, Fanning’s Instagram was private. Fanning has also said in the past that she’s never had a Twitter or Facebook. 

Watch Fanning’s full interview here: