NKD Mag - Issue #86 (August 2018)

ISSUE #86 - AUGUST 2018

by Catherine Powell

JANEL PARRISH

JULY 2018 14 MADDIE DEUTCH

on working with her family + wearing many hats

04 ASHE

18 CHELSEA FREI

38 DOMINIQUE FISHBACK

on applying to berklee on a whim + signing her record deal

on creating her own content + starring in sideswiped

on portraying as many different heroines as possible

06 CASSADEE POPE

20 TARA LYNNE BARR

42 PEYTON WICH

on being more in control of her career than ever

on the end of casual + using her privilege to be an ally

on the success of stranger things + staying in new orleans

12 SPENCER LUDWIG

26 KIMMY SHIELDS

44 SDCC CLASS OF 2018

on going solo + stretching his songwriter muscles

on grinding away in hollywood + booking insatiable

featuring the stars of the gifted, black lightning, siren + more

28 JANEL PARRISH

on not leaving mona behind + her love of the stage CATHERINE POWELL

publisher, editor, photographer, designer, writer

CARLY BUSH writer

ELIZABETH FORREST writer

AUTUMN HALLE writer

IAN HAYS

NICOLE MOOREFIELD

RACHEL HILL

LEXI SHANNON

writer writer

writer writer

OLIVIA SINGH writer

ashe Words by LEXI SHANNON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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California goddess or musical genius?

For breakout star Ashe, combining the two comes easy.

The California native, who has worked alongside those such as Louis the Child and Whethan, released her debut EP The Rabbit Hole earlier this year via Mom + Pop Music – whom she signed with in mid-2017.

But, it wasn’t always the glitz and glamor of record deals, touring, and debut albums – Ashe’s musical journey has been a long one, from the early days of growing up on classic rock, to studying at one of the best music schools in the world.

“I grew up in a Christian, conservative, kind of crazy household/ school…it introduced me to gospel music, which was cool. I was the good kid my whole life, but my rebellious mood was listening to rock and roll music,” she says.

When Ashe chose to pursue music, she was the first in her family. Coming from a family of engineers, teachers, and police officers, Ashe’s decision to follow her dreams of music wasn’t what was expected of her.

“When I got out of high school, I realized the only thing in my life that really made sense was music. I applied to this unbelievable music school, which I don’t know how I thought I could get into…I applied and got in and even ended up with a scholarship,” she recalls, “I don’t know how the heck it all worked out. Literally, I didn’t even know I even wanted to pursue music, then I go to audition to this crazy school and it just worked. It felt like a sign.”

That school? The coveted Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Prior to attending college, Ashe saw herself working as a songwriter one day – working behind the scenes of

today’s hit music.

At Berklee, Ashe studied Contemporary Writing and Production. “I did writing for orchestras and big bands, as well as actual music production in the studio,” she says.

However, that’s not what Ashe’s specialty was. Featured on Louis the Child’s hit single “Right to It”, Ashe has taken more of the alt-pop route – with inspiration coming from John Mayer, Post Malone and, most recently, Daniel Caesar.

At Berklee, she had the incredible opportunity to learn from some of the most talented and knowledgeable professors in the music business. One being Tony-award winning composer Bill Elliot, whom Ashe studied under during her time in the Contemporary Writing and Production Program.

Elliot, who has written for everything from Disney soundtracks to Grammy-nominated records, has been working in the department since 2004.

Ashe was also introduced to one of her best friends during her time in Boston. “Her name’s Nahid Siddiqui, she’s actually pursuing being an actress now. She’s living in New York, and she’s one of those people that’s just unapologetically herself,” Ashe says, “I feel she really influenced me to be like ‘All right, I just need make no more excuses for who I am and just be that way. If people don’t fuck with you, they don’t fuck with you. And if they do, they do, which is awesome.”

After graduating from Berklee in 2015, Ashe moved to Nashville hoping to become a professional, well-known songwriter. During her time there, she continued writing and recording just as she had in her dorm room at Berklee. Despite not taking herself seriously as a musician in college, Ashe developed a unique writing style over those four years that causes her

to stand out amongst the thousands of trying musicians in this day and age.

Being a student in more of a classical-influenced major, Ashe has since been able to find a way to blend together the classical music she studied for four years with the alternative pop bliss that she creates now.

“I think, honestly, it helps [studying Contemporary Composition] because I was learning a lot of jazz and orchestration. Even in The Rabbit Hole, you can hear that it’s pretty orchestral in some of the intros. I’m definitely using a lot of that actual theory in the music now. I’m integrating it,” she says.

Within two years of her graduation, she was offered a record deal with Mom + Pop Music, who also has incredible women like Ingrid Michaelson and Tash Sultana on their roster. The making of The Rabbit Hole took about a year, between writing, recording, and mastering until it was just right to share with millions of people.

“We started working on the EP basically right when I signed my record deal, and even one of the songs I had written before I signed my record deal. The focus track of the EP which is called “Real Love”, I wrote that before I signed the deal. I want to say it was one of the songs that really helped me get my record deal because I think they were really into it and could hear that I had something,” Ashe reflects, “The whole process took about a year to get the songs together, the mixes and the mastering. There’s so much to it and it’s really complicated.”

Despite the record just being released a mere two months ago, Ashe mentions how she’s already starting to work on her next album.

“I have no idea when it’s going to come out, but it’s already so exciting to start working on,” she says. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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cassadee pope Words by AUTUMN HALLE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Cassadee Pope is feeling invincible.

On the heels of a tough two year period in her life, she’s finally at a place where she feels in control and ready to take on the music world again.

The Florida-born singer-songwriter has spent much of her life in the spotlight, but when you consider how she got started, it almost feels like a happy accident.

When she was young, her sister was actually the one that was interested music, and took vocal lessons from a local instructor. It wasn’t until one day when her sister couldn’t make a lesson that Cassadee stepped in to take it for her. Little did she know, that one lesson would be a turning point for a young girl that was quickly falling in love with music. That one lesson turned into many more and Cassadee knew that she had stumbled into something she really enjoyed.

“Singing for the first time it was like, ‘Wow, I could really do this’,” Cassadee says of that first experience. “After that first lesson I wanted to keep going, it just became a part of who I was, and the more I did it the more I fell in love with it.”

Soon enough, the youngster was performing anytime she got the opportunity, including in her middle school Jazz Band, and trying to learn how to play the guitar and write songs. It quickly became clear that she’d found her calling, and there was little she could do to ignore the pull of the stage and 08

the therapeutic feeling of creating music.

In her youth, she cycled through a number of different influences, country music always being one of them. But, like any pre-teen, she was open to experiencing other genres of music. As she got older, she started developing a taste for everything from pop to punk and alternative rock. It wasn’t long before she was stepping away from the country music of her roots to experiment with new sounds.

It was a chance meeting at a conference when she got her first opportunity at a possible record deal. But first, they wanted to put her into a development deal – an experience that would allow her to begin building her own sound before officially signing to a label. The thrill of stepping into a professional landscape wasn’t lost on her, but the excitement begin to fade as the management company and Cassadee continued to disagree on her musical direction.

“I really felt like they were trying to put me in a box and we couldn’t agree on my sound,” Cassadee reflects. “It was at that point that we decide to mutually part ways.”

But that wasn’t the end of it for her. The teenage Cassadee and her good friend, Mike Gentile, formed a pop-punk band called Blake. It was a musical experience that would eventually set the stage for something much bigger. When they begin to garner a fanbase

and generate some label interest, they lost a few members and decided to rebrand as Hey Monday.

