Khaby Lame became TikTok's most followed star without saying a word. How he did it

Khaby Lame isn't just famous, he's TikTok famous. Really TikTok famous.

The 24-year-old, whose real name is Khabane, was born in Senegal and raised in Italy. And he's officially the most followed person on the social media platform.

At 163 million followers, Lame has more TikTok devotees than stars like Charli D'Amelio (155.5 million) and Mr. Beast (104.3 million).

Lame, who once worked at factory in the Italian town of Chivasso, north of Turin, got his start posting videos during the pandemic.

His videos follow a similar format. In them, he pokes fun at life hacks that seem more complicated than they're worth or inserts himself as a character into strange videos. The catch is that he does al the videos without talking, like a modern day mime. With his exaggerated expressions, he's the Mr. Bean of TikTok.

Since 2020, Lame has been named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list, hosted a show on Tubi with celebrity guests like David Beckham and made a cameo alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in this year's "Bad Boys: Ride or Die."

Now, he's working on starring and producing his own film set to come out next year and has launched an energy drink on Aug. 2 in collaboration with Mr. Pink.

He's conquered TikTok. What's next? TODAY.com caught up with Khabe in a phone interview Thursday to talk about what his life is like now and what's next.

Could you ever have imagined being the most followed person on TikTok?

I would never have imagined to be in the place that I am now. And I'm very glad and thankful. I thank God to have all the things I have right now and I keep trying to be better.

Were you always a funny guy?

I was always the class clown and I was always doing pranks to my other friends ... I was always a funny guy.

Take us back to the beginning. What made you want to start posting videos on TikTok?

I started during the pandemic when I lost my job. I started to make happy videos on social media, but was never thinking that they were gonna grow like this, you know? I was just making videos to make people happy.

What do you think it is about your videos that people love so much?

I think people like my videos for the expression, for the simplicity there, because it's a simple video. And then the effect that I don't talk is a universal language. All the people can understand and be part of the comedy without having words. They just have to watch the video and enjoy it.

Talk to me about your acting career.

I'm making my own movie. It's called "00Khabe" and it's about a secret agent who is trying to save the world. We have some big actors, but I can talk about that now because it's a privacy thing.

Talk to us about your Mr. Pink collaboration. Why did you want to get into the energy drink space?

The product is very natural and great for kids. It doesn't have any additives or chemicals, which I think is really important these days.

Is there one celebrity you haven't met yet that you want to meet?

Michael Jordan!

What do you do when the cameras aren't rolling?

I read Manga animation comics.

What does your family think of your success?

They're surprised. They're happy of course. I bought my family a house and they are all living there in Italy.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com