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ISSUE #84 - JUNE 2018

by Catherine Powell

ELIZA TAYLOR

JUNE 2018 04 ALLISON STRONG

16 PEPI SONUGA

36 ELIZA TAYLOR

on working with adam sandler + her time on broadway

on the second season of famous in love + her future goals

on growing with clarke griffin + her philanthropical efforts

06 BAILEE MADISON

22 AMANDA LEIGHTON

46 FOLA EVANS-AKINGBOLA

on the good witch + stretching her producer muscles

on saying goodbye to the fosters + working on this is us

on the first season of siren + what to expect from season 2

12 AUBREY JOSEPH

26 CHARLES MICHAEL DAVIS

48 KIM PETRAS

on marvel’s cloak & dagger + his hopes for the show’s impact

on the end of the originals + his upgraded role on younger

on challenging herself as a songwriter + new music

32 NINA NESBITT

on embracing her inner popstar + her upcoming album

CATHERINE POWELL

publisher, editor, photographer, designer, writer

CARLY BUSH writer

SELINA FALCON writer

RACHEL HILL writer

MARISSA JOHNSON writer

NICOLE MOOREFIELD writer

LEXI SHANNON writer

OLIVIA SINGH writer

STRONG

Words by CARLY BUSH Photos by CATHERINE POWELLStyled by VALERIE DUARDO

ALLISON

When the news broke that Adam Sandler had signed on for a fourth contracted feature film with Netflix, many people wondered how the veteran comedic actor would bring something new and refreshing to the array of stream-ready comedies that have been released recently. His specific brand of humor has always been family-friendly with a touch of slapstick absurdity, which audiences have been yearning for as of late. The film, The Week Of, came out at the end of April, and has received favorable reviews in the month that has followed. The storyline is classic Sandler—two fathers with conflicting opinions on how to plan their children’s’ wedding—but the performance by breakout star Allison Strong is the most endearing aspect of the film. To the film world, Allison is an unknown, but at 27, she has amassed a lifetime’s worth of experience in theatre. You could argue that she has spent the majority of her life preparing for life on the silver screen. But her path to stardom in a Netflix original was anything but conventional. Raised in a quiet suburban town in Hudson County, New Jersey, Allison is of Colombian descent and is fluent in both English and Spanish. She admits she was “a really shy kid,” and as such, her mother encouraged her to take musical theatre classes to help encourage her to gain self-confidence. At first, it was difficult. “I never got a solo because the teacher thought I couldn’t talk. But I would always sing in the car and beg my mom to beg for a solo for me,” she said. Her mother went to bat for her, and eventually she landed the coveted solo at an end-of-the-year performance. Allison’s vocal perfor-

mance left the audience speechless. “Everyone came up to us asking who my voice teacher was, saying I would be on Broadway one day,” Allison recalls. Neither Allison nor her family had any professional musical theatre experience, but they trusted the opinions of those who did, and took a leap of faith. Allison began taking as many classes as her single, working-class mother could afford, and she began to amass a wealth of skills: singing, jazz, flamenco, ballet, tap, and acting. In a matter-of-fact sort of way, she recounts how she did, in fact, end up on Broadway, making her debut at 18, in Bye Bye Birdie. The road to success was slow going at times, and Allison remembers her humble beginnings with fond bemusement: “It ended up taking up our schedule so much because we were basically living in our car and living off of Wendy’s and whatever was available to eat in strip malls,” she says. Even at a young age Allison’s hard work paid off, helping open doors for her that would have been unimaginable otherwise. At 8, she auditioned over the phone for the Metropolitan Opera and began training amongst the elite. Emmy Rossum was one of her now-famous classmates. In order to make performances in the city and live out what Allison remembers as a “very New York childhood,” she regularly missed school and skipped out on standardized tests. But her dedication to her dream landed her singing jobs and helped her score wins in a variety of talent competitions. At 10, she was the Oscar Mayer Weiner girl. “It was a shining moment in my childhood,” she laughs. Amidst the whirlwind that was