“We knew that we were on the verge of something really good, so we started auditioning for new members, and at that point Mike and I had a sound in mind,” Cassadee looks back on that time. “We found people that really had the same vision and were excited about what was happening.”

The band wasted no time playing shows, eventually capturing the attention of Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz. That was when Cassadee found herself finally signing her first official record deal with the members of Hey Monday. “Pete really liked what we were doing, and we already had some interest with Columbia as well, so we ended up signing a joint deal with them and Pete’s label Decaydance,” Cassadee laughs.

“That’s when it got really crazy.”

Hey Monday toured all over the world from 2008 to 2011, including multiple stints on Warped Tour, and opening slots with bands like All Time Low and Fall Out Boy. But as the Warped Tour world begin to change and members of the band were starting to aspire to do different things, the lighting fast rise with which they became a success came to a quick end.

“Everything happen so quickly with Hey Monday,” Cassadee reflects on the eventually disbanding of the band.

“We were going all over the

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world, playing Warped Tour, it was really a dream come true for me at the time. But sometimes people just need to do something different, and that’s okay, too.”

When Hey Monday took a hiatus in 2011, Cassadee was left trying to decide her next move and to reflect on where she really wanted to take her career. She moved to Los Angeles, and within just a few weeks, another chance of a lifetime popped up.

Enter Season 4 of The Voice.

Cassadee was one of the rare few that had been scouted by the studio, and it was clear from the start that she had something very special. With each performance she grew both as a vocalist and a performer, taking to the solo spotlight like she was meant for it. To no surprise, she was crowned the winner of Season 4, signed with Big Machine Records and returned to her country music roots. “While I was on The Voice I was doing a lot of different music and experimenting with sounds, so I knew when it came time to make my own music that I really wanted to do country music again,” Cassadee says of the decision.

The release of her hit single, “Wasting All These Tears,” solidified her as one to watch in the genre. But her follow-up singles had trouble landing at country radio, and it became pretty clear after a few years giving it her all that she wasn’t seeing eye to eye with her label or her team. In 2017, she made

the decision to part ways with the label and break-up with the team that had been with her since The Voice.

And that wasn’t the only break-up Cassadee experienced that year: she also ended a long term relationship with her fiancé, Rian Dawson. It was a chaotic moment in her life that left her in a vulnerable space. She gave herself time to regroup and question where she wanted to go next. What she knew for sure was that she was going to allow music to guide the way.

“I was going through a really tough time and music really became my therapy,” Cassadee looks back on that time in her life. “After some down time to figure things out, I started working with my friend Corey Crowder, and that’s really when I figure out the sound I was after and began building myself a new support system in the form of my new team.”

Without a label to back her, Cassadee put even more importance on making sure she had the right team on her side.

With those people in place, she began recording new material, and soon enough settled on her first single, the uplifting, “Take You Home”, as her introduction back into country music.

“I think there’s something so special about the idea of falling in love again and the feeling of wanting that person to know you better by taking them back to your roots,” Cassadee says of the track. “Our hometowns say so much about who we are.

Whether it was that spot on the bleachers where we had our

first kiss or a football field, it’s a reflection of the person we are today. I felt really connected to that idea.”

The track is an infusion of pop and country that earworms its way into your mind and refuses to let go. But more than that, it’s a positive and hopeful look at falling in love, which seems to be the mindset that Cassadee is currently in after a tough two years of rediscovering herself.

“It took me until just the past few years to really know who I am and what I wanted, and that discovery process was really important for me,” Cassadee says. “Having this opportunity to do things independently and make music that speaks to me, it’s been so freeing. I think ‘Take You Home’ speaks to that in a way.”

With the new single hitting airways, Cassadee is excited to keep working on new music, and hopes to release a few more singles over the course of 2018. Between creating new music, she’s also hitting the road, including two dates on the very last run of Warped Tour – a sentimental return to one of the stages that started her incredible career. But most importantly, Cassadee is excited about what’s ahead and the freedom of being able to bring music that she feels really good about to a fanbase that has remained undeniably loyal.

One thing is perfectly clear, Cassadee Pope is finally holding the reigns of her career in her own hands, and she’s never sounded better. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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spencer ludwig Words by ELIZABETH FORREST Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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“The story begins with a trumpet,” says trumpeter, and now, singer-songwriter and solo artist Spencer Ludwig. More specifically, his journey began with a trumpet during his senior year of high school. He initially found inspiration in trumpet player Miles Davis, but as his career progressed, he found inspiration in music from all decades.

When he was younger, Spencer thought he would grow up to perform jazz or teach locally. After joining the band Capital Cities and finding success there, he realized that if he wanted to, he could become a global musician. During his time with the band, he traveled around the world multiple times and began to write his own music. That led to a record deal with Warner Brother Records and allowed Spencer to pursue his own solo career, full time.

“I’ve been on that journey since 2015.

Now I’m an independent artist by choice and I’m really enjoying the creative freedom that comes with it,” Spencer confirms.

Traditionally, trumpet isn’t the most utilized instrument in the pop world. Spencer finds the challenge of fitting trumpet into his music to be inspiring. “The trumpet will always be in my music,” Spencer says. “I like to play with how the trumpet is used; sometimes it’s just to take a solo, sometimes it’s used as more of a background, supportive instrument, sometimes it’s the main melody you remember.” No matter how it is utilized, it’s a part of any song he does because the trumpet section is what makes a song completely his.

However, the trumpet doesn’t dictate his entire songwriting process.

“I don’t want the song built around the trumpet, because I know the trumpet part will be strong,” Spencer

elaborates. As someone focused on continually improving himself and his skills, songwriting has been his priority for the past three years. In addition, he has been experimenting with keyboard, bass, guitar, producing and programming, and writing the song’s melody. Spencer finds the song’s base to be the most difficult part of the song, and once that is completed, he finally adds in the trumpet section.

Fittingly, Spencer’s latest single is titled “My Trumpet” and features Mexican rapper MC Davo. The catchy song was intended to capture the feeling of a show Spencer went to in New York and the night’s imagery in song form. Spencer’s number one Spotify listening audience is in Mexico and the song had a natural Latin feel, so Spencer reached out to MC Davo to ask to collaborate. “It happened in a very modern way through email. I sent him songs, he said he liked it and then he sent back his rap,” Spencer remembers. The two didn’t actually meet until they filmed the song’s music video in Mexico.

To Spencer, the main purpose of his music is to perform it live. “That’s my church, that’s my sanctuary. The peak of any moment in my life is always the performance - the show,” he says. Whether it’s a small, corporate performance or festival with 10,000 attendees, Spencer never takes the opportunity for granted. His shows are high energy, and his biggest goal is that everyone leaves his show feeling like they’ve had the time of their lives, himself included.

Spencer has just as much fun as his fans during a performance. His favorite performance of all time, spanning from his Capital Cities days to his performances as a solo artist, was his performance at this

year’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. “Now that I’m a solo artist, you never know who’s going to show up,” he laughs. He had no idea what to expect going in, but the crowd was unlike any audience he had ever played for before. By the end of his set, he was crowd surfing and playing the trumpet... at the same time.

In the next few years, Spencer hopes to release his first solo album and have a headlining tour. And as of right now, he’s on track to do exactly that. He’s been working on his first solo album for a long time, but hasn’t felt that it was the right time to release it. “If I wanted to release the album today, I could, but I don’t think there’s an audience large enough that is aware of my existence. I have to work on getting the word out there that I’m doing what I’m doing. Once people have heard, then I’ll put out the album,” he says. As he waits for more momentum with his music, he continues to write and create. The course of the songs on the album are continuously changing as he writes new songs that he feels fit him better.

