Anthony Padilla

Anthony Padilla
Padilla in 2019
Personal information
Born
Daniel Anthony Padilla

(1987-09-16) September 16, 1987 (age 37)
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Occupations
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2005–present
Subscribers7.61 million[1]
Total views1.19 billion[1]
Associated actsSmosh
100,000 subscribers2012
1,000,000 subscribers2013
Last updated: April 5, 2023

Daniel Anthony Padilla (/pəˈdiːjə/ pə-DEE-yə; born September 16, 1987) is an American internet personality, comedian, filmmaker, and actor. With Ian Hecox, he co-founded the YouTube-based video production company Smosh. Padilla and Hecox wrote, directed, and starred in sketch comedy videos from 2005 to 2017; after six years, Padilla returned to the company in 2023. Outside of Smosh, Padilla has hosted the podcast series I Spent a Day With..., where he interviews fellow Internet celebrities, as well as survivors of crime and natural disasters.

Padilla made his film debut in Smosh: The Movie in 2015, and had a voice role in The Angry Birds Movie (2016) and its 2019 sequel.

Early life

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Daniel Anthony Padilla[2] was born on September 16, 1987, in Sacramento, California and is from Carmichael, California.[3][4] His father is of Filipino and Spanish descent and his mother is German. His parents separated when he was two, and he was raised mostly by his mother alongside his two younger half-brothers. As his mother has severe agoraphobia, she was unable to work or even leave the family home, resulting in the family surviving off food stamps; Padilla took on a great deal of responsibility from an early age, especially after his grandmother, who was the primary caretaker of the family, died.[5] He graduated from Del Campo High School[6] and attended American River College for two years before dropping out due to Smosh's success.[7]

Career

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Smosh

[edit]
Padilla at VidCon in 2012

In 2002, Padilla registered smosh.com, where he posted Adobe Flash animations. It also functioned effectively as an early form of social media, where he would communicate with his friends while bedridden with Henoch-Schönlein Purpura.[5] He has stated that the name "Smosh" came from an incident where he mistook a friend explaining a mosh pit as a "smosh pit". He was later joined by his friend, Ian Hecox, whom he first met in their sixth grade science class, when the two quickly discovered their shared interest in comedy. They joined YouTube in 2005, making several videos together. Many of their early videos were of them lip syncing, including to the theme songs of Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[3]

One of Smosh's earliest videos, "Pokémon Theme Music Video," was released on November 28, 2005. It followed the same style as their other earlier videos, with the duo lip-synching the original English theme song for the Pokémon anime. The video became much more popular than any of their other videos. It became one of the most-viewed videos on YouTube at that time,[3] but was removed for being a copyright violation.[8] They later started focusing more on short comedy skits.[3]

Padilla at Vidcon in 2014

Leaving Smosh

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Smosh was acquired by Defy Media in 2011, who remained the owner until it shut down in 2018.[9] Padilla left in June 2017, making the announcement on his personal YouTube channel.[10][11] He mentioned a "lack of creative freedom."[9][12][11] Following the liquidation of Defy Media in November 2018, he claimed that the company had attempted to steal his social network pages and prevented him from joining SAG-AFTRA after he departed from the company.[13] Mythical Entertainment would later acquire the Smosh brand on February 22, 2019.[14]

Reunion and owning Smosh

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Alongside Hecox, Padilla announced on June 20, 2023, that the duo had bought a majority stake in Smosh from Mythical Entertainment and would be rebooting the main channel to create their own sketches, similar to those in the early years of the channel. In an interview with Variety regarding the acquisition, Padilla expressed his desire to "return to [their] roots" by owning the company so that they "[could] really take Smosh in any creative direction".[15]

Outside Smosh

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Since his initial departure from Smosh in 2017, Padilla has found continued success on his personal YouTube channel. He created a series of videos titled I Spent a Day With..., interviewing people in particular fandoms.[16][17] Padilla stated that he uses the series as a way to have in-depth conversations with people who tend to be left out; he wanted to avoid "poking fun at people, cringe reaction humor-type stuff." For his work, he has been described as "YouTube's Interview King" by The Washington Post.[18] He has interviewed people such as then-YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, American YouTuber Dream,[19] and American musician Corpse Husband.[20][18] His other subjects included furries, ex-cult members, and survivors of police brutality.[16][17]

In 2020, Padilla founded Pressalike, Inc.[21] to develop and create a slate of unscripted content. The company currently produces the I Spent a Day With... series.[22]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Film Role Notes Ref.
2015 Smosh: The Movie Himself also executive producer [23]
2016 The Angry Birds Movie Hal Voice [24]
Hal and Bubbles Voice; short film [25]
Hedgehogs Bobby Voice [26]
Ghostmates Charlie also executive producer [27]
2019 The Angry Birds Movie 2 Hal Voice [28]

Television

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Year Film Role Notes Ref.
2015 Ridiculousness Himself Episode: "Smosh" [29]
2016 Scare PewDiePie Episode: "Naughty Pie" [29]
2016 Chelsea [30]
2018 RuPaul's Drag Race Episode: "Social Media Kings Into Queens" [31][32]

