Loulousoupu has been making waves on TikTok and she hasn’t even left college yet. With over 400,ooo followers, the north-Londoner’s content spans from light-hearted voice impressions to calling out transphobia on the app. Even if you don’t know her by name, you’ll almost definitely know the video where she pretends to be an American girl attempting to pronounce British slang. The Tab caught up with Lou Lou to found out more about how she got into doing impressions, what it’s like being a trans content creator and how she’s dealing with TikTok fame.

‘I used to think I had a very low voice and feel negative about myself’

Loulou’s ability to do accents was actually born out of her own insecurities. “As a trans woman it’s difficult to come to terms with who you are when you’re not necessarily feeling like the person you’re meant to be,” she says. “I used to think I had a very low voice and feel negative about myself.”

Luckily, Loulou’s friends were very supportive and within her group she became known for putting on funny voices.

It comes as no surprise that when Loulou saw American people doing the “British accent challenge” on TikTok, she thought she’d give it a go.

In this video, Lou Lou poses as a Californian girl attempting the challenge before seamlessly flipping into what she calls her “roadman voice,” to say some common British slang phrases.

@loulousoupu #LiveForTheChallenge #BOSSUpYourGame #ourhouse2021 #london #fyp ♬ original sound – LouLou

This was about 11 months ago now. Loulou remembers posting the content and leaving her phone upstairs while she had her dinner. When she went back on her phone, she’d hit 10k views. The next day it was on one million.

Imjustbait and other meme accounts shared the clip, while KSI did a “Try not to laugh challenge” using her footage.

“I was in actual shock,” she tells me. “But then I was like, wait, maybe I should feel more confident about this weird talent that I have.”

The video now has over nine million views and Lou Lou has 428.9k TikTok followers.

‘I was getting messages from young trans people saying they feel more confident in themselves’

A lot of the comedy from Loulou’s impressions stems from the fact she subverts what you expect to come out her mouth. For instance, people don’t know whether she is British or not. “People genuinely think I’m a valley girl from LA,” she says.

She acknowledges that her being trans and her voice impressions are somewhat entwined. But not only has her content helped her become more comfortable with her own identity, it has also helped others.

“There’s always this idea that trans women have to fit into this hyper feminine, stereotypical perception of what women should be,” she says. “The voices that I was doing and posting these TikToks helped many people. I was getting messages from young trans people saying they feel more confident in themselves because of what I’ve been doing.”

People message her saying they’ve had bad days until they see her content and it makes them feel better about themselves. “That’s probably the best part about it,” Loulou says.

‘There are still days when I struggle’

Unfortunately, Loulou gets a “shit tonne” of hate on TikTok. A lot of men comment on her videos or DM her saying they are “ashamed for liking the way [she] looks.”

“It’s there problem not mine. It doesn’t affect me,” she says, adding: “There are still days when I struggle.”

But Loulou doesn’t let it get her down. She replies to hate comments and finds it boosts her engagement. “I’ve turned bad publicity into good publicity.”

@loulousoupu Reply to @sailor_boy Becky on a mazza rn #fyp #foryou #roadman #comedy #viral ♬ original sound – LouLou

Loulou does also receive a lot of positive comments and gets stopped pretty much every time she goes out. “It’s crazy,” she says. “My friends get pissed off.”

‘Things do get better’

Loulou continues to produce videos on TikTok and is currently applying for drama school, with aspirations of being a voice actor in the future.

She concludes our interview with a message for younger members of the trans community:  “Things do get better. It may seem that it is so far away. You may be struggling really hard and you might not be able to look at yourself sometimes because of the way you feel. But time is all it takes.”

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