GQ_Australia_-_February_2017

34 GQ.COM.AU FEBRUARY 2017

the SOURCE

THE RUNNING MAN,BARB WIRE,TERMINATOR GENISYS

AND ADAM SANDLER COMEDYCLICKAREAFEWOFTHE

FEATURE FILMS THAT HAVE BEEN SET IN THE YEAR 2017.

MAN OF THE MOMENT

CAMERON

DALL AS

WORDS: TIFFANY BAKKER.

THESOCIALMEDIASTAR

AND TEEN IDOL LANDS HIS

OWN REALITY TV SHOW.

BECAUSE OF COURSE HE HAS.

A

few months

ago, Cameron

Dallas, the

social-media-

phenomenon-

turned-model,

singerandactor,switchedoff

hisphoneandwenttoHawaii.

“Ididpostacoupleofphotos

ofthebeach,”headmitsabit

sheepishly, “but not many.”

Fora22-year-oldwhomade

hisnamethroughvarious

socialmediaplatforms–atlast

count, his Facebook, Twitter,

Vine,InstagramandYouTube

accountshadalmosthit

45millionpeople– this

wasabigdeal.

“Ihadtwobiganxiety

attacks–theonlytwoI’veever

hadinmylife–andrealised

I needed some time to myself

and to unwind. It was good

totakeabreak.”

While he may have

needed some time out,

Dallas’devotiontohisfan

base remained firm. Made

up mostly of teenage girls,

there’s a real authenticity and

closeness to their online bond.

“People get to choose who

theyfollow,sotheyfollowme

forme,”hesays.“It’ssuper

humbling and awesome.”

ForLA-bornDallas,fame

came knocking five years ago

when he started calling himself

amodelandpostingphotos.

“Ihadnoideaatallhowto

model,”herecalls,“butpeople

would start to follow me.

“So,Iwouldgotothese

start-up companies and say,

‘I have all these followers...

how can we work together?’

Andtheywouldgo,‘Yo,we’ll

giveyouafreebeanie and pay

you 150 bucks.’”

Then,whenDallasstarted

postingsix-secondVinevideos

of himself mucking around

(hanging upside down in buses,

sliding across floors, chilling

outwithfriends)thingsstarted

togetalittlecrazy.Todate,

hisvideoshaveattractedsome

2.4 billion ‘loops’, or views.

Dallassaystheappealofthose

videosissimple:“Iliketopost

positivecontentandIliketo

try and make people smile.

That’s why those videos are

popular.Idon’tfakeit.”

Andthingsareabouttoget

even bigger with the launch

of his Netflix reality series,

Chasing Cameron, which

followsDallasandhismates

aroundtheworlddealingwith

being “social media stars”.

Hisaimwiththeshowis

to “educate people on how

the social space works.

“I want to reveal how

powerful it is and also

show people there’s a big

generational gap between

the millennials and other

generations because of it.”

The series occasionally

features Dallas dealing with

teenagefansinvariousstages

of being starstruck – from

surprise to inconsolable

sobbing. At times it makes for

uncomfortable viewing.

“It comes with the job and

Iunderstandthat,sowhen

things like that happen, I’m

prepared,” he says.

“It’s sometimes unfortunate

becausethesearereallyserious

problems that [these girls]

have.It’sabigresponsibility

becauseIfeellikeIhaveto

have an answer for them to

make sure that when they walk

away,theyfeelbetteraboutthe

situation, but I just try to give

my advice.”

When asked whether

he’shadtoreininhissocial

media presence after Kim

Kardashian’s Paris incident, he

becomes unusually subdued.

“It’saninterestingtopic.

Youjusthavetobesuper

careful all the time.”

Dallas recently shot

acampaignforDolce&

Gabbana and says that, in

future,hewantstofocusmore

heavilyonmusicandacting.

“I’mdabblinginsomestuff

like that right now,” he says.

“I just want to continue to do

what I love. I’m not the sort of

person who wants to live my

lifedoingjustonething.Ilike

to go around and do as many

things as possible.”

Chasing Cameron is now

streaming on Netflix

INSTAGRAM:

16.8m

FOLLOWERS

YOUTUBE:5.1m

SUBSCRIBERS

+234mVIEWS

FACEBOOK:

3.6m LIKES

VINE:9.6m

FOLLOWERS

+ 2.4bn VIEWS

TWITTER:9.5m

FOLLOWERS

The

Breakdown