While Spencer’s fans wait for his first album to debut, Spencer promises that Instagram is where to find the most up to date news. His phone is a direct link to him, so in addition to serving as a page to post updates, he likes to connect to fans there through direct message. The platform is also where he expresses himself through fashion, something he has always been into, but doesn’t believe became cool until recently. “My appearance goes hand in hand with how I’m feeling about myself and the world; oftentimes, my look will change as change occurs in my life,” Spencer explains. And with big plans for his future, it’s certain that the change will keep coming. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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MADELYNDEUTCH Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Madelyn Deutch is a rare breed: she’s a Los Angeles native. Born into a long line of entertainers, Madelyn’s inevitable tumble into the entertainment industry was almost pre-determined – so it’s a good thing she loves it.

“I kind of always knew I was going to be a creative person. I don’t think I really ever considered any other work,” Madelyn says as we sit in the lobby of The Bowery Hotel, the morning before her screenwriting debut, The Year of Spectacular Men, hit VOD. Madelyn’s parents (actress Lea Thompson and director Howard Deutch) encouraged Madelyn and her sister (actress Zoey Deutch) to be “fiercely creative”, which is how Madelyn ended up in a public arts high school in Downtown Los Angeles, where she initially went to study voice. She ended up studying jazz, and then attended The New School in New York for voice, and discovered a heavy interest in arranging and composing.

“I was a little disappointed in my program. They weren’t very generous to people who

were singers,” Madelyn admits, “So, I got really sick of that vibe and started taking an acting class in Midtown.”

Shortly after, Madelyn started picking up roles and after two years of being a working actress realized that no one was ever going to give her the part that she wanted. So, she started writing screenplays. “When I started screen writing it was a very strange thing, because it was at once the hardest thing I’d ever done and the thing that made the most sense,” she says, “Everything in my life I had learned up until that point was leading me to write for the screen.”

And so, The Year of Spectacular Men was born, and became a way for Madelyn, her sister and her mother to do the jobs that they felt no one was going to give them.

Madelyn stars in the movie alongside Zoey and her mother, who also directed the film. Madelyn also did all the music for the film. “We talk about work so much that working together didn’t feel any different,” Madelyn ad-

mits when asked what working with her family was like.

“The thing that was maybe more illuminating was watching other people discover things about my mom and sister that I already know.

Like, I already know that my mom is a boss ass bitch, but other people don’t really know that.”

When asked what inspired the story of the film, Madelyn pauses before saying, “I just don’t know how to deal with my life at all.” What she means, is writing is her way of dealing with her life, and The Year of Spectacular Men is very much her reflection on her first year out of college.

“I have this neurosis where if I just record everything that happens to me, then I can just let it go,” she says.

The need to bring the film into fruition came from the realization that she could never find anything to watch because, despite the fact that young women are one of the largest consumer groups in the country, mainstream media is not necessarily created with women in their 20s in NKDMAG.COM

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mind. “There was Girls and that was it,” she says, “They don’t make movies and TV for girls in their 20s. And that for me was the crusade: how do I fill a gap in the demographic that nobody seems to want to serve?”

Madelyn admits that putting the film out there for the first time was scary, but also reflects on the fact that “no one is going to say anything meaner that what you already think about yourself.” She feels she’s super hard on herself in general, so somebody else having a criticism of her is never going to compare to her own criticism of herself.

Madelyn has no interest in choosing between her various talents, and believes that she’s entirely capable of dabbling in all avenues of creativity at the same time.

Luckily for her, filmmaking requires a plethora of creative knowledge, which is partly why Madelyn is so drawn to it. “Having some sort of comprehensive knowledge of photography, some kind of visual aesthetic, some sort of understanding of the tone of the world… All those things are sort of required of you as a director” Madelyn says, “Moving forward, that is where I’m putting more of my focus.” But she admits that if someone said to her tomorrow she had to pick one, she would go with writing.

“That’s the ultimate power: being able to sit down and not have to depend on anybody else,” she says. NKD 16

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FREI

Words by NICOLE MOOREFIELD Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Glam by JULIANNE KAYE

CHELSEA

Comedy has always run through Chelsea Frei’s veins, but it took her some time to realize it. The actor-writer-comedian from Andover, Massachusetts fell in love with acting in elementary school. “[Theater camp] was always the thing that I was constantly looking forward to,” she remembers.

After high school, Chelsea decided to pursue acting professionally and enrolled in classical theater at NYU. While studying Shakespeare in college, Chelsea found herself “constantly trying to play a clown”, despite those roles being traditionally male. Her senior year, Chelsea secured internships at Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Observing those writers’ rooms, even as a coffee gofer, was incredibly valuable. “I was just in awe that you could create something from scratch and it be yours and then you could act in it,” she says.

After graduating, she and writing partner Noam Tomaschoff created a production company, The Focus Group. Their first sketch, “Fuckboy Mountain”, follows bad ex-boyfriends who literally “take a hike” up a mountain. It was filmed in Central Park, which came with its challenges and lessons. “Fuckboy Mountain” was featured on Funny or Die, where Chelsea began posting sketches. For a few years, that was her sole focus.

“I learned so much about myself as a writer and an actor,” she recalls.

Next, Chelsea wrote and starred in Hostess, a series about her experience as a “terrible” hostess in New York.

“It was a culmination of what I felt I’d been learning through sketch comedy writing for the past couple years and writing something long-form that was truthful,” she shares.

In addition to sketches, Chelsea wrote hundreds of jokes for Fuckjerry’s What Do You Meme? card game

when the company wanted a female voice in the writers’ room.

Her newest project, YouTube Premium’s comedy original Sideswiped, premiered July 25. Written, produced, and created by star Carly Craig, it follows Olivia, a chronically single 35-year-old whose younger sister, Jayne, signs her up for Tinder.

Olivia decides to date all 252 matches, inviting a procession of off-beat men into her life.

Chelsea plays Jayne, a young mom experiencing a 7-year-itch in her seemingly “perfect” marriage. “Not only am I living vicariously through [Olivia] and her dates, but I’m also living through our mom, played by Rosanna Arquette, who is also on the online dating scene,” Chelsea explains.

“They both go on these hilarious and relatable dates with so many different guys.”

When Chelsea was still single and living in New York, she had plenty of bad dating app experiences. “There’s this horrible thing with ghosting in our generation where men just think it’s okay — men and women, but my experience is with men — to just stop texting you back or calling you back,” she relates. Chelsea was ghosted twice, which almost turned her off from online dating, and had one Bumble date so paranoid that she’s convinced someone was after him.

Although they are living very different lives, Chelsea sees a lot of herself in Jayne. “I feel for her in the way that she worries if she’s always making the right decision. I think she’s somebody who tries to play it off like everything’s okay. She definitely struggles with anxiety and [comparing herself to others],” Chelsea notes. Like Jayne, family is important to Chelsea and she values the opinions of her parents and sister highly. There is also a

parallel “in the way that we talk about our problems — and sometimes don’t talk about our problems,” she admits.

Auditioning for the producers “was the most insane day of my life,” she reveals. While Chelsea remembers leaving past auditions feeling dejected, she was optimistic after reading for Jayne. “When I read the script, it was so easy to say the lines,” she remarks, as they even talk similarly. Chelsea got the part and moved to L.A. three weeks later.