Allison’s exciting metropolitan adolescence, she remained a homebody with an understanding of where she came from. She continued to live in New Jersey with her mom through college, even after landing her Broadway role as a freshman. “It was always important to my mom that if I wanted something, I went after it. Completely,” she says. She took her academics seriously, waking up before dawn to commute. As a junior, she landed a role in Mamma Mia! During her senior year, she chose to focus solely on studying and socializing, particularly with people outside of the theatre world. “It was a really weird dichotomy,” she recalls. In 2016, Allison appeared on The Blacklist, and this past year was hand-selected by Adam Sandler to star as his character’s daughter, Sarah, in The Week Of. “Up until this point I had auditioned for mostly television and Broadway, so when I got this audition, I saw Adam Sandler, I thought, ‘This is really special’,” she says. Her first impression was that he was “a good man, and such an incredible performer”—who just happened to be wearing basketball shorts. He was warm and friendly, inquiring about her Jersey upbringing and helping to build their onscreen rapport. “The first day we met was our first scene. We had to go into that father-daughter dynamic relatively quickly,” she says. After the film wrapped, Allison approached director Robert Smigel to thank him, and was blindsided by the response she received: “He said, ‘Don’t thank me. Thank Adam. He picked you.’ Totally mind-blowing, especially when you grow up watching his films,” she says. NKD NKDMAG.COM

bailee madison Words by RACHEL HILL Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

aubrey joseph Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Grooming by LUCKY NAPOLEON

After over a year of hype, Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger will finally premiere on Freeform on June 7th – and star Aubrey Joseph could not be readier for people to enter the world he and his cast have created. Aubrey’s story started in “not the greatest neighborhood” Brooklyn, where his mom opted to keep him busy with every possible activity so he didn’t fall into trouble. Throughout his childhood, he participated in church, football and karate, and Aubrey had initially hoped to make it to the NFL – until the first time he performed on a stage. “The way I felt when I saw the crowd react… It was way better than scoring a touchdown,” he reflects. He dove head first into acting and his first role was that of Young Simba on Broadway’s The Lion King – a role he occupied for three years from ages 10-13. Following his time in the show, Aubrey went to a performing arts high school in New York and continued to book small acting gigs, like commercials and guest spots. “It was a lot of fun, but it was also

very serious for me,” he says of his high school experience. During his senior year, he auditioned for “all the best acting schools in the country” and got into every single one. He chose USC partly for its Los Angeles campus, and partly because it was one of the few schools that allowed acting students to go on auditions while they were enrolled. It was during his short time at USC that Aubrey auditioned for the role of Tyrone Johnson (a.k.a. Cloak) Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, and opted to drop out once the show was picked up to series. On his second day filming in New Orleans, his co-star Olivia Holt (who plays Tandy Brown/ Dagger) helped him withdrawal from the upcoming semester after his phone died so he wouldn’t get charged for tuition. “I was like, ‘Is it okay if I drop out of college on your phone?’” he recalls, laughing. Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger follows two teenagers from drastically different backgrounds who come together one night after a traumatic event that shakes both of their lives. It is on this fateful

night that the two of them acquire their superpowers and the first season follows the two of them as they try to understand themselves and their newfound powers. “Just being teenagers, there’s so many weird things that come with it. Finding yourself and trying to fit in, so just adding that on top of the fact that they’re trying to find their powers is a lot,” he says. In Aubrey’s opinion, what moves the show forward is the relationship between Tyrone and Tandy, and how much they need each other. “There’s no just Cloak, there’s no just Dagger. They have to be together. And I think it’s going to be great for people to see that companionship between a black guy and a white girl,” he says. Because of the way the world is right now, Aubrey knows that showing a positive, interracial relationship between young people on screen is extremely important, and does not take that understanding lightly. “I feel like since we’re doing a project like this, and young kids are growing up and seeing this as the new norm, and seeing Black Panther as normal, NKDMAG.COM

pepi sonuga Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Styled by CHRIS HORAN Make-Up by SAMUEL PAUL Hair by ALEXANDER ARMAND

amanda leighton Words by SELINA FALCON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

