Rickey Thompson: From Bullied To The Runway To Hollywood

Fairy tales usually sound like unlikely stories. And the life of Rickey Thompson is nothing but a fascinating tale driven by a passion and leveraging social media as a creator. Raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ricky grew up as a shy child who didn’t have many friends. "I was usually by myself, life wasn’t always that fun", Rickey says when asked about his upbringing on the US east coast.

It’s a long trip from the glitz in Hollywood, but Rickey wanted to be an actor as long as he can remember. "Ever since I came out of the womb, I’ve wanted to be an actor and live in Los Angeles. But never in my wildest dreams did I think that would happen in my 20s."

Rewinding the life tape, Rickey was right in the beginning of the generation we know as "Gen-Z". Coming home from school, he used their bathroom for his escape from the physical to the digital world. "I didn’t have many friends, but I had one friend who told me to download the video app Vine and try it out. So I did and just had fun with it. Every day I would go into the bathroom to make videos." Rickey dabbled with the now-defunct app for a year before his friends started noticing that his digital presence and popularity slowly started growing from people sharing his videos in Facebook groups. "This was back when people were sharing a lot of things over Facebook, and there were specific groups for video clips like mine - talking to myself into the camera."

Rickey was popular online, it was the opposite in real life. Though this all changed drastically by a single event. "I never forget the day when Kylie Jenner ‘re-vined’ one of my videos. For teenagers at that time, it was the biggest thing that could happen to you on social media. I was catapulted from being the bullied kid to a prom king candidate." Suddenly people started whispering in school and saying "the funny guy Rickey" and his life had changed forever.

After Rickey graduated high school, he felt a gravitational pull towards Los Angeles. "I started doing some brand deals and went on a tour for a gap year after high school. Youtubers and Vine stars would go on a tour bus, just like pop stars, and meet with fans. We had so much fun." His first memory from Los Angeles is when his mother dropped him off at his new studio in Los Angeles. "I’ll never forget that feeling, I could for the first time in my life do whatever I wanted", Rickey remembers.

As a global entertainment hub, Los Angeles is sometimes called to be a place for dreamers but also notorious for "chewing up" dreams. Not only for creators and people making a living in the Passion Economy, but aspiring actors, musicians and the entire spectrum of the show business industry. "I was always drawn to the excitement of Hollywood and Los Angeles. Even now, I never get tired of this city." He initially made a living by continuing with brand deals, but tried to find ways to make something out of his passion for fashion.

Modeling agencies, not known to sugar coat, told Rickey he was too funny for fashion. "Oh my god, I cried like a baby. I thought ‘is this it? Had I shot myself in the foot and ruined any chances to work in fashion because I’m too funny?". Continuing to push through and visit more agencies, he finally got booked on a shoot, which eventually put him on the cover on a magazine, that just happened to be sold all over the world. "I went from being rejected to have my face on magazines, all over the world, I’ll never forget that feeling and it was the ultimate evidence for me that you can do whatever you want as long as you don’t give up."

Fast forward, Rickey has now walked the runway for many top brands and opened for Private Policy’s Summer/Spring show, among others.

"I always loved clothes, and fashion has been both an escape from reality as well as a passion coming out of love. It’s just something that has always played a big part in my life." Sitting front row at shows and walking for designers is desired by many influencers, but Rickey has niched himself in the world of Haute Couture. Mixed with his comedy and acting experiences, he believes it makes him unique compared to many other creators.

"Acting has always been the end all be all thing for me though, if I would choose just one thing to do in my life, it would be to play characters. My dream would be to play the villain in a Marvel film." Rickey played a role in the Youtube show Foursome (along with Logan Paul and other Youtube personalities) and recently announced his role in Swarm (Amazon Prime) starring as a shop attendant in a telecom retail store.

"My big dream is to be on the big screen. Everything in my life circles around acting. I take my mom to the Oscar’s party, I frequent Universal Studios in my free time and I recover by watching Desperate Housewives. I live and breathe movies."

Rickey advises people who sets their goals on seemingly "impossible" targets to never give up. "It’s the number one single most important thing I can say and it sounds like a cliché, but if you just don’t give up - you will get closer and closer to that dream of your’s"

The conversation has been edited and summarized for clarity.

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