Chelsea isn’t shy about her admiration for Carly Craig. “Being able to be on set with her every day and not only act in what she created but see her creating it was such an eye-opening experience to me,” she gushes. “[Writing for myself is] really special to me, but then being able to act in somebody else’s writing that’s so smart … is also such a dream,” she explains.

Because Carly “always knew what she wanted on set,” filming flowed smoothly, Chelsea adds. “Everybody really got along,” and the revolving door of guest stars like Tyler Posey, Jason Sudeikis, and Rick Springfield made every day exciting. She learned true professionalism from the guests, noting that she hopes to be as fun to work with as her co-stars. Chelsea’s favorite guest was Peter Gallagher; she is a big fan, and working with him “was one of those dreamlike experiences,” she says.

Chelsea prefers comedy that is genuine and honest. Although many of her sketches are unrealistic and exaggerated, “they come from an experience that I’ve dealt with,” she shares. For Chelsea, the most rewarding feeling is hearing from someone who related to a sketch and felt less isolated in their own experience. “I love when [comedy] can bring people together,” she concludes. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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tara lynne barr Words by AUTUMN HALLE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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Hulu’s standout original comedrama, Casual, premiered a new season for the last time July 31st. Its witty star, 24-year-old Tara Lynne Barr, entered into the entertainment world haphazardly thanks to a local club. Now she has it to thank for unearthing one of her greatest passions.

Tara grew up outside of Los Angeles in Orange County and spent many of her days since she was a baby at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley in their before and after-school programs. It was here that she got involved in the club’s youth theatre productions. Her first role?

A teddy bear in the musical Toy Camp at the age of 10. She claims her ability to memorize lines made up for her shaky singing and dancing. This introduction to the imaginative world of theatre sparked a new sense of curiosity in her.

Tara’s interest evolved from admittedly loving having a source to hold an audience’s attention to being genuinely intrigued in the psychology behind characters’ mentality.

“I was really interested in the characters that I was playing and I always had just a very curious mind about characters and why people do the things they did and what made them tick,” she notes.

By the age of 14, she was swiftly reading through plays and came to the conclusion she wanted to pursue acting long-term. At this point she was continuously traveling up

to L.A. for auditions and roles in various Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows like Drake & Josh and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. However, Tara was always conscious of the fact that she was living a more “normal” duel-actingand-school experience compared to her industry pals.

She went to prom and homecoming. She did the Friday night football thing. And she credits her parents unwavering support in helping her retain this best of both worlds adventure.

As soon as Tara graduated high school, she picked up and moved to L.A. to embark on her full-time acting itinerary. She made her feature film debut as Roxy, a teen who unites with Frank (Joel Murray) to eliminate society’s most repugnant in God Bless America (2011), written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. In 2015, Tara appeared in NBC’s crime-drama series Aquarius for 10 episodes as Katie, who was based on Charles Manson’s real life adherent Patricia Krenwinkel.

She now, of course, stars in Hulu’s hit original comedy, Casual, created by Zander Lehmann. The series focuses on a lifelong bachelor (Tommy Dewey) opening up his pad to his newly divorced sister (Michaela Watkins) and her teenage daughter Laura (Tara). We follow Laura’s journey of typical teenage self-discovery as familial dynamics shift throughout as a result from dysfunctional tension.

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A major storyline, if you can even call it that thanks to the writers’ restraint on trying to make it too much of a spectacle, is Laura’s evolving sexuality which is never labeled and appears to be more fluid.

“They didn’t try to make it a thing. It was just who she was.

And they didn’t try to pander or condescend. They were just showing this person and exactly who she was,” Tara explains. As many young people do, Laura finds her attention fleeting from one person to the next, possibly an outcome from her emotional intimacy issues. As seasons progress we realize the gender of a person doesn’t matter, but rather the substance and who they are is what draws Laura’s eye.

The fourth and final season’s episodes were all released on the streaming platform July 31, 2018. As for what to expect upon binging, it’s a “beautifully unresolved resolution in a really good way,” Tara says. “It just feels like it sort of sets the three characters, four characters off on these paths that feels very true, authentic and real based on what they’ve learned these past four seasons and how they’ve changed. Some of them were surprising to me and some of them feel just perfectly perfect for their situations,” she notes.

Casual has been widely critically acclaimed and its first season was nominated for a Golden Globe for “Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy”. And, thankfully,

fans were given a final season with carefully considered and fitting conclusions. Amongst the bevy of fans of the show is Hulu and Lionsgate executives, Tara presumes. “They gave us this last season in a way that felt like they liked the show just as much as we liked the show, which is kind of rare in this business. It wasn’t just about the money for them. I think they really did connect with the show as much as we did,” she discloses. Tara thinks these last eight episodes will “not just wrap up the series for the viewers, but also as a crew and as a cast, to wrap up the series as now friends that have had this amazing shared experience and that hopefully we can take with us throughout our lives and look back on and appreciate.”

Tara recently reunited with her old pal Bobcat Goldthwait to star in an episode of his horror anthology series Misfits & Monsters, in which she plays a young reporter who tries to expose a politician running for president who turns out to be a werewolf.

“It’s creepy and weird and often really funny, but sometimes deeply disturbing,” she jokes. The episode aired on truTV in July. During San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Tara joined Bobcat in the Misfits & Monsters panel to discuss the twisted series’ satirical fables.

Using her privilege as a white woman, Tara makes a point to speak up about issues that plague our world. Tara is

big on advocating for many human rights issues. She participated in the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C. and is often found posting on social media in support of causes like TimesUp, immigrants’ rights, women’s rights, and more. As she notes, “What’s important to keep in mind is when trying to advocate for these groups of marginalized people, it’s obviously not being the voice because those people deserve to be their own voices. Being an ally is a lot of listening and a lot of holding up other people and letting their voices be heard.”

Her advice on how to be the best ally for those who are tyrannized: do your research, read all you can, use social media as a tool to learn how others live and the oppression they face on a daily basis, and donate your time and money to causes if you can. Tara’s candid point is that it’s a never ending fight, but it will always be important to stand up for those whose voices are stifled.

On the horizon, she expects an independent film project to be released by the end of the year. She hopes to continue to work with women and help tell women’s stories as much as possible. Finding roles that feel authentic and reflect her principled values sounds easy, but she affirms are hard to come by. “When characters come across as real living, breathing, multifaceted people, I’m completely on board,” she says. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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kimmy shields Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL 26

For Kimmy Shields, acting has always been a thing. Since she was a young kid participating in children’s theatre programs, the itch to play new characters was always strong. Now, after years of hustle in Los Angeles, Kimmy is starring in her first series regular role as Nonnie Thompson in the highly anticipated Netflix comedy, Insatiable.

Kimmy grew up in Torrance, Cali.

– not too far out of Los Angeles. Her parents had met through community theatre, and that love of performing was passed down to Kimmy almost immediately. Both Kimmy and her older brother ended up doing up to three musicals a year with their local children’s theatre company. “That was where the seed was planted of living life according to a schedule,” Kimmy recalls. “That was where I was introduced to the arts and what a wonderful, loving playground it was.”

Kimmy continued on in theatre through high school and when it came time to apply to college, she knew that majoring in musical theatre was the only option for her. “My parents have always been suspiciously supportive of my brother and I, but in that, they’ve always been very good in instilling us with the idea that we’re not entitled to anything and we have to work really hard,” Kimmy says. After graduation, she moved to Hollywood to study musical theatre.