Web

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Year Film Role Notes Ref.
2005–2017
2023–present 		Smosh Himself,
various characters
2013 Ray William Johnson Himself Episode: "RWJ vs Smosh" [33]
2014 Epic Rap Battles of History Raphael Episode: "Artists vs TMNT" [34]
2016 Part Timers Anton Main role [35]
2012–2015, 2017 YouTube Rewind Himself Episode: "Rewind YouTube Style 2012"
Episode: "What Does 2013 Say?"
Episode: "Turn Down for 2014"
Episode: "Now Watch Me 2015"
Episode: "The Shape of 2017" 		[36]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About AnthonyPadilla". YouTube.
  2. ^ G. Lange, Patricia (November 15, 2019). Thanks for Watching: An Anthropological Study of Video Sharing on YouTube. University Press of Colorado. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-60732-955-8. LCCN 2019025982. OCLC 1110676050. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023. Original content was also offered by Smosh, [...], officially known as [...] and Daniel Anthony Padilla.
  3. ^ a b c d Borden, Jane (July 16, 2015). "How Sacramento's YouTube darlings Smosh went Hollywood and scored big time". Sacramento News & Review. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  4. ^ Grzesiak, Mateusz (April 3, 2018). Personal Brand Creation in the Digital Age: Theory, Research and Practice. Springer Publishing. pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-3-319-69696-6. LCCN 2017957652. OCLC 1029352544. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023. ...Anthony Padilla (born September 16, 1987 also in Sacramento).
  5. ^ a b DRAW MY LIFE - Anthony Padilla (2016), archived from the original on August 12, 2023, retrieved August 12, 2023
  6. ^ "SMOSH turns sketch comedy into cash". news10.net. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  7. ^ Kelly, Cynsere. "10 famous ARC alumni". The American River Current. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  8. ^ "Smosh: YouTube Gods and Unlikely Online Video Superstars". Streaming Media Magazine. October 4, 2012. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Spangler, Todd (June 14, 2017). "Anthony Padilla on Why He Left Smosh: 'I Haven't Been as Creatively Excited Recently'". Variety. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  10. ^ Padilla, Anthony. "Why I Left Smosh". Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ a b Lockett, Dee (June 14, 2017). "Anthony Padilla Just Left YouTube Comedy Duo Smosh to Go Solo". Vulture. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  12. ^ Spangler, Todd (June 14, 2017). "Smosh Co-Founder Anthony Padilla Is Leaving the YouTube Comedy Group". Variety. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  13. ^ Weiss, Geoff (November 8, 2018). "Smosh Co-Founder Anthony Padilla Shares Why He Departed "Evil and Shady" Defy Media After Sudden Shutdown". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  14. ^ Smosh Acquired by Rhett & Link's Mythical Entertainment Archived November 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Variety. February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  15. ^ Spangler, Todd (June 20, 2023). "Smosh Co-Founders Anthony Padilla, Ian Hecox Reunite to Acquire Comedy Brand From Rhett & Link (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  16. ^ a b Harris, Margot (May 7, 2020). "Anthony Padilla is YouTube's microphone for the people, interviewing everyone from furries to COVID-19 survivors". Insider. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  17. ^ a b Bender, Brittany (April 10, 2022). "Anthony Padilla Is The Best Interviewer Working Today & Here's Why". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  18. ^ a b Grayson, Nathan (November 10, 2022). "We spent a day with Anthony Padilla, YouTube's interview king". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  19. ^ Baj, Lavender (June 9, 2021). "Minecraft Cheater Dream Says He 'Handled The Situation Horribly' In New Interview". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  20. ^ Weiss, Geoff (June 24, 2021). "Here's Why YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Says She Follows Platform Drama". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  21. ^ "Pressalike, Inc. :: California (US) :: Opencorporates". OpenCorporates. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  22. ^ Spangler, Todd (December 14, 2020). "Smosh Co-Founder Anthony Padilla Launches Production Company, Sets Premiere of First Documentary Film (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  23. ^ Gutelle, Sam (April 16, 2015). "'Smosh: The Movie' To Arrive On July 23rd At VidCon". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  24. ^ McNary, Dave (October 1, 2014). "'Angry Birds' Movie Casts Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage, Maya Rudolph". Variety. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  25. ^ Angry Birds (May 12, 2016). "The Angry Birds Movie - Hal and Bubbles". YouTube. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  26. ^ Weiss, Geoff (December 18, 2017). "Anthony Padilla, Jenn McAllister Lend Voices To Lionsgate's 'Hedgehogs' Film". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  27. ^ Solsman, Joan (December 4, 2016). "Smosh's 'Ghostmates' is dead serious about storytelling". CNET. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  28. ^ Noble, Alex (August 16, 2019). "'The Angry Birds Movie 2': Meet the Voices Behind Each Animated Performer". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 26, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  29. ^ a b "Anthony Padilla". TV Guide. Archived from the original on March 26, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  30. ^ Nededog, Jethro (September 29, 2016). "We spent a day with Chelsea Handler on the set of her Netflix talk show — here's your behind-the-scenes look". Insider. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  31. ^ Nolfi, Joey (May 24, 2018). "RuPaul's Drag Race star Kameron Michaels awkwardly explains 'hyper-feminine' drag to a straight man". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  32. ^ Gutelle, Sam (May 22, 2018). "YouTube Stars Anthony Padilla, Kingsleyyy, Tyler Oakley To Receive Makeovers On 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  33. ^ Cohen, Joshua (January 16, 2013). "#1, #2 YouTubers Smosh, Ray William Johnson Collab In Funny Video". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on April 2, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  34. ^ Cohen, Joshua (July 14, 2014). "Smosh, Rhett & Link, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battle On Season Finale Of 'ERB'". Tubefilter. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  35. ^ Spangler, Todd (November 5, 2015). "YouTube's Smosh Guys to Star in 'Part Timers' Scripted Comedy". Variety. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  36. ^ Griffin, Andrew (December 9, 2014). "YouTube Rewind: Vloggers team up to re-create a year of viral videos". The Independent. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
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