When Amanda Leighton auditioned for the role of Emma Kurtzman in the Freeform (formerly ABC Family) show The Fosters, she was guaranteed, possibly, four episodes. That was in 2013 during the show’s first season. “I think it was over Christmas break or something – I had gone home – me and my whole family, we binge watched the first 10 episodes and then I was hooked,” she says. Her first episode of The Fosters, “House and Home”, aired in the new year and she continued portraying Emma throughout the rest of season one, solidifying herself as a series regular. Now more than 50 episodes in, Amanda is gearing up for the three-night series finale in June. Amanda was born and raised in Fresno, a growing metropolitan city in the middle of Central California’s farmland. The now soon-to-be 25 year old grew up participat-

ing in dance competitions, and at the age of 10 began taking acting classes. “I remember getting that feeling,” she explains. “I told my mom, I was like, ‘This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life’, and she was like, ‘Yeah, right. You’re 10, you don’t know what you want.’ But then I just kind of kept going with it.” For six years, Amanda’s mom would drive her down to Los Angeles for auditions and classes. She was 12 when she booked her first project. “Then there was kind of like this space of those middle school, awkward years where I was just wasn’t working,” she says. She continued to take classes because she loved acting, but the ball didn’t start to roll until Amanda graduated from high school and made the move to Los Angeles full time. “I just realized [that was] like, seven years ago, which is blowing my mind. It’s almost

a decade now,” she explains. “Now I’m here and it’s great. I still love my job.” The first scene she read for The Fosters was the first scene Emma is in where she’s running on the beach and bumps into Jesus Adams Fosters (then portrayed by Jake T. Austin, now played by Noah Centineo). She says she thought the dialogue was cute and fun, the later binge watch with her family solidifying her love for the show. “Fosters has been such a big part of my life, I’m so grateful for it. I’ve met the most amazing people, I’ve met great friends, I love everybody that I work with, and, you know, it’s sad it’s coming to an end, but it’s also like, I’m just super blessed for how it became such a big part of my career,” she says. A career that has become a busy one over the past few years. While filming The Fosters, Amanda was also working on four other shows, three of NKDMAG.COM

charles michael davis Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Grooming by ERIN ANDERSON

NINANESBITT Words by MARISSA JOHNSON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt is making her debut into the world of pop with a sound that incorporates relatable lyricism and head-turning melodies. As an only child growing up in Livingston, Scotland, Nina found herself writing short stories and poems to keep herself occupied, then at 10-years-old she picked up a keyboard and started putting her writing to music. “It’s something I’ve always done. Music is something natural to me, I don’t know why,” she says. At the age of 15, Nina learned how to play guitar and began uploading her music to Myspace and YouTube, quickly gaining a group of fans within her hometown and then throughout the world. “I didn’t come from a musical background or a particularly wealthy background to get into the studio so the only way for me to make music was to buy a cheap acoustic guitar and put myself online so that’s what I did,” she says. When writing her music, Nina drew inspiration from other female songwriters like Taylor Swift and Alanis Morrisette. “Anyone that started their own career and wrote their own music really inspired me,” she says. After starting her career on YouTube, Nina was “lucky enough to tour with other artists” and, at 17-years-old, was signed to her first label and released her first record, Peroxide, in the UK. As a signed artist, Nina had the opportunity to go to London and curate her own unique sound and experiment with new ideas that deviated from the simple acoustic style of her YouTube content. During this time, she also began writing songs for other artists and established herself within the songwriting community. After four years, Nina decided to

leave the major label to become an independent artist. Having already found radio success and several songs on the iTunes charts before being signed, becoming independent again was a welcome transition. “I enjoyed it independently, but when you’re 17 and someone offers you a major label deal you think. ‘These people know what they’re doing’, and put your trust in them, for some people it works out and for others it might not be the right time,” she says. Now, Nina has signed to a smaller independent label. “A lot of the album was already written before I’d signed to the new label, so I could say, ‘This is it, take it or leave it.’ With a major label, you’re signing up to a business, you’re constricted to what you can do,” she says. Especially with streaming playing a massive role in the music industry today, it was important for Nina to be able to license her new music to different labels in each country, rather than staying under one “label umbrella”, by choosing exactly who fits her sound and concept, she’s taking steps to make sure that her music will reach the most people and have a lasting impact. In her latest singles, Nina has made a dramatic shift from a poetic singer-songwriter to a brilliant pop artist. Nina has fully embraced pop music, despite feeling hesitant and embarrassed because of the stereotypes typically associated with the genre. “I love pop music, I grew up with a lot of pop music in the house around me so I think that was naturally in me but I was always a bit embarrassed about it, now I know there’s nothing to be ashamed about,” she says. Nina’s song, “The Best You Had”,