During a semester in New York, Kimmy started to come to the realization that the Broadway career she had once envisioned for herself wasn’t necessarily her path anymore.

She recalls spending every Saturday waiting in line for student rush tickets to Broadway shows, and after seeing so many, she started to understand that the people on Broadway weren’t just actors – they were athletes. “They

do this eight days a week – it’s insane.

I’m both biologically not engineered for that, and treat my body like trash,” Kimmy jokes, “It was very humbling to see that.”

Kimmy went back to Los Angeles to finish her education, and during her last semester, her class showcased for agents and managers – which is where Kimmy met her current representation. Once her team was locked in, Kimmy started going on commercial auditions and things started to organically build. She then moved on to television auditions and booked her first one – a co-star role on ABC Family’s Chasing Life.

The turning point in her career came when she booked her first reoccurring arc on the first season of Big Little Lies. Within days she was on a plane to Monterey to shoot alongside Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. “It was an out of body experience. Your imposter syndrome kicks in,” Kimmy reflects on her first day on set.

During this time, Kimmy was also working at Anthropologie and a pizza shop in addition to her rigorous filming and audition schedules. It was wearing her body down and after a heart-to-heart talk with some of the crew members on Big Little Lies, she changed her day job availability to weekends only and made a conscious shift to focus more on performing.

Fast forward to January 2017 and Kimmy was in the running for a series regular role on Insatiable – originally a pilot for The CW, but was scooped up

by Netflix after the network passed on it. The process of actually booked the role was a long and tedious one, but in the end, she nabbed the role of Nonnie Thompson, best friend to Debby Ryan’s Patty.

Once her spot on the cast was

secured, Kimmy was flown down to Atlanta to shoot the pilot. “It literally feels like you’re doing coke for three weeks because you’re on this high of knowing exactly what you’re there for and feeling so purposeful,” she reflects.

Her and Debby were “immediately enamored with each other” and their natural chemistry made their scenes that much easier to shoot.

The short time between The CW passing on the show and Netflix picking it up was a weird “limbo” time for Kimmy, but ultimately after the news broke she at least knew she’d have a job come fall when they started filming and was able to relax for a second. In that time, she booked a few episodes on Hulu’s Runaways and then without ever formally auditioning, two episodes on Arrested Development. “That’s my family’s show. We always loved Arrested Development,” she gushes.

In between days on the Arrested Development set, Kimmy shot her first role in a feature film: Ad Astra, starring Brad Pitt. After she made a joke to Brad that he should “think about doing this professionally” after doing a scene with him, his production company requested a meeting with her, which she hopes will turn into something eventually.

Kimmy spent the back end of 2017 and top of 2018 in Atlanta filming Insatiable, and now that the premiere is itching closer and closer, the realization that this project she truly loves is about to be seen is nothing but exciting for her. And on top of that, she’s beyond ready for her next project.

“Now I’m very aware of the seeds that have already been planted that are just now being watered and waiting for harvesting time,” she muses, “But knowing that it’s there? Last year, two years ago, I had no fucking clue what was next.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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JANEL PARRISH Words by IAN HAYS Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Glam by JALEESA JAIKARAN Styling by LIZ ZAVOYSKIY

Even with Hawaii as her playground, 6-year-old Janel Parrish had only one thing on her mind: the stage. It started with Phantom of the Opera.

Janel’s parents consistently played the soundtrack in the car while out and about, providing ample time for familiarity to blossom into ownership.

Then came the live show.

Janel’s father took her to see a local production of Phantom.

Shadowy caverns and hidden desires are far cries from sunny afternoons on white sand beaches. But that’s the point. Little Janel witnessed a whole other world form and disappear in the span of a few hours. The words sung on the way to the grocery store had the power to transport whole rooms of people when on the stage.

Janel wanted in.

“I turned to my dad and I said, ‘I want to do that’. I knew from the time I was six years old that I wanted to be an actress.

I was just bit by the bug,” she recalls.

This quickly led to Janel studying music, acting, dance, and begging her parents to audition for every local production she could. The stage became a place of normalcy. Memorizing lines, embodying fantastical personas was just what she did. Her older sister by eight-and-a-half years is a different case.

“We are the best of friends, but we couldn’t be more different. She was into sports, very studious, got good grades, and was very focused on school,” Janel says, “And all I wanted to do was perform.”

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Musical theater was, and forever will be, Janel Parrish’s first love. Without that initial spark from her parents sharing their own love of the theater, TV and film roles would have remained the remnants of a fevered dream. This love of live theater continued on as she was placed in new casts. Janel’s love of theater is rooted in the appreciation that a show relies on a cast, not a singular performer. There’s a joy that easily jumps forth as Janel reflects on how the cohesiveness of a cast comes from bonds built rehearsing and performing day in and day out. Not only are they your colleagues, they are your lifeline when the only way out of that other world is by seeing the story through to the end – always together.

“You’re going out there and creating something from scratch. It’s just so inspiring. You just get so many experiences.

Sometimes you do a show and someone forgets a line or misses an entrance; but it doesn’t matter because the show goes on. Sometimes you have to just figure it out on the spot. And sometimes those are the most fun nights on stage. You and your cast mates stand up, stand together, and figure out how to get through the show,” Janel says.

All of this comes from years of dedication to her craft. While Janel’s most popular work so far can be seen as recent in her career timeline, she is a seasoned veteran. Around age 7, Janel was cast as Young Cosette in Les Misérables. The role came with a run of performances on Broad-

way. Janel was only just shown the magic of musical theater a year or so before. Suddenly, she’s performing one of the world’s most famous musicals in one of the world’s most famous settings. To Janel this was normal.

It’s been 20 years since those shows; while specific memories faded, the feelings stay nestled gently in the back.

She loved performing so that’s what she did. She just happened to do it on the world’s stage.

“I toured the country. I performed on Broadway. I was in Les Misérables’- which is still my favorite musical of all time!

I wish I could remember it more. But as a 7-year-old, I just thought that was what normal 7-year-olds did,” she laughs, “When I got back to Hawaii and started up school again, I kept asking my parents if I could go back on tour. And they had to tell me, ‘No, this is your life now.’ And I was like, ‘Wait, but that was so much fun.’”

During this time, Janel’s father stayed home in Hawaii with her sister while her mom toured with her. Her sister and father would fly out to see Janel and her mother every chance they got. Their support was and is love in action (Janel estimates they have seen thousands of her performances live). Her parents recognized this opportunity as not just a positive avenue for Janel personally, but as something supporting larger than herself or them. Words of support weren’t just spoken, but positive actions made. They recognized Janel’s passion and talent as more than the passing

daydreams of an ordinary child.

That kind of experience is priceless. Janel lucked out that her mother documented these early journeys, photographing every step of the way. Whenever she is having trouble remembering something, she can always turn to those photographs and get flashbacks. She’s mused that she sometimes wishes she was older when presented with an opportunity like that. Maybe then more of that experience would be a more tangible memory. But because she was young, it allowed her to practice her art without realizing the full scope of the matter.

“I remember not being nervous. I was just excited to get on stage. Now as an adult I get nervous,” she jokes. “The older I got the more I felt those nerves on different productions. It’s not stage fright, but that nervous and exited energy right before going out. I still feel at home on stage. When I was little though, I just didn’t feel those nerves at all.”

Janel’s family was doing everything they could to allow her to flourish. But living in Hawaii and taking consistent ten hour flights to New York takes its toll. Around 10-years-old, Janel started to notice less and less roles being offered for her age group. Performing was still on the table; it was just time for a different approach.

