DUBAI: From Vine and YouTube to acting and hosting, Liza Koshy admits she has to pinch herself when she considers her rise to fame.
“I’m living a dream that I didn’t even think of dreaming before,” the US actress revealed during a talk on Thursday at ON.DXB — an event in Dubai dedicated to film, gaming, music and video.
Koshy, now an established star in her field, started her career in 2013 on Vine, a short-form video hosting service on which users shared six-second-long, looping video clips.
Koshy has more than 17.7 million subscribers on YouTube. (AFP)
“Vine came out then I had a career all of a sudden out of nowhere,” she told the audience. “Vine was a giant group chat for me and my friends, so I only had my friends following me. I was creating videos for them. It was like six people at the time and that’s kind of what social media was back then.
“I had a really tiny circle with three friends and now it’s grown to like three something, something, something. It’s been a while, a wild journey. But that’s how it started. I was just making videos in my car, making videos in my bathroom, making videos in my living room; making my home essentially a set,” said the 23-year-old.
“There was a point where I was pursuing this career – I didn’t realize it was a career at the time – (I was) just making videos. My dad actually took away my phone so that I would study for the SATs, little did he know though that I had an iPad underneath my bed, and I continued making those videos every night,” Koshy added.
It was only when people started approaching her to have their pictures taken with her, that her father realized that she might actually be able to make a career out of it, she said.
Now with more than 17.7 million subscribers on YouTube, Koshy has her own YouTube originals show.
“Liza on Demand,” which premiered on June 27, 2018 on YouTube Premium, is an American comedy web television series starring Koshy, “Orange is the New Black” actress Kimiko Glenn, and television actor Travis Coles. The cast follows Koshy who completes odd jobs around Los Angeles via a phone application.
The show’s second season premiered on Sept. 25 this year.
“I pinch myself every moment because I’m living a dream that I didn’t even think of dreaming before,” Koshy added.
“You see actors going up on these childhood TV shows and you don’t imagine ever creating your own really and then to have the ability to do so in the palm of your hands today, your career and literally be at your fingertips and that’s what it was for me.”
