She may go by “The Lorax” and Lord Farquaad, but we first met Ashby Florence as Alexander Hamilton. There she was, Sharpie goatee and all, absolutely nailing Hamilton’s cheating man aesthetic in a TikTok that has reached over 22.4 million views since it first went viral on August 1, 2025.

After that instant-fame, Florence locked in. She started doing daily, hours-long TikTok Lives, sometimes before and after work (because, relatable queen, she has an adult job like us). Her screen time increased considerably. “Before all this? 10 hours,” she says. “Now? 24/7.”

In a matter of 10 days, Florence grew her TikTok following from 10,000 to 1 million. She’s inescapable on the app right now. If you haven’t heard of her… are you even on the internet?

But her ascent to stardom doesn’t feel like a stroke of luck; it feels like the earned arrival of a generational talent. She is infinitely funny. Her comedy feels genuine, goofy, and reminiscent of early 2000s YouTube (IMO, the glory days), and it makes her — and her characters — perfect bait for fan edits.

Florence currently sits comfortably at 2.4 million TikTok followers and counting. And now that she’s finally caught her breath, Betches spoke with Florence about going viral, sudden, inconceivable fame, and what she’s working on right now.

Q&A With Ashby Florence

Edited for clarity.

BETCHES: The last 10 days have been such a whirlwind. What was your “oh my gosh, I made it” moment?

Ashby Florence: I feel like it would help if you imagined someone [coming] up to you and saying, ‘In 14 days, everyone will be talking about you and expecting something from you, oh, and you start twerking live in front of 40,000 people.’ It would be a lot, no?

It has been the most exhilarating, stressful, inconvenient, blessing-of-a-time, but the cherry on top was being recognized in public for the first time.

What’s the weirdest thing about TikTok fame?

How people act like you’re famous. I’ll always respond to DMs and comments and emails with people like they’re my friends, and seeing the response of ‘OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU RESPONDED’ is so baffling to me. It’s very flattering, but going from nobody to somebody in two weeks shines a light on that level of contrast.

Once your Alexander Hamilton video went viral, what inspired you to start creating more content as him? What was it like learning the ropes of TikTok while in character?

I saw how people liked my interpretation and, as a theater kid, wanted to give every variation I could think of. It came pretty naturally, considering the theater kid inside me has been kicking and screaming for attention for years.

What inspired your character of “The Lorax,” and did it change based on feedback from your audience?

Purely because it is a funny visual, I try not to put too much thought into my characters in terms of which ones I do. Performance-wise, it’s shocking how it takes a lot of brain power to improvise on the spot for that long. As far as choosing who I play, that’s whatever I think will visually get the biggest laugh.

What direction do you want your career to grow in?

I want to try everything. I trained seven days a week to make it in the entertainment industry. I would skip school to drive to New York to audition for Broadway shows and stay up late with my mom filming self-tapes after dinner. I worked so hard for a dream that never saw the light of day until now. I plan on exploring, growing, failing, and growing some more. Whether that includes what I’m doing now, live shows, podcasts, film and TV, Broadway, you name it, I’m there.

How do you see your content evolving?

I don’t want to put myself in a box. I want to continue to give my viewers what they want and need, while also discovering what I myself want and need. I see a lot of fun things in the future, and genuinely have the nicest and most accommodating following, so I am not scared to try new things.

Are there any characters you want to try next?

Gosh, there is a very long list on my phone, but I have been eyeing the Grinch for Christmas this year.

What character would you like to be remembered by?

Myself. Specifically as someone who just tries really hard and will shamelessly do what it takes to make people smile.

What’s something your audience doesn’t know about you?

I worked as a dental hygienist for two weeks at an actual dentistry due to an ADHD hyper-fixation. Pretty sure it was illegal, but fun nonetheless. I also have a motor tic disorder, so there’s an easter egg to look out for.

What’s your current hyper-fixation?

Cats, not in like a weird way, in like a normal cat person kinda way. I’ve been dying to add another cat to the mix, so I’ve been hyper-fixating on scrolling through shelter listings recently behind my boyfriend’s back.