Obviously, Leslie Jordon has been in the business for many years, having started working as an actor in Hollywood in 1986 and won the Emmy for his role of Beverly Leslie on Will & Grace in 2006. But it’s safe to say many more people have come to appreciate his quirky sense of humor and charming disposition since he stared posting his funny and charming Instagram videos of how he’s handling quarantine in his mom’s hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. As of April 1st, Leslie’s followers exploded to 1M. Less than a month later, he has over three times that amount. So now, after almost 35 years in the Biz, how is he going to capitalize on all this newfound fandom? Well, if those 35 years taught him anything, it’s not to count his chickens before they hatch.
His comments about monetizing were:
The funny thing is, if you go viral on something like Instagram, you hear from people that you haven’t heard from in a really long time. And they’re kind of like, “Oh, yeah – maybe you and I could go live.” Maybe not! Why would I go live with you, I haven’t heard form you in 20 years? It’s funny how people, I mean, I’m talking grown people with children, want those numbers up. “You can help me a little bit.” Uh, no. And then people come, it’s a new word I lean, “monetized.” Who even knew that word… you know agents say it, “we can monetize this.” So I make this decision, you know what, I do this for fun, I do this for free, and I’m like at 3.5M followers, so until this is all over, the hunker down part, be it May 1 or May 15th, whenever – until then: fun and free. Then the minute was stop hunkering down, I’m going to be the biggest wh*re in Hollywood. I mean, $100 a day – you got me! I’m going to sell myself. I’m going to make some money!
This is a really smart strategy, build his brand, build on his current popularity and let Hollywood have a bidding war once everything is said and done. And, Leslie is not faulted for profiting off people stuck at home, needing a distraction, he’s providing that service for free. I don’t actually think Leslie is mapping his career with all that in mind, I think he is probably having a hoot and doesn’t want interference with his content. But I do think this will all wash out in his favor and I, for one, could not be happier. I’m sure I watched him in many roles prior, but my main memories of Leslie are from Boston Public and Reba (although in researching this, I was reminded of his role in Hearts Afire). I am always happy when he shows up on my screen, but I would probably actively seek out something he was in now due to how much I’ve enjoyed his IG posts. As he mentioned in the Access interview, he has been added to the new show Call Me Kat starring Mayim Bialik and Swoosie Kurtz. Swoosie and Leslie are enough to get me to check something out.
I do hope these quarantine posts shoot Leslie into the stratosphere. He’s a delight and I’d love to see him in more things. But I think the thing that is truly most appealing about him and now his videos is that Leslie seems to get such a kick out of it all, whatever he’s doing. So if he stands to monetize this wave of popularity, I’m all for it. Just keep him in the spotlight, that’s all I ask.
Photo credit: Instagram and WENN Photos
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