her first foray into pop music, was recently featured on Taylor Swift’s “Favorite Songs” Spotify playlist, a playlist that has helped bring many smaller artists into the spotlight. “It was absolutely amazing. She’s one of the reasons that I picked up a guitar, I used to sit and listen to her when I was 15 and 16 so it felt surreal to be included on her playlist,” she says, “When you grow up listening to someone it seems really strange when you interact with them. I think she’s very clever and her songwriting is amazing. I couldn’t believe it”. Despite a total change in genre, Nina is remaining true to her storytelling nature and keeping her lyrics vulnerable, honest and relatable on her upcoming album. “I want to make music that expands internationally and can be related to by a lot of different people in a lot of different situations and still feel personal,” she says. Her music tells her personal stories of heartbreak and triumph, but allows the listener to take what they need from it. To write and produce her new record, Nina has spent most of her time in a small studio in her flat in London. “That’s where I write the majority of my music. I kind of enjoy being alone and putting my phone down with nothing else going on,” she says. In addition to the studio time, she makes sure to enter writing sessions with other songwriters to collaborate with on not only her music, but what she’s writing for others. “Sometimes these sessions can be a good way of getting out of my own headspace from my own projects,” she notes, adding, “Sometimes I’ll surprise myself and say, ‘Oh, I like this song for me’.” For her upcoming album, Nina NKDMAG.COM

ELIZA TAYLOR Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Glam by EMILY DAWN Styling by AUBREY BRIANNE Assisted by DESIREE COLES

Shirt by HONEY PUNCH Jeans by WILD HONEY Shoes by ASOS

Words by LEXI SHANNON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

fola evans-akingbola

Like many successful actors and actresses today, Freeform’s Siren’s Fola Evans-Akingbola didn’t grow up with plans to pursue a career in theatre. Instead, the London born-and-raised actress planned on attending university back home to earn a degree in philosophy. However, after a taking a gap year, Fola ended up in a place she could’ve only dreamed of – landing a lead role in a pilot nationwide television series. Growing up in an equally academic and musical family, Fola was lucky enough to have parents supporting her every decision. “We [my sister and I] really had a choice and they’ve been very supportive of that,” Fola says. At the time, she wasn’t sure whether or not to pursue art as a career. After her mom insisted she needed a hobby that isn’t about work, she started acting classes in 2014. For the past four years, she has been acting professionally both nationally and internationally. “I started acting classes bust still not wanting to do it for a job…one thing led to another and now we’re here,” she says. Working in theatre quickly became a full-time gig for Fola. However, school and education were still priorities in her mind. “I did the National Youth Theatre and then I joined a drama school, which is like a part time school in the UK in the evenings,” she says. Shortly after, Fola was signed by her current agent and started landing bigger jobs throughout the UK.

After working in the industry, Fola landed a pilot spot on Freeform’s original series Siren. The series, which follows a group of marine biologists on their adventures in the town of Bristol Cove, premiered on Freeform in March 2018 and was recently renewed for a second season. Fola portrays Maddie Bishop, one of the show’s marine biologists. “I really enjoyed working on a bigger thing. It was good because this was our first time being series regulars, so I think we all have supported each other,” Fola says. Along with her cast members, this was the first time she landed a role as a series regular. As opposed to your schedule being hectic and unpredictable, for once Fola was able to settle down with a constant filming schedule. “I probably shouldn’t have been an actress,” she chuckled. When not shooting a series like Siren, she often sat wondering what job was next. “It’s true what they say. If you book a holiday, you will get a job,” she jokes. Shortly after landing the job on Siren, Fola flew across the Atlantic to film for four straight months in Canada. The stamina of shooting day in and day out can be stressful on actresses, but Fola attributes her stamina in shooting long hours to the smaller roles she had been in at home. “I think that learning what it’s like to be on a set, learning that it’s so different like what we were just talking about, that it’s so different in the classroom, training is so important,” she