At the suggestion of her agency, she signed with their sister label in Los Angeles to focus on TV and film gigs. They formed a routine of flying out for auditions, pilot season, and summer

breaks. The dedication paid off.

Janel began landing roles and a decision had to be made.

“At 14, we made the decision to move me to Los Angeles to continue pursuing more TV and film roles. And that kind became my main focus. But even these years later I still get to do theater. So, I’m luckily that I still get to scratch that creative itch I still have,” she says.

Janel did local TV spots back in Hawaii. She was comfortable with the basics of filming, takes, etc. What was tough during those early years in Los Angeles was being a teenager suddenly transplanted 2,000 miles away from home, friends and familiarity. Being the new kid and not knowing anybody was coupled with having to be homeschooled to fit production and audition schedules. Too often there’s a fantasy of the artist utilizing their talents as a successful escape from whatever is plaguing them. But no matter the talent and layers of sublime creativity, the core is still a human being.

Acting is an art, but it is also a job. As a teen, rife with the stress that has fueled the content of cinema for decades, she was forced to face the balance that is art as the ideal and art in the reality of the entertainment industry. She came into the scene “late”, unfamiliar to casting directors. She had to essentially start from scratch.

Small roles came here and there. Doubt settled in for an uninvited stay. The fearless child partaking in revolution under gilded lights was approaching adulthood and questioning the

most familiar part of her being.

Should she cut her losses and move back to Hawaii? What is her next move? Is there a next move?

Then, at 18, Janel landed her first starring movie role as Jade in the live-action, Bratz. This gave her the boost of confidence she deserved.

“I then started thinking, ‘Well maybe I can do it? Maybe it will work out for me? I just have to keep going and keep trying; because right when I was about to give up, I got this part.’ And that was such an amazing experience for me being on the big screen and learning about film making,” Janel recalls.

Touring the world in support of Bratz ignited a fresh fire within Janel. A new confidence came forth when she went into auditions. This reignited confidence led to her biggest role to date: Mona Vanderwaal on Freeform’s, Pretty Little Liars.

The series was a cultural phenomenon. Her character is one of the most name-recognized villains in 21st century television. But in the beginning, Mona’s fate wasn’t as clear. When she first auditioned, it appeared Mona would appear in a few episodes here and there. Janel was grateful for when she got those calls to come play that character again. So, when she was told she would be a series regular, it was a humbling experience.

“It was unexpected. I had no idea what my character would become,” Janel admits, “So to start with no expectations and to end up being written this amazing role as ‘A’- one of the NKDMAG.COM

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most iconic TV villains- to step into that role and play that was just an honor and so exciting.”

Janel lives by her father’s advice that the best experience is just to work. Playing a role for years leads to character development and new avenues for her to explore. Every new revelation in that show was a chance for Janel to explore and utilize new tools in her acting. She credits PLL with preparing her for every role she’s gotten since then. The breadth of the show allowed for Janel and her cast mates to push each other and their characters because that trust was there that it was for the art of the show, not personal flaunting.

“And I got to say, props to the story writers on Pretty Little Liars. They always kept the storylines so interesting. Personally with Mona and as an actress, they always kept me on my toes and challenged me,” Janel says, “It was a dream to play Mona for seven years. I was never bored; there were so many layers that I got to play with…and that I’ll get to continue to play with more with the spin off. I’d love to play her for as long as possible. She has so many dimensions.”

During the last week of filming PLL, I. Marlene King, PLL’s showrunner approached Janel and asked if she was ready to stop playing Mona. Janel of course told her that she wished she could continue on with this character and how much she’d miss playing her. Marlene told her that maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about that as she was working on an idea for a NKDMAG.COM

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new project. The spin off, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, took a few years to build, but the project got the green light and is slated for 2019.

With the success and other worldly scheduling that comes with a show like PLL, it’s hard to imagine even the most seasoned of thespians taking on roles in other mediums. But for the past five years Janel has been involved with a Los Angeles based theater group called For the Record. This allowed her to get her theater fix on weekends and keep that original love satiated for short bursts.

Then in 2017, Janel was approached and subsequently cast as Sandy in Grease for the productions at the Winter Garden Theater in Toronto. She played Sandy for eight shows a week for a total of six months.

“Playing Sandy was always a dream role of mine, but not a role I ever thought anyone would offer me. I didn’t think anyone would see me as Sandy,” Janel admits, “But our director Josh Prince looked past the idea of blonde hair and blue eyes and said its 2018 and he wanted me to be Sandy. He felt I had her spirit. The whole cast was diverse.”

For Janel, her excitement is coupled with earnest questioning of why this wasn’t happening sooner. Diversity is an inevitability because no two people are truly the same. If art is to connect the masses it must reflect the masses. Nostalgia is no excuse to ignore progress. Janel playing Sandy is the just a small step in the right direction. But 35

to many artists who are POC or part of a marginalized group, this opening of eyes and ears from the mainstream industries is still something to be celebrated.

On August 17th, Netflix will release the new film, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Janel will co-star in the film as Margo Covey.

“It is the first time in 25 years that Asian-Americans are the leads of a film that is not written specifically for or about Asian-Americans. We’re not Asian-American in the film because it’s an Asian-American film. It follows the story of the girl next door and she just happens to be Asian-American. I want to see more of that; I want to see casting based on what they can bring to the story. I am very proud to be part of that narrative and want to see more of it in this industry,” Janel says.

Slowly but surely it is happening. Cynicism is too easy. Janel Parrish is showing that a continued faith in art and those who are serious about it will allow for progression to full inclusivity in the entertainment industry.

It requires work; but with more people like Janel at the helm, it can be done.

Currently, Janel is focused on her upcoming wedding. The bride-to-be will wed in September and need to take full advantage of that honeymoon. Filming for The Perfectionists starts in October. Several films with her in “fun roles” drop later this year. This is the beginning of a new story for Janel, and she just hopes you enjoy show. NKD

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dominique fishback Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Hair by MONAE EVERETT Styling by MADISON GUEST

Dominique Fishback is an actress, playwright, and poet – and she’s constantly looking for more projects to take on that will challenge her in the entertainment industry. The 27-year-old has participated in TV shows, theater productions, and even an original, one woman play – and she’s looking to continue playing strong characters with her starring role as Angel LaMere in Night Comes On. Dominique was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her interest in acting began at the age of 8, after a theater group known as TADA! visited her school. She also grew up watching late night reruns of I Love Lucy, and recalls being inspired by the show’s lead actress.

“I used to watch Lucille Ball and say, ‘I could do that. I want to have my own show like her,’” Dominique recalls. “And that sparked it.”

When she was a sophomore at Brooklyn Collegiate, Dominique joined the MCC Theater Youth Company (a program for high school students based in NYC).

There, she participated in acting classes and playwriting workshops – and performed her own material.

“I think that was the best route for me, because I am a writer, I’m a poet, and I love creating my own content,” Dominique says.

Outside of the MCC, she also starred in a theater production of

Kid Sister at the Manhattan Theatre Source alongside Zazie Beetz – who is now known for her roles on FX’s Atlanta and Deadpool 2.

“She played my big sister and immediately we were in the callbacks together and we had a great bond and I’m so happy for her” Dominique says. “I’m glad that we’re both living our dreams.”

