Young Audiences Want Better Characters, Not More Influencers
New research from UCLA offers a revealing look at what younger viewers want from film and television, and where the entertainment industry may be getting it wrong.
Hollywood has spent years treating social media popularity as a measure of star potential. But a new study suggests that younger audiences are considerably less interested in seeing influencers on screen than the industry’s fascination with online celebrity might imply.
The 2026 Teens and Screens report, published by the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA, surveyed 1,500 people ages 10 to 24 about their preferences in entertainment. Asked whom they would cast in a production, 39.8 percent favored new actors, compared with 38.2 percent who preferred established performers. Just 16.8 percent chose influencers.
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Who would young viewers cast?
2026 Teens and Screens survey | Ages 10-24
- New actors
- 39.8%
- Known actors
- 38.2%
- Influencers
- 16.8%
Source: UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers | 2026
The difference between newcomers and established actors is narrow. The considerably smaller vote for influencers, however, raises an interesting question about the relationship between online fame and audience appeal. A large following does not necessarily translate into an appetite to see that person act.
The study also suggests that young viewers are paying close attention to how characters are written.
More than half of respondents, 55 percent, wanted greater representation of neurodivergent characters, while only 22.7 percent believed existing portrayals felt accurate most of the time.
Romance presented another revealing result. Nearly 64 percent preferred romantic stories that emphasized friendship between partners rather than sex.
These findings complicate some familiar assumptions about younger audiences. The demand is not simply for faster storytelling, more recognizable faces, or increasingly provocative material. Many respondents appear interested in believable relationships and characters whose experiences are represented with greater accuracy.
Their understanding of storytelling itself is also changing. When asked which media could tell a story, 72.9 percent selected YouTube, slightly ahead of television and film. Seventy-nine percent agreed that short-form content could tell stories, too.
That does not mean traditional entertainment has lost its audience. It suggests that young viewers no longer regard the format as the defining characteristic of a worthwhile story.
For studios, casting directors, and writers, the findings present a challenge. Visibility may help attract attention to a production, but the survey suggests that popularity alone is a poor substitute for convincing performances and carefully developed characters.
Young audiences are often discussed as a demographic to capture. This research offers a more useful approach: ask them what they actually want to watch.
Reporting source: Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA, Rewrite This! How Gen Z and Gen Alpha Are Redefining Modern Storytelling, 2026.
https://www.scholarsandstorytellers.com/teens-screens-26