says, “Nothing will prepare you for the madness of set and that fact that you could be wasting around in your trailer for three hours and then suddenly be filming.” In Siren, Fola’s character Maddie Bishop is a marine biology student who has just taken a job at the marine mammal center with her boyfriend. “You meet her when she was just starting to take the reins of her life and become more independent. She’s really trying to define ourselves in routine and structure,” Fola says, “And then when the mermaid comes into their lives, this force of nature turns everything upside down. What was fun this season is really getting to see how Maddie deals with all of that.” In the second season, Maddie’s dad will be introduced. As sheriff of the town, her family dynamics get tested as the temperatures rise and tensions are built. Beyond Siren, Fola has been working back home in the UK on smaller projects, with a film coming out “I’ve got a UK film coming out in summer. It’s being released by Attitude Films, who released Moonlight in the UK. When I go home to London I think I’ll be shooting a film called Being Dead,” she shares. As Fola gears up to head home for a bit in between shooting, she notes how living in Vancouver has offered her a second home and she’s excited to go back and continue working on a project she believes in. “I love London as a city, but it’s nice to be around nature,” she admits. NKD NKDMAG.COM

kim petras Words by NICOLE MOOREFIELD Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

For as long as she can remember, Kim Petras has dreamed of becoming a popstar. This fantasy is not uncommon in young girls, who idolize Britney and Christina before they can spell diva, but Kim has put in the work to make pop-stardom her reality and has been reaching goals nonstop, a veritable powerhouse of success. Kim grew up obsessed with music in Cologne, Germany. She wrote her first song at 12 after discovering songwriting documentaries and becoming instantly fascinated with pop. “It was just a sad song about having a crush on a boy in my school,” Kim remembers, but it was an important step in launching her songwriting career. As a kid, she could invariably be found writing and producing out of her bedroom. Her first big break was a German laundry detergent commercial at 16, which landed Kim her first record deal. “Ever since I was young, I was trying to become a good songwriter,” Kim explains. “I don’t think anybody thought I would really go and do it.” Though her family and small circle of friends enjoyed her music and supported her creative endeavors, “I never really found people who liked pop music as much as I did in Germany,” Kim reflects. So at 19, she made the life-changing decision to move to Los Angeles with no money or connections.

Her bed was a studio couch, her writing partner anyone willing. To many, Kim’s dream seemed impossible, but she had a plan: write one big hit for someone else, then use that success to launch her own artistic career. Kim’s goal was achieved when Fergie recorded one of her songs. Although the track was never released, the publicity she garnered led to an American publishing deal. Now 25, Kim is working on her first record. Her debut single, I Don’t Want It At All, went straight to number 1 on the Spotify Viral Charts in 2017. Since then, Kim has released five more songs and was featured on Charli XCX’s song “Unlock It”. Kim’s sound is unlike anything else on the radio today. “I like to think I have a unique perspective,” she remarks. “It’s definitely all-out, unapologetic pop.” Her songs are fast-paced, glamorous, and energetic. “No song is ever inspired by the same thing,” she adds, from emotions and conversations to colors or movie quotes. From the start, Kim has written in English, as German artists tended to wax poetic and acoustic. At first, Kim wrote alone and prioritized quantity over quality, but now she is focused on collaboration and creating one great song. “It’s such an important thing and such a beautiful thing to find

[co-writers] you really connect with,” she says, as the intimacy of songwriting creates strong bonds and better songs. “I love when you’re in the studio with another artist and you can pick their brain about what they’re going through and you can write about it together and bring something out of them,” Kim explains. When writing with artists in the studio, the songs are created with them in mind, but of the songs she writes alone, Kim only gives away wrong fits. “Whenever I write a song that I know is totally me and has me in it too much, I would never give it away,” she says. “I definitely see visuals while writing,” Kim notes. She has a color, outfit, hairstyle, or scene in mind for every song. As she writes, Kim hopes to create vivid images, which she reinforces with ambitious music videos. Fashion shines in her visuals — inspired by her stylists, 2000s Dior, and Karl Lagerfeld. The biggest influences on Kim’s music are her friends. Her most frequent collaborators are lil aaron and Baby E, as well as songwriting partner Aaron Joseph. When they met four years ago, Aaron was the first to appreciate Kim as her own artist, and they have been best friends ever since. “[If you’re] not having fun writing songs in the studio, then you’re doing someNKDMAG.COM 09

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