leather jacket. GmbH
shirt + jeans. Samsøe Samsøe
Benji Krol isn’t trying to be who you want him to be. If you’ve watched Krol grow up online, you’ve seen the glow-ups, the experiments, the characters, the chaos — each post a snapshot of someone becoming. But what makes him different isn’t just that he’s creative. It’s that he’s willing to evolve in public, even when millions of people are attached to an older version of him.
In conversation with Schön!, he describes his life like an archive he never meant to build — one that now lets him rewind through every era, every phase, every cringe outfit, every heartbreak, every reinvention. He talks openly about the pressure of expectations, the identity confusion that comes from being loved for a persona, and the quiet decision to keep changing anyway. Because to him, regret isn’t failure but proof of a life lived.
Now, with his film debut ‘A Day for Losers’, Krol is stepping into a new kind of storytelling: one where he isn’t the director, editor, and writer of his own world — he’s simply the character, living inside someone else’s script. And while the movie plays with comedy and classic teen energy, his character Connor brings something deeper: unresolved trauma, sexuality, and identity struggles that hit closer to home than people might expect.
Still, at the center of everything is the same truth he keeps returning to: creativity is freedom. Sometimes it starts with boredom. Sometimes it starts with a breakdown. Sometimes it starts with doing absolutely nothing — lying in the grass, staring at the ceiling, letting the noise fade until you can finally hear yourself again. And when Benji imagines the future, it isn’t a bigger city or a louder spotlight. It’s a mountain. A castle. A few dogs. A life that feels magical, private, and fully his.
jacket + sweater. Samsøe Samsøe
shorts + overknee boots. GmbH
opposite
hoodie. Les Benjamin’s
long sleeved top. Emporio Armani
leather belt bag. MCM
How would you elevator pitch yourself?
My name is Benji Krol. I’m an all-around creative — I never shy away from a creative challenge. I got into social media because it gave me the freedom to create on my own terms, without the restrictions of school at the time. But I love any form of creativity, whether it’s makeup, fashion, creating a story, becoming a character — just finding beauty in any form of creation.
How do you feel about having this online archive that is shared with millions of people?
When I first started, I never thought it would be something where I’d have the opportunity to look back at myself and reflect as much as I can now. At the time, I was like, this is who I am, and this is who I’m gonna be forever. Now I can look back and be like, damn, that was me for a moment in time. I’ve changed so much, and it allows me to reflect in a way I think others can’t.
It also gives other people the opportunity to relate to me and grow up with me—experience change with me too. I’m not only sharing the best happy times, but also a lot of the sad times. People have appreciated that, because it’s not every day you can scroll back to your past and see who you used to be. I think a lot of people see themselves in me, and I’m happy about that.
coat. Filipa K
shirt + shirt on waist. GANT
leather trousers. Diesel
opposite
leather coat. GANT
polo sweater + trousers. Diesel
So you don’t have any regrets about anything you’ve ever posted?
Who doesn’t have regrets about things they’ve done in the past? Everyone is going to regret things, always. I’m obviously going to regret some things I’ve done—but not in a way that I don’t appreciate who I was at the time. I was having fun, making mistakes, growing up, as any person would.
You’re not going to live life perfectly. Honestly, if you don’t regret anything you did in life, then you lived life wrong. You’re supposed to wear something cringey every once in a while, try something new you probably wouldn’t try. If you’re not doing that, then what’s the point?
How do you manage your personal freedom of creativity and growth as a human compared to expectations online?
Something that really messed up my perception of myself for the longest time was people’s expectations of who I’m supposed to be. It’s so hard not to change. Once so many people liked a specific version of me, how could I not want to stay that version? I wanted to evolve, but I felt like I wasn’t allowed to. That left me with a lot of identity problems because I didn’t know who I was anymore. At one point, I was just the character people expected me to be.
But after some time, I realized, hey, I can change and grow. Some people will see me as one version they saw even when I’m 40 years old. I can keep changing, and people’s perception of me might change, but I can be okay with that as long as I’m happy with being myself. At the end of the day, I shouldn’t be afraid to change past the person I think people like me being, because I’ll still be that person forever on the inside.
coat. Filipa K
leather trousers + boots. Diesel
opposite
coat. Filipa K
leather trousers + boots. Diesel
Would you say your online and your offline persona match?
My online and in-person experiences are true to each other. For a while, they weren’t. I was like this soft boy, cutesy Benji online, when I wasn’t that anymore in real life. And I stayed that way because I knew that’s what people liked me as. Now I’m a little bit truer to myself, but I’m still kind of confused about who I am online versus who I am in real life. That’s something I’m working through right now.
Let’s talk about acting. Was this always part of the plan, or did you stumble into it?
How was that part of my grand master plan? This is phase two of my master plan — I have six phases until the point that I die. No, I’m kidding. Acting was always bound to follow. I was interested in it in school and in the theatre. I loved storytelling and creating a story through film, even small recordings. That’s the reason I got into it online. I love creating a story and getting into a character. I kind of created a whole character for myself online as well.