After high school, Dominique attended Pace University and earned a BA in acting. She went on to land roles on series like The Affair, The Americans, and Show Me a Hero. Her big break came when she booked the role as Darlene on Season 1 of HBO’s The Deuce, which centers on the porn and prostitution industries in New York in the 1970s. Since joining the show, Dominique has learned even more about acting from observing co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Margarita Levieva.

“Watching them actually gave me more confidence to say, ‘Well I think Darlene would do work right here, on the floor as opposed to sitting in this particular chair’,” she says. “It gave me the confidence to explore the set creatively and not be limited to where a director puts me.”

After playing a sex worker on The Deuce, Dominique was looking for a less gritty, more light-hearted project to take on.

But then she discovered a drama

titled Night Comes On. “When I read the script, I got to step back and not look at it as an actor wanting to do something different, but thinking about this story and feeling like I had the tools and the understanding to bring her to life,” Dominique says.

Night Comes On (written and directed by Jordana Spiro and set for release on August 3) is about Angel LaMere, who gets released from a juvenile detention once she turns 18. Within the first few minutes, viewers get the sense that she has experienced a difficult life, from living in multiple foster homes to not being in touch with her younger sister, Abby (Tatum Marilyn Hall) for more than a year.

“She feels like she has no purpose, and the only purpose she thinks that she has to live for is to seek revenge over the man who killed her mother,” Dominique says. “But in order to do that, she has to bring her 10-year-old sister along and in that, she’s living in a dark space and now she has this 10-year-old girl that’s so full of life trying to pull her in a different direction.”

Aside from the storyline, Dominique was interested in being part of the film because of how different she is from her character.

“What really attracted me was that she is someone who is very NKDMAG.COM

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internal with her thoughts and what she wants,” she explains. “I’m a very expressive person. I’m a poet and I like to talk out my feelings, so to play a character that’s calculated on her own and confident in herself about the choices that she’s going to make regardless of if they’re not good or if they’re dangerous… Just her having that confidence and being able to portray a story mostly through my eyes rather than word is really appealing to me.”

Dominique is especially thrilled to finally be the main star of a project and be given greater responsibilities.

“This will be the first time having a lead role where a whole movie or project was contingent on my performance,” she says.

“With The Deuce, the cast and crew can be there on days when I’m not there, but any time that the crew was required on set for this movie, I was there too. So it was a 30-day shoot where I couldn’t get a day off unless we all were off. And I like that a lot. This is what I’ve been wanting my whole life, so I was ready for the challenge.”

Ultimately, Dominique hopes that Night Comes On will help viewers to understand the circumstances that homeless youth and youth in the foster care system are forced to deal with. Like Angel, many young people are expected to be accountable for themselves, without any guidance or assistance from others once they age out of the system.

“I would want people to take that into consideration when they deal with foster youth or youth that they can’t understand, understand why they act like this, 40

understand why they do this,” she says. “I hope this story will at least give a little window into how somebody’s childhood could play a role in that. And it’s not as easy as it seems.”

In addition to Night Comes On, Dominique has several other projects in the works this year.

She’ll appear in a few episodes of a new variety show called Random Acts of Flyness and reprise her role as Darlene on Season 2 of The Deuce, which premieres on September 9. In October, Dominique will also star alongside Amandla Stenberg, K.J. Apa, Anthony Mackie and Sabrina Carpenter in The Hate U Give, a film adaptation of a book written

by Angie Thomas.

On days when she’s not acting, Dominique is busy writing a romance film. When she looks back at the whirlwind year she’s had playing a variety of strong roles, Dominique is reminded of a book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

“There’s so many ways to be a hero or heroine and I’m just really excited that I get to be the heroine with a thousand faces because I’m playing this woman in 1978 [on The Deuce] and the funny thing is that when I was filming The Hate U Give, I also turned around and 24 hours later, I got to be Jay-Z’s mom, young Gloria Carter, in his ‘Smile’ music video,” she reflects, “It was so awesome because I was playing a 16-year-old one day and then I turn around and I’m playing a mom in the ‘70s and I was just really excited and really honored that I get to showcase my talents like that and play all these different women, these different heroines.” NKD

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peyton wich Words by CARLY BUSH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Every once in a while, a dynamic new child actor comes along with such a power-ful onscreen presence that they seem born for it. Peyton Wich may have started acting at the tender age of 9, and landed a coveted role in the Netflix ‘80s horror drama Stranger Things before he was even in high school, but the New Orleans, Louisiana native has remained 42

refreshingly humble about his journey.

At a time when many kids are simply dreaming of their silver-screen fu-tures, Peyton was navigating the intricacies of the entertainment industry.

Throughout his childhood he worked on small independent projects that helped him gain the “set experience” that later helped prepare him for sudden

stardom when he was cast as the iconic bully Troy in the first season of Stranger Things.

In his very early youth, before he discovered his love of acting, Peyton was single-minded and focused. If he didn’t enjoy something, he abandoned it, always searching for something better. “I was into a lot of different extracurricular activi-ties. Sports [like]

soccer, baseball, and karate.

I always quit. None if it ever really interested me that much,” he says.

Eventually, he started acting classes, simply as “something to do”—and fell rather unexpectedly in love with the craft. He knew instantly that it was what he wanted to pursue professionally.

To the outside world, Peyton certainly appears to be the classic, textbook example of an overnight success — and this is true, to an extent. He rose from ob-scurity to instant recognition the moment he appeared alongside Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp in “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers”.

But Peyton never expected fame, much less fame that came so quickly, as he worked onset and balanced his education in his hometown like any normal teenager. He recalls booking Stranger Things and relocating to Atlanta to film with a casual nonchalance, likely because no one involved with the Netflix series had any idea how wildly popular it would become.

“We knew it was going to be on Netflix, and we knew that was pretty cool. That’s about all we knew.” He pauses. “And then it came out.”

The day the series premiered, Peyton watched his Instagram followers steadily increase.

More and more fans began to find him online, and his popularity “skyrocketed”. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is a big deal. Okay’,”

he says. Rather than gaining a small cult following, the cast of Stranger Things, even the youngest stars, became mainstream celebrities.

Although, like any good member of Gen Z, Peyton appreciates his Insta-fame, his fondest memories relating to Stranger Things involve the downtime on-set with his cast mates. “It was honestly a blast,” he says, to work with the A-list teens. “I loved all the kids there. They’re great. They’re super funny. They’re all great people.”

Since Peyton primarily played in scenes with the other child actors, he lost out on the opportunity to spend time with the adults on set, but he cherishes his one scene with David Harbour: “He’s just an amazing actor!”

Even as the popularity of Stranger Things continued to grow at exponential rates, Peyton pressed on, determined to land more roles. Rather than relocating to Los Angeles or Atlanta, he stayed rooted in his hometown of New Orleans, and found success in the indie film and television market there.

A year after Stranger Things came a short called American Revenant: Dead South and a made-for-TV movie entitled Family of Lies. This specific style of swampy Cajun horror seemingly brings out the best in Peyton, who works well against a backdrop of grit, and plays an unnervingly convincing bully. However, he’s hesitant to be typecast as a horror actor.

“I feel like I can show my best work in any genre, as long as I’m prepared for it. That’s just what I’ve done the most of so far. I’d love to branch out and do all sorts of stuff,” he says.

His biggest project of late is The Darkest Minds, a futuristic dystopian film starring Amandla Stenberg, Mandy Moore and Bradley Whitford. Adapted from a young adult novel by Alexandra Bracken, the movie follows a group of resistance fighters living in a desolate apocalyptic wasteland following the detainment of powerful individuals under the age of 18.

