CNN — 

  Annie Korzen kicks off the auditions with a statement most wouldn’t expect from an 83-year-old:   

  “Hi, I’m Annie Korzen.  I live in Los Angeles.  I’m 5’3″.  And I have almost 400,000 followers on TikTok.”   

  It still surprises Korzen, an actress who describes herself as a longtime player who struggled to find a large audience.  Now her TikToks have more than 8 million likes and thousands of supportive comments.  And none of this would have happened, he says, if not for an unexpected friendship with someone who is more than 50 years his junior.   

  “Even though we have completely different backgrounds in every possible way,” she says, “we really are soul mates.”   

  Mackenzie Morrison, 31, says she was attracted to Korzen the moment they first met at a charity event.   

  Korzen was magnetic – a master storyteller who could make a room full of people laugh.  He had an impeccable sense of style.  And she enjoyed shopping in a thrifty way – an activity Morrison also loves.   

  “When you meet another economist, you speak the same language very naturally,” says Morrison.   

  “He’s trying hard to find the deal.  And I love it when you find something so weird and interesting, you couldn’t find it anywhere else unless you were on a budget.  … That’s what naturally brought us together.”   
 @akorzen

Change is good #fun #colorful #fulloflife #fyp ♬ original sound – Annie Korzen
The day they met, neither of them realized that a rich friendship had taken root.

  “Nobody expected us to be this close,” Morrison says.   

  Their shared love of vintage fashion soon led to a partnership reselling some of their favorite thrift finds online.   

  But it would be more than a year before they began a project together that both women describe as “life-changing.”   

  For years, Korzen was best known for appearing on several episodes of Seinfeld as Doris Clobus, a neighbor at Jerry’s parents’ Florida apartment complex.  Most recently, she appeared in “Jane the Virgin” and “Pen15” and shared her storytelling skills on tour with The Moth.   

  But for the most part, the larger audience she craved eluded her.   

  “I’ve always been a bit of a gamer,” she says.  “I’m the man who knows how to laugh at a line.”   

  One day, Korzen told Morrison that she was thinking of trying to build a following by posting videos on Instagram.   

  Morrison directed her friend to TikTok and offered to help download and edit the videos.   

  Neither of them imagined how successful their foray into TikTok would be – although Morrison says there was no doubt in her mind that it was the perfect platform for Korzen.   

  “When we started, it was literally like two teenagers running around her house making videos.  There was no plan.  We were just laughing and having so much fun,” says Morrison.   

Mackenzie created this thing for me when I’m out on the street and people come up to tell me how much they love me.  This is a big issue in my life.  … And it gave me a different kind of focus creatively and professionally.   

Annie Korzen, 83, for her friendship with 31-year-old Mackenzie Morrison   

  That was in April 2021. And it wasn’t long before a TikTok featuring Korzen talking about how working on Seinfeld changed her life started to gain steam.  In a matter of weeks, she went from having just eight followers to nearly 200,000.   

  Korzen and Morrison discovered they shared common values, interests and a similar sense of humor.  The age difference is the most obvious difference between them.  But that’s not the only thing.  Korzen describes their unlikely friendship as “the world’s oddest couple.”   

  Korzen is from New York.  Morrison is from Los Angeles.   

  Korzen’s hair is red and wild.  Morrison’s is brown and straight.   

  Korzen grew up in a secular Jewish family.  Morrison was raised a Christian.   

  But Korzen says the biggest difference between them is something deeper.   

  “I am the first generation (child) of very poor immigrants.  I grew up in a Jewish ghetto in the Bronx.  … I always feel, in this country, wherever I go, I’m a foreigner,” she says.   

  Morrison’s family roots in the United States go back generations.  And in her, Korzen sees a sense of belonging she never felt.   

  In a column she wrote about their relationship, Korzen described Morrison as “tall,” “thin” and “model beautiful.”  She described herself as “short” and “average looking”.   

  “I always knew I wasn’t pretty,” she told CNN in a recent interview.  But making TikToks with Morrison, she says, has changed her perspective.   

  “It’s the first time in my life that I’ve been called beautiful.  They (commenters) say “You’re great”.  ‘You are beautiful.’  “I love your outfit.”  ‘I like your hair.’  ‘I love your style.’  ‘I love you.’  “You look so great,” says Korzen.  “I’ve never heard that before in my life, especially not in Hollywood.”   

  And having a wider following on TikTok, she says, is also changing the way Hollywood sees her.   

  “Mackenzie created this thing for me when I go out on the street and people come up to tell me how much they love me.  This is a big issue in my life.  … And it gave me a different kind of focus creatively and professionally,” says Korzen.   

  He has more opportunities to write and audition for more important roles.   

  “I’m being called regularly for series, which has never happened before,” says Korzen, “and I’m sure it’s because the producers are saying, ‘Hey, this is someone who could bring us an audience.  And they’re right.”   

  Korzen said she would love a job like Andy Rooney once had on “60 Minutes,” protesting all he wants once a week.  And indeed, sometimes her TikToks can be just as spontaneous as Rooney’s segments once were.  He’s gotten millions of views with a question about a Krispy Kreme donut (“Was it crispy?” he asks) and, more recently, with an outrage about difficult salads (“That’s NOT appealing,” he says after shoving a large forkful of leaves in her mouth).   
 @akorzen

A report on #salads ♬ original sound – Annie Korzen
She once described herself in her TikTok bio as “The Freaky New Yorker,” but many of her videos are less badass and more—as some commenters have put it—”the grandma you wish you had.”

  Korzen also shares advice on style (“be fun and colorful and full of life”), shopping (“don’t shop retail”) and relationships (“don’t look for a mirror image of yourself”).  She reveals embarrassing moments, like the time she was caught lying at an audition decades ago.  And she tears up when she talks about her grandson.   

  Most of her TikToks are filmed inside her home in Los Angeles.  They sometimes feature her 84-year-old husband, Benni Korzen, an artist and film producer who won an Academy Award for 1987’s “Babette’s Feast.” And even when he’s not on screen, Benni’s paintings often hang in the always bold and brightly colored background.   

  But it’s rare for Morrison to appear on TikToks.  For her, Korzen is – and should be – the star.  And he believes Korzen will know what to say and how to say it.   

  “I feel like I’m like Oz.  I’m behind the camera,” he says with a smile.   

  But her dog DD (short for Diesel Duke) has made several appearances.  And in several videos, Morrison’s laughter booms in the background.  What Korzen says often surprises her.   

  Regardless of the topic, Korzen says the responses have been overwhelmingly positive – often from a younger generation of fans she never imagined would connect with her.   

  Morrison’s help was a key ingredient.  “I don’t understand anything about TikTok.  Mackenzie made me do it.  … I can barely send a message.  I can barely take a selfie,” Korzen quips in one of her first videos.   

  But over the past year and a half, the friends say they’ve learned a lot and come up with a winning strategy together.   

  Recording sessions that last two hours about once a week create about 20 potential TikToks.  Korzen will come up with a list of ideas in advance.  But she keeps her comments unscripted and never re-records a segment.   

  Through it all, he says, he learned to trust Morrison’s instincts.   

When I only hung out with people my own age, I was constantly comparing myself to where they were in life.  Annie gave me another 40-50 years to explore and have fun and be myself.  It is incredible.   

Mackenzie Morrison, 31, for her friendship with 83-year-old Annie Korzen   

  “I tend to say whatever comes to mind.  And I might do a TikTok, and then Mackenzie will be like, “I don’t think so.”  She knows certain sensitivities – “You can’t say that, it’s body shaming.”  “You can’t say that, it’s…