Leveling Up With Quen Blackwell

Quen Blackwell was born to entertain. She started putting on acts for the world to see when she was just 9 years old, uploading funny skits to YouTube that she filmed on the family computer.

A few years later, Quen, still only in middle school, found stardom on Vine, the cult video platform where she posted clips slapsticking around her childhood bedroom—pretending to be a clothes hanger or going goblin-mode on the floor. The videos were short (Vine had a six-second cap) but showcased a preternatural knack for physical comedy and the absurdity that would come to define her generation’s humor.

Now 24, Quen is still one of the internet’s favorite video girls. She has over 15 million followers across TikTok and YouTube, where she still posts regularly, and unlike most who had a taste of early internet celebrity, she simply hasn’t fallen off. She’s danced in music videos for the likes of JT, modeled for brands like Off-White and Stella McCartney, and is friends with seemingly everyone cool in Hollywood. She’s even appearing in Rachel Sennott’s highly anticipated HBO series. So, how’d she do it?