![]() ![]() He made his first American film appearance in LUV (2012), starring in an all-star cast which included Common, Danny Glover. Upon returning to the States, Michael's career took off. Directed by Silvio Muccino, Michael spoke fluent Italian for the film and earned the immediate praise and attention of the industry's elite. ![]() He shot to fame at the tender age of ten, starring in the Italian film UN ALTRO MUNDO (2010), a role for which he mastered a new language and culture, and lived abroad for a year. Patrick in the hit series POWER, in a leading role alongside Omari Hardwick, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, and Naturi Naughton. Patrick on Starz network's hit drama series, Power Book II: GHOST where he leads a star studded cast a direct spin off from the hit series Power. “I’m sure he still loves corn but it would be remiss of me if I didn’t say that he loves broccoli, too.” I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing.Actor Michael Rainey, Jr. But one of the core values of the show is that every kid has a voice that’s not changed.”Īnd does Tariq still love corn? Is it perhaps easier to eat now that he has both his front teeth? “He loves so many things, so many vegetables!” says Shapiro-Barnum. “If anything, it’s made our job easier because parents are more aware of what we do. “Now people say: ‘I was a fan before Corn Kid!’,” he says. Meanwhile, Recess Therapy has launched a range of It’s Corn merchandise and Shapiro-Barnum was recently named as one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30. He’s a kid and kids like to repeat the same thing.” Do people shout “Have a corn-tastic day!” in the park? “I don’t get asked to say any of the ‘It’s Corn’ catchphrases, but I’m sure Tariq does. The Recess Therapy host recently met show fan Michelle Obama, and still interviews children for the series. “They have handled it beautifully and with grace, and he seems like he’s having the time of his life.” “His family makes sure he still has normality,” says Shapiro-Barnum. In September, Tariq’s TikTok, which has now amassed 866,000 followers, even had to reassure fans that Corn Kid was alive and well, after rumours spread that he had been killed in a shooting. “Honestly, I think he’s just been really excited to do all of these fun things that, for a seven-year-old, are amazing,” says Shapiro-Barnum, keen to reassure those who have expressed concern about the youngster’s sudden rise to internet fame. ![]() He also appeared on a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In September, Tariq was named South Dakota’s official “Corn-bassador” and, for Thanksgiving, he partnered with corn brand Green Giant and food charity City Harvest to give out 50,000 tins of corn in Brooklyn, where he lives. He also joined Cameo where, according to the New York Times, he sold personalised video messages for $220 and became the most viewed profile on the platform. But since making his name as Corn Kid, Tariq has been busy: he attended the LA premiere of Robert Zemeckis’s Pinocchio (“Who’s Tom Hanks?” he replied, adorably, when asked if he was excited to meet the actor), starred in a Chipotle ad and taste-tested corn-themed foods on The Drew Barrymore Show. The pair stayed in touch – via Tariq’s mother, Jessica – and last caught up about six weeks ago. I started seeing it everywhere it became its own entity.” “Recess Therapy has had other viral videos in the past but it had never gotten to the point where literally everybody I knew was sending it to me. As Shapiro-Barnum puts it: “It kind of took over for a minute.” Did the 23-year-old always know it would be such a hit? Recess Therapy’s original YouTube video has now been watched more than 10m times and its “Corn Kid” Instagram reel has had 30m views. I started seeing it everywhere it became its own entity Julian Shapiro-Barnum Everybody I knew was sending the video to me. ![]() Shapiro-Barnum and Tariq have each received a third of the song’s profits. The whole exchange is undeniably cute and the subsequent musical remix by The Gregory Brothers made it catchy, too: It’s Corn – which will have you breaking into “It has the juice! It has the juuuuice” at any and every mention of corn – has been viewed more than 100m times on YouTube and TikTok, gaining celebrity fans including Kevin Bacon, Lupita Nyong’o and Kristin Chenoweth. ![]()
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