Jacksepticeye: Irish YouTube megastar worth $25m stars in new Disney blockbuster

When popular Irish YouTuber Seán McLoughlin – better known to his millions of fans as Jacksepticeye – received an email purporting to be from a Hollywood studio, he assumed it was a wheeze.Included in the message was the phone number of Shawn Levy, director of the Night at the Museum franchise and producer of Stranger Things. So McLoughlin called. “I didn’t take it was real. But I called him [Levy]. And he was the nicest guy ever.” Levy was working on Free Guy, a new action comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer which belatedly reaches cinemas on Friday August 13 (following the now traditional Covid delay).Free Guy is an uproarious vehicle for Reynolds and an opportunity to Comer to build on the momentum of Killing Eve (it’s one of two big screen roles for her in 2021, the second being Ridley Scott’s Last Duel). It is also a tribute to video games such as Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto.“He asked for tips and if there was anything he should avoid,” says McLoughlin, speaking over Zoom from its moodily-lit gaming studio. “I felt it should be genuine and not cringy. The kids will call you on it. The kids will know.” Levy was…
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