How Starring in “Follow Me” Changed YouTuber George Janko’s Perception of Social Media

"I didn’t realise how much of our lives is actually fake."

Over the past five years, George Janko has been busy building a massive online following. In fact, the Assyrian-American content creator, YouTuber, actor, comedian and recording artist has amassed more than two million Instagram followers and a million YouTube subscribers in that time.

While you might be used to seeing Janko on your phone screen, you can now catch him on the big screen as well. He plays Dash in horror film Follow Me, which focuses on a social media star who travels to Moscow with his friends to capture new content for his successful vlog.

However, the group enters a deadly game, and the line between real life and social media is blurred.

As Janko tells Student Edge, acting in his first movie was incredibly nerve wracking.

"I’ve counted on my hands the number of times I’ve actually been nervous in real life, and I can tell you it’s about three times," he says.

"I’m not a nervous guy, but I went into this thing and all of these guys are real actors. I sat there and I was like, 'Oh, this is a big room.' But those people made the set feel so nice and homely that I always felt like I belonged there."

Follow Me also stars Keegan Allen, who portrayed Toby Cavanaugh in Pretty Little Liars, along with Holland Roden, Ronen Rubinstein, Denzel Whitaker, Pasha Lynchnikoff, Siya, Daniyar and Dimiter D. Marinov.

Despite not having as much screen acting experience as other cast members, Janko explains that acting has always been a natural part of his life.

"I’ve always thought if you’re very natural and you don’t overdo it, if they like you it’ll work. If it doesn’t, you just move on," he says.

Janko also believes that playing Dash in the film has had a significant impact on the way he uses social media in real life.

 "So, I just came back to social media because I have a few projects coming out, and it was done a lot differently because the movie took a toll on my life," he says.

"I didn’t realise how much of our lives is actually fake. There’s a lot of stuff that we pretend to do. I wanted to see how it would be to be more natural, and to actually put my life on camera and make it fun."

The YouTuber highlights that he’s grown a stronger following since actively being more authentic.

"This time around I’ve been having so much more joy making content that’s actually authentic and capturing real moments. I’ve grown [not only] a stronger audience, but a real audience," he says.

Not only did Janko’s experience as an influencer impact his own response to the film, but it also enabled his co-star Allen to develop his character, Cole.

"Keegan was watching me and my friends to get some examples for how he wanted to play the character. He was taking his role very seriously," he says.

"When I was watching the movie and seeing [Allen’s character] struggle about what he should and shouldn’t put on camera, I thought the writing was so on point."

As Janko tells us, he hopes Follow Me encourages viewers to be to patient while chasing their goals.

"The one thing I want them to take away from this movie is that it’s okay to want to achieve things, but losing yourself, your soul and your friends in the process might not be the way to do it," he says.

"There’s always an easier route that people want to take, like social media. But patience is everything."

Follow Me is out in Australian cinemas now and is rated MA15+ for strong themes, violence and coarse language.

Header Image: STUDIOCANAL Australia