It all started when Andrew Bachelor of West Palm Beach, Florida, decided he wanted to be king. With the encouragement of his parents, he studied business management at FSU so that he might one day join them in their accounting practice. He pursued a degree to satisfy them, but his personal ambitions included performing in a sketch comedy group. After graduating, he attended New York Film Academy to sharpen his skills behind the camera.
Frustrated at auditioning for roles he never got, he decided to put a reel together that would show the entertainment world what he’s capable of. He amassed some 10,000 followers on YouTube before switching to Vine and dominating the platform, with 15 million followers enjoying his frenetic six-second shorts and elevating him to the status he sought, King Bach. King of what? King of the internet, of course. The question is how does King Bach, born of two Jamaican immigrants with no connections in the industry, now become King of Hollywood?
“You have to get to know what’s trending, you have to know what’s now, you have to know what’s hot,” he tells us. “It’s so much fun to keep your ear to the street and know what the people love, what the people are attracted to. I guess that comes with being a people person.”
Since posting his first video in 2013, Bach has worked with idols like Will Smith, Jordan Peele and Kevin Hart. “Kevin gave me tips on my standup. I need to always keep coming up with jokes, never stop, there’re no days off,” Bach says about learning from mentors how to forge his own path. “The way that things used to be are no more. What worked for Kevin Hart won’t work for me. What worked for Will Smith may not work for me. Will Smith had his hit TV show when he was a teenager. I have to figure out what my next steps are.”
Whatever they are, they appear to be happening on the big screen. After co-starring in the Marlon Wayans spoof, 50 Shades of Black and the Mike Epps comedy, Meet the Blacks, he executive produced and starred in Where’s the Money, re-teaming with Epps and co-starring Terry Crews. He currently has six films in the hopper including Love, Weddings and other Disasters starring Jeremy Irons and the legendary Diane Keaton. “The first day I got to set she’s yelling, ‘Bach! Bach! Get out here! Get out here and come take a picture with me! I heard you got 20 million followers! I need a picture right now!’ And this was before I even met her,” he recalls about his initial encounter with the Oscar winner. As for his suave co-star, Jeremy Irons, “He is the only guy that can pull his scarf off and make it look cool. He made it look cool!”
While working with legends old and new is well and good, what Bach really wants to do is direct. He studied acting for film and has been shooting and editing his own shorts for years. So, maybe now is the time to get behind a camera that’s not his phone and realize his vision on the big screen. His dream project is an action comedy along the lines of Rush Hour 2, his favorite film.
“I’m either watching a movie or television series, and I do that to learn, to study,” he says of his nightly viewing habits. “I’m studying what shot these directors are making. If I’m watching a show, I’m watching how the season arcs, the writing of the show. It’s all a learning process.
