[ad_1]
Earlier this year, the nominees for the 2024 Oscars were announced, followed by a lot of chatter from fans around snubs.
But over on TikTok, a different kind of awards show drama is heating up — one that is fictionalized but has become very real to the fans of TikToker Julian Sewell’s character, actor Paloma Diamond.
So, who is Diamond, you ask? The answer isn’t so simple: To some, she’s a persona created by Sewell, but to her die-hard fans, she’s a talented actor who is as capable as any other star in Hollywood of getting an Oscar — even if it’s a made-up one.
Diamond’s growing fanbase on the social media platform has had her back since debuting on Sewell’s TikTok page, and they continue to fight for her to get the recognition she deserves.
Read on for everything you need to know about Diamond and her loyal fanbase.
So, who is Paloma Diamond?
For more than three years, Sewell has been acting out relatable, funny characters for his primarily New Zealand audience on TikTok — from receptionist Lorraine, who leads a school’s front desk with a rude and sassy iron fist, to Sewell’s take on the real former prime minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, who he calls “Aunty Cindy” for her laid-back and funny personality.
But in March 2023, Sewell and his sister made a video about an awards show cliché that has since brought die-hard fans from around the world to his account.
In the clip, Sewell acts out five nominees as they are introduced before the best actress winner is revealed, as well as a snippet from each film that show each of the actors’ best scenes.
“I love the moment when they call out the nominations and you just see the actresses looking at themselves on the screen,” Sewell tells TODAY.com. “I just thought that moment was so niche. I was like, ‘I’d love to just recreate something like that with just a whole bunch of random faces, names that I’ve just made up in my head.’”
Viewers were so captivated by Sewell’s five characters, each with their own personality and quirks, that they started ideating backstories and debating who should win. But it was Diamond who seemed to initially grab fans the most.
“Paloma Diamond is a veteran actress that wins every year, or is nominated ever year and hasn’t won yet,” one user wrote on the now-viral video.
“The way I googled Paloma diamond,” another commented.
Through this response, Sewell said it became apparent to him that fans gravitated toward Paloma’s “smug” personality.
“If you look at that original video, she’s got a bit of a smug look on her face, and I guess people really liked that,” Sewell says. “So Paloma then became this icon and she kind of developed from there.”
One week later, Sewell posted a follow-up video revealing which actor won. The clip parodied the Oscars best picture mishap that happened in 2017, when the announcers were given the wrong category envelope and mistakenly said “La La Land” won when the actual winner was “Moonlight.” In Sewell’s recreation, one of his characters, actor Lorelai Lynch, was announced as the winner, but the announcer then clarified another character, actor Taylor Witherfork, was the real winner.
Sewell noticed that fans were most furious that Diamond didn’t take home the award, despite the mix-up that didn’t even involve her. That’s when it started to become apparent who the fan-favorite character was.
When Paloma became a real personality of the people
After the first few videos featuring Diamond and his other characters went viral, Sewell started fleshing out their backgrounds and personalities.
He began creating videos that gave a glimpse at the characters’ personal lives, from interviews imitating Vogue’s “73 Questions” and Architectural Digest’s “Celebrity Homes,” to snippets of the actors’ childhoods.
Sewell recalls making one video that shows Diamond as a child and rocking her famed gray bob, even in her youth. He didn’t think people would take the video seriously, but the response to the clip proved otherwise.
“They were like, ‘Paloma’s always been an old soul,'” Sewell says, proving that people were really viewing Diamond as a “real person.”
Some fans have taken matters into their own hands outside of Sewell’s videos through creating fictional TMZ reports and fake third party partnerships connected to Diamond.
“TMZ reports a sequel to ‘Awake, Alone, and Aware on the Streets of Topeka, KS’ is on the making,” one person wrote on X. “Starring Justina Sorgen and featuring Paloma Diamond. ‘Awake, Alone, and Aware on the streets of Berkeley, CA’ starts filming next month.”
Even people in the industry have said that Diamond is an extremely believable character. Actor Sarah Valentine posted a video with Sewell and called Diamond “amazing,” while winner of Season Two of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Alaska reacted to Sewell’s video featuring Diamond, laughing while saying the character is “so serious.”
Other creators on TikTok have also become part of the canon. Sewell has made some back-and-forth videos with TikToker Nicholas Flannery, who he’s “really good friends with” in real life. Flannery takes on the role of Diamond’s old makeup artist, who goes by Flannery’s name.
Diamond revealed that she split with her makeup artist after she found out Flannery and her husband were having an affair, and Flannery recently made a video throwing some shade at Diamond after her 2024 Oscars nomination.
Commenters have also tried to connect Diamond to real actors. Many compared her to Glenn Close, who has been nominated eight times at the Oscars but has never taken home a trophy. Others saw a connection to Meryl Streep, who has been nominated 21 times and has won three Oscars. Most recently, fans have been comparing Diamond to Susan Lucci, who won her first Emmy in 1999 after 19 nominations.
What’s next for Paloma? Fans just want her to exist
As Diamond continues to have a presence on TikTok, more people will continue to ask whether she’s a real person. But fans are quick to come to Diamond’s defense if they see anyone questioning her legitimacy.
“I received an influx of comments from people that are like, ‘She’s real to us,’ just so staunchly in support of this fictitious universe that I’ve created, which is so lovely because it’s such a way to honor my art,” Sewell explains.
This year, Diamond and Lynch are back in contention for an Oscar, and Sewell has brought in new characters, including Sasha Alexander, Daphne Courtesan and Michelle Bradley-Spencer.
Many fans have posted videos arguing who they think should win this year’s best actress award. Sewell recently posted a compilation of fan-prediction videos, and many are fighting for Diamond in the comments.
But even Sewell says he has no idea who will win this year’s Oscar. In fact, Sewell doesn’t have future plans for any of his characters, and instead takes it one video at a time, partly because he wants his fans to continue to help shape the personalities and histories of his characters.
“It’s an outlet for (fans) to express their own creativity, these random people on the internet,” Sewell says. “I think that’s part of the reason why people latch on to the universe, because it’s fun and it’s silly. And it’s not supposed to be taken too seriously — although in saying that, people do take it seriously, so it kind of goes both ways.”
So, what happens if Diamond doesn’t win an Oscar? Sewell says she’s a fighter, and don’t expect her to ever give up.
“If she ends up losing, she’ll probably just continue to strive on,” Sewell explains. “I mean, that’s what her fans want, right? I don’t think she’ll ever give up. Maybe she’ll never win. But you know what, that won’t stop her from attending award ceremony after award ceremony.”
[ad_2]
Source link