Max Emerson

• Name — Max Emerson • Birth Name — Max Hanley Emerson • Born — 7 September 1988 • Birthplace — Vero Beach, Florida, U.S. • Other Names — Maxisms (online) • Education — University of Miami (BFA) • Occupation — Writer, director, actor, influencer • Website — www.maxismsmedia.com

Emerson was born in Vero Beach, Florida and studied for a BFA in performance and directing at the University of Miami, from which he graduated in 2009.

Emerson began modeling while he was a student, when he signed up with the agency Wilhelmina Models. He works with agencies including Wilhelmina (New York), LA Models, Established Models (London), Heffner Management (Seattle), Next Management (Miami) and Factor Chosen (Chicago).

As well as acting in Earwig and DipSpit, Emerson has appeared in single episodes of the TV series Glee (the season 5 finale "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project"), Hit the Floor, The Real O'Neals and Eastsiders, and of the web series Coffee House Chronicles and the movie made from it. From September 7 to 24, 2017, he starred as Mitchell in Douglas Carter Beane's comedy play The Little Dog Laughed at the Red House Arts Center in Syracuse, New York. A local reviewer said each of the four actors in the play "brings a memorable, engaging performance", and that Emerson "delivers the role of a sweet, confused, and occasionally thoughtless young star with sensitivity and kindness".

Emerson's first novel, Hot Sissy – Life Before Flashbulbs, is autobiographical. It follows his teenage years growing up in "redneck" Florida. Hot Sissy was released as an e-book and in a limited print run of 500 hardcover copies in December 2014. The limited editions were each signed and came with an original Polaroid picture. His second novel, The Sparkle Club, follows a gay baiting influencer and social justice warrior. He get himself cancelled so hard that he's forced into a summer of community service in rural Ohio... while living with the family whose lives he destroyed. Both e-books are free for students through Max's website.

In June 2016, he publicly introduced his boyfriend, Andrés Camilo, an officer in the US Army, in a YouTube video. Emerson has an active social media presence and posts regularly on YouTube where his username is "TheMaxVicious". As of 2018 12 he has 1 million followers on Instagram and 19,500 on Twitter. On YouTube and on social media, Emerson is known for his humour and for showing off his body. In May 2017, French comic TV presenter Cyril Hanouna used one of Emerson's torso pictures to set up a catfishing profile on a gay dating site, and tricked the men who responded to the profile into revealing sexual fantasies to him while he was live on his show Touche pas à mon poste!. The segment triggered nearly 20,000 complaints to regulators and condemnation from LGBT groups. In April 2022, Emerson served as the Grand Marshal of the Miami Beach Gay Pride. In July 2023, Emerson and Camilo announced their engagement on Instagram. In January 2025, however, the two had announced that they had ended their relationship after 9 years.

• Year — Title — Type — Role — Notes — Ref(s) • 2010 — Violet Tendencies — Movie — Max — Self • 2011 — Earwig — Short — Max — Writer, producer, co-director • 2011 — DipSpit — Short — Sam — Writer, producer, co-director • 2014 — Glee — TV series — Male model — Episode: The Untitled Rachel Berry Project • 2014 — "DTF" by Adore Delano — Music video — Max — Self • 2015 — Coffee House Chronicles — Web series — Jonathan — Episode: Seeking Same • 2015 — Futbol — Movie — Muffin Troll — Actor • 2016 — Hit the Floor — TV series — Max — Episode: Good D • 2016 — The Real O'Neals — TV series — Cologne Man — Episode: Pilot • 2016 — Coffee House Chronicles: The Movie — Movie — Jonathan — Actor • 2017 — Me + 1 — Short — Matthew Newman — Actor • 2017 — EastSiders — TV series — Cheyenne — Episode: Priscilla • 2017 — Hooked — Movie — Writer, director, executive producer • 2018 — "Now or never" by Blair St. Clair — Music video — Max — Self • 2019 — Psycho Stripper — Movie — Benji — Actor • 2021 — Single All the Way — Film — Maxisms