Ellie Zeiler Shares How She Overcomes The Pressure Of Her Following - Exclusive
Ellie Zeiler is known on TikTok for her lip-sync, fashion, lifestyle, and dancing videos, and the 18-year-old has amassed a huge following by posting short-form content on the app, which has helped launched her into stardom over the past couple of years. With her social media success, Zeiler has recently started exploring other creative outlets, such as taking on her first acting role in Season 3 of Brat TV's "Crown Lake."
The social media influencer recently sat down for an exclusive interview with The List to discuss her experience acting as well as how she views her TikTok career and what her plans are going forward. Although it might be easy to assume that someone in Zeiler's position would get used to having a lot of eyes on her, she told The List that she still feels a lot of anxiety around posting videos, and it's hard for her not to get overwhelmed by pressure when she thinks of how many people might see her content.
There's a lot of pressure with a large social following
Ellie Zeiler recently had her first acting role in Brat TV's "Crown Lake." Although she's always wanted to act and was excited for the opportunity, Zeiler said she had a lot of nerves about trying something so new. Those nerves were only heightened because her large social media following meant there would be plenty of people watching her acting debut. The TikTok star added that the pressure of people watching "scares [her] in general."
Zeiler now has 10.6 million followers on TikTok, which is something she said she never imagined when she first started posting on the app. Because of her massive success, Zeiler has had the opportunity to start acting, represent brands, and connect with people across the world. Though she doesn't take any of that for granted, "Every day, I'm so grateful that this is my life and that I get to do this," she told The List. However, with the success and attention, Zeiler also feels added pressure put on everything she does. "I feel like even with posting on social media, I can never think of a mass group of people, or else I'll get so nervous, and I won't post," Zeiler said.
How does she work around that pressure?
But, Ellie Zeiler does her best not to let the pressure of the numbers of her TikTok following get to her. The best way she's found to keep posting without worrying too much about how people will respond is simply ignoring how large her following is. "It's almost impossible to wrap your mind around millions and millions of people watching you," Zeiler said. Instead, she imagines one person. "What gets me through it is imagining maybe my younger self or myself, in general, watching me," she said. "Focusing on that teenage girl who's going through stuff in school and looks to me as a distraction or a role model or a friend, whatever it is, I try to focus on looking at one person."
By staying focused on why she makes her videos and doing her best to ignore the numbers, Zeiler hopes she can keep the momentum she has going. She's taking things one day and one social media post at a time. And by doing so, she wants to continue by "staying on track, that's my goal," Zeiler said.
Season 3 of "Crown Lake" is available to stream now on Brat TV. New episodes premiere every Tuesday.