A new character from Trish Rainone is racking up views online, with her comedy series receiving one-million views on social media

Trish Rainone’s latest character has become a social media star.

Rainone, a Sault native known for her work as an actor, screenwriter, director and producer, recently created the character of Jan Bouger, star of an ongoing social media comedy series titled Jan’s Not Movin!

“Everyone thought she was real at first,” Rainone told SooToday.

Eventually it became known that Jan is a character played by Rainone.

Jan’s Not Movin! centres on Sault woman Jan’s reluctance to relocate to Sudbury to be with her boyfriend Dave.

“She loves the Sault. She’s staying here. She grew up here. She loves everything about the Sault and she’s not moving. Dave lives in Sudbury, so they chat online, they send videos back and forth and they have a little thing going on but she’s not moving, so Dave might move here,” Rainone said.

She urges viewers to stay tuned to see what happens between Jan and Dave.

Jan’s Not Movin! reached a million views last week on several social media platforms.

“It’s mainly on TikTok but there’s also a couple hundred thousand on Facebook, a couple hundred thousand on Instagram. There’s maybe 60,000 on YouTube,” Rainone said.

Rainone said Jan’s Not Movin! views come mainly from within Canada, but the videos have also caught the attention of viewers from the U.S. and even one from Berlin, Germany.

“People like Jan. I think there’s something funny there so I put her on TikTok to see how people would respond, and then I was blown away by the response,” Rainone said.

She invented Jan in April.

“I was doing online sketches with a comedy school in Los Angeles. I was coming up with characters and writing little things in notes or in script format.”

As a writer in the competitive show business world, Rainone said she’s pitched a lot of comedy ideas that don’t get picked up and made for television.

“With Jan, I thought ‘what if I just start putting her online?’”

Rainone put Jan on Instagram at first, then TikTok.

“I was really surprised when I checked Tik Tok to see there were views and comments, thousands of comments and shares and questions for Jan, and that led me to make more and more Jan videos.”

Jan appears beside Sault landmarks such as the large baseball at the Strathclair Park ball diamond and Porter the Train in Bellevue Park.

She also visits local libraries and hands out bookmarks with motivational quotes and messages on the back of them.

“She’s been in a couple of videos speaking with kids, which is really, really sweet. She makes a wish at the giant baseball at Strathclair. Her wish is to sing on the stage at the Bellevue Park Band Shell. It’s her big dream,” Rainone said.

“I thought that’s a funny goal,’” she said with a laugh. 

“I thought ‘I’m going to give her a really low stakes goal.”

Dave is portrayed in Jan’s Not Movin! videos by Bruce Stanfield, a Sudbury actor and friend of Rainone’s.

“I think he does such a great job with comedy,” said Rainone, who produces new Jan videos daily.

“It’s fun to play Jan,” she said.

“When I go out as Jan, I get to interact with people and then I get to see the comments on social media. It’s a fun artistic outlet and a way to connect with people locally in a positive way.”

Jan has become something of an alter ego for Rainone.

“It’s a big contrast from when I put on the Jan wig to when I take it off.

“I’ve been at events where I’ve walked around as Jan and then the second I tuck the wig away and I’m back in my Trish clothes, I’m back to Trish the local mom.”

Rainone is known for her work as an actor in TV comedy series such as My Roommate’s an Escort and Pink Is In.

She currently resides in the Sault and is a co-creator of the Sault Film Festival.

Rainone said she hopes Jan’s Not Movin! will eventually be picked up by a network and will run on TV.

“That would be awesome,” she said.

Jan’s Not Movin! can be viewed on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.