If I wasn’t doing social media, I’d be working in film — whether as an actor or a director. Long-term, I’d love to go into more directing, but acting is phase one of the play.
jacket + sweater. Samsøe Samsøe
opposite
knitted cardigan. MM6 Maison Margiela
shorts. GANT
wool scarf. Samsøe Samsøe
Can you tell us a little bit about the movie? What’s the movie about? Tell us about Connor — what drew you to his character?
When I first saw the storyline for ‘A Day for Losers, ‘ I thought, okay, this is some high school movie about some kid who wants to throw a party. When I read the script, I laughed so many times. I related to the characters in so many ways. I saw my friends in the characters too. And I realized it wasn’t like every other high school movie you get nowadays.
Can you take us into the world of Connor? Who is he and what challenges is he facing?
I really fell in love with Connor because while the movie is really fun and comedic, Connor kind of takes a break from that. He has deeper, unresolved issues — his identity, who he really is, his sexuality, childhood trauma — stuff he hadn’t properly processed. I was making the joke all the time, this movie’s so fun and then there’s Connor. But I appreciated that break from the comedic storyline because it added a lot more depth to the film.
You come from social media, where you script and edit your own things. How was it stepping into someone else’s script and working with a director?
Being in a film where I was just the character was so much fun. It took off all the responsibility of creating the story, and instead, I could just live in the story. That made me feel closer to Connor as a character.
Was there anything surprising about acting that you didn’t expect?
The most surprising thing was that I had a few crying and panicky scenes. In acting classes and theatre, you cry, and then you go on a break — you’re done. But here, if you’re doing 20 takes of you crying, you have to stay sad the whole time. So when the camera cut and I was crying, I’d sit in the corner of the room and cry by myself. People would come over and try to talk to me, and I’d be like, leave me alone. I need to stay sad. I need to keep crying. I need to stay in the role.
Do you have a dream role or a dream director you’d like to work with?
I love horror and I’d love to be in a classic horror movie. Recently, ‘Nosferatu’ came out — it’s the classic vampire story, but done so beautifully. It doesn’t have to be scary. I just want it to be eerie and beautiful.
coat. Filipa K
shirt. GANT
leather trousers. Diesel
opposite
hoodie. Les Benjamin’s
long sleeved top, trousers + loafers. Emporio Armani
leather belt bag. MCM
A lot of people describe boredom as a creativity starter. It can be dangerous or divine. What do you think?
I think boredom is really beautiful because it’s the start of every creative idea—any idea in general. I hate being bored. I never allow myself to be bored because I’m constantly doing things. I was sick for two weeks, and I couldn’t just sit in bed and do nothing. Because of that, I kept staying sick because I love getting up and doing things, trying things, creating things. I think the start of all my best moments in life started with me being a little bit bored.
When was the last time you were really bored?
In our age right now, with algorithms constantly grabbing for your attention, it’s hard to be bored. Everywhere you look, something is pulling you in. I’ve realized I have to give myself moments of boredom. If I don’t, then I’ll never be bored—and that’s not a good thing. I like to lay on the couch, in the grass under a tree, or on my bed and literally do nothing for 30 or 40 minutes. Just stare.
What do you think about then?
It sounds self-centred, but I like to think about myself a lot. At the end of the day, I’m the person I’m going to be with for the rest of my life. I’m the only one who really understands me. No one’s ever going to understand you as well as yourself. When I’m alone, I think about who I am, who I want to be, and if I would like hanging out with myself. You don’t really get those chances anymore when you’re constantly being distracted. I think it’s important to just be with yourself for a bit.
I used to fantasize too much about my life with specific people, and I’ve kind of stopped myself from doing that. I’m not fantasizing about dating certain people anymore, that’s for sure. But yeah, I used to fantasize about living in a little castle with someone.
Tell me about the castle.
I’m not built for city life. I guess I’m a full-on country boy. But I’m going to be a city boy for at least the next 10 years. After that, I’ll find my Mr. or Mrs. — whoever it may be — and go live in the sickest, most beautiful castle on a mountain. We’ll have like four dogs, maybe one cat, and a bunch of kids. We’ll live this whimsical, magical little life in the mountains until my kids get bored and say they hate the mountains like I did when I was a kid and decided I wanted to move to a city instead.
leather jacket. GmbH
shirt + jeans. Samsøe Samsøe
sneakers. Veja
photography. Samuel Smelty
art direction. Marei Pohnke
fashion. Illia Kulishov + Liza Agafonova
talent. Benji Krol
hair + make up. Olivia Nwachukwu
videography. Frederick Blindow
production. Marius Bingener + Weronika Wajdzik
photography assistant. Dominik Ehrengruber
intro. Kelsey Barnes