Stranger Things’ Shawn Levy stood in as producer, while Chad Hodge and Alexandra Bracken collaborated on the screenplay. In many cases, film adapta-tions of young adult dystopias fail to resonate with fans of the original source ma-terial, but with the author intimately involved in the production of the film, Pey-ton assumes fans of the series will find it has remained true to the tone and style of the novel.

“I think it’ll be pretty authentic,” he says. “Having read the script, I think it’s going to be a great movie. I think it has the tone that the book is going for. I think it’s going to be really cool.”

Before he began filming The Darkest Minds, Peyton found himself relying on similar tactics he used as he prepared for his Stranger Things role. “My charac-ter’s, uh, not very nice,” he says. “And, you know, I had to be almost kind of ruthless.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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SAN DIEGO COMIC CON class of 2018 Photographed & Interviewed by CATHERINE POWELL

Christine Adams

Matthew Davis

Black Lightning “The end of the first season was so rewarding in terms of making all the discoveries and kind of bringing the audience into the family and having them feel like they were part of our dynamic.”

Legacies “Alaric, when I booked The Vampire Diaries, was only supposed to be four episodes. And here I am, nine years later, on this massive journey with this character.”

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Sarah Desjardins

Emma Dumont

Impulse “I was attracted to this project due to the strong material and subject matter it took on. Impulse is done with such utter honesty. I definitely wanted to take part in bringing it to life.”

The Gifted “At the beginning of Season 2, Polaris is pregnant as shit, huge and about to have a baby.

She’s depressed because she left the love of her life to go ‘save the world’ and kill bigots.”

Damon Gupton

Maddie Hasson

Black Lightning “The first standout moment I had was just the long hours. We shoot at night a lot, so showing up at 1-o’clock in the morning to work was something I had to get used to.”

Impulse “The relationships we all built in sharing that experience were truly special. We all really supported each other through days that we’re often times both physically and emotionally taxing.”

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Black Lightning Jefferson Pierce is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe-haven for young people in a neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero in his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left the superhero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad. Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa and Jennifer grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn, suffered.

Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him…or so he thought. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns – to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.

Season 2 Premieres October 9th @ 9PM on The CW

Olivia Holt Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger “The first season was a lot about character development and really focusing on the characters as individuals. I’ll be excited to see them kick some ass as a superhero duo team [in Season 2].”

Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger is the story of Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson – two teenagers from very different backgrounds, who find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers which are mysteriously linked to one another. Tandy can emit light daggers and Tyrone has the ability to engulf others in darkness. They quickly learn they are better together than apart, but their feelings for each other make their already complicated world even more challenging. In the Season 1 finale, the two realize that it is time they face their destiny and test their powers as “The Divine Pairing” to save the city.

In front of over 4000 screaming fans at San Diego Comic-Con, the cast and executive producers of the critically acclaimed Freeform series announced the series has been picked up for a second season. The superhero show of the summer, will be back with 10 all-new episodes promising mayhem in spring 2019.

Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger stars Olivia Holt, Aubrey Joseph, Andrea Roth, Gloria Reuben, Miles Mussenden, Carl Lundstedt, James Saito and J.D. Evermore.

Stream Season 1 on the Freeform App

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Marvin Jones III Black Lightning “Killing my dad, almost dying myself, losing my sister, Khalil being paralyzed and brought to walk again by me... Those were moments when I watch it again I realize, ‘Okay, these were shifting moments’.”

Aubrey Joseph

Ally Maki

Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger “[The first] season was obviously this slow build, this slow grind of Tyrone and Tandy, so to see them in their full element [in Season 2] is going to be crazy.”

Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger “The swamp scene was such a beautiful scene to shoot and such an incredible experience. Not just [shooting it], but the emotional impact that it had and the message that it was sending.”

Natalie Alyn Lind

China Anne McClain

The Gifted “For Lauren, she was hiding who she was for a long time, so when push came to shove and her brother was destroying a school, that was a really big moment for her to come out of her little shell.”

Black Lightning “I’m looking forward to Jennifer getting into her super suit and becoming more accepting of being a superhero and that being a part of who she is. I wish she accepted that already.”

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Stephen Moyer

Rena Owen

The Gifted “My favorite moment was finding out that the family are mutants, that they have these powers. Therefore ,everything that Reed has lived has been different to what he thought it was.”

Siren “There were so many standout moments, but probably the biggest for me was in the last episode at the burial ground when Helen reveals herself to Maddie and Ben. That was a really big moment.”

Julie Plec

Eline Powell

Legacies “I don’t begrudge anybody that wants to take a break.

There’s a comfort in playing the same character, but there’s also a complacency. I respect any of them that want to spread their wings and not look back.”

Siren “These are creatures that survive in an ocean with dangerous creatures and depth, and I thought it was an absolutely ‘Eureka!’ moment that of course mermaids are ferocious creatures.”

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The Gifted

Blair Redford The Gifted “Season 2 picks up with the team in Washington D.C. Eclipse is pushing the team and pushing Thunderbird to find Polaris. That’s what they’re doing in D.C.; they’re closing in.”

Produced in association with Marvel Television, and set in the “X-Men” universe, family adventure series The Gifted tells the emotional story of a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their teenage children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family seeks help from an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.

The show’s Season 1 finale saw a pregnant Polaris take a card from her father’s playbook and use her mutant abilities to crash a plane carrying an anti-mutant doctor and senator. At the same time, The Strucker Siblings combined their powers to stop Sentinel Services, but destroyed the Mutant Underground’s Atlanta base in doing so. Upon regrouping, Polaris admits to joining the notorious Hellfire Club and takes a few Underground refugees with her.

Season 2 will highlight the consequences of Polaris’ actions, as killing a United States senator and a renowned scientist are big deals. On top of that, Polaris is about to have a baby, and if her actions in the Season 1 finale are any hint, mutant pregnancy hormones are a bitch.

Season 2 Premieres September 25th @ 8PM on FOX

Impulse

James Remar Black Lightning “The episode where I just get the hell beat out of me was a turning point because Jefferson sees that Gambi has taken a beating that almost costs him his life and he still doesn’t give him up.”

Based on the third novel in the Jumper series by Steven Gould, Impulse features a rebellious 16-yearold girl Henry who has always felt different from her peers and has longed to escape from her seemingly quaint small town. Henry soon discovers she has the extraordinary ability to teleport. This newfound power confirms her conviction that she really was different from everybody else, but it now makes her the focus of those who want to control her.

The first season follows Henry as she starts to learn about her powers. The first time she realizes what she is capable of, she is in a truck with her high school’s Golden Boy, who tries to rape her. She has a seizure and teleports, in the course of which she inadvertently crushes him, leaving him a paraplegic.

The show goes on to explore Henry’s need to reconcile what her assaulter tried to do with the consequence, and her feelings about discovering she can teleport with her feelings about the assault.

Impulse stars Maddie Hasson, Sarah Desjardins, Enuka Okuma, Craig Arnold, Tanner Stine, Keegan-Michael Key and Missi Pyle.

Stream Season 1 on YouTube Premium

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Legacies For the last decade, the iconic heroes and villains of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals have captivated audiences worldwide. They left an enduring legacy of love and family in their wake, which continues in Legacies, a thrilling new drama that tells the story of the next generation of supernatural beings at The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. It’s here that Klaus Mikaelson’s daughter, 17-year-old Hope Mikaelson; Alaric Saltzman’s twins, Lizzie and Josie Saltzman; and other young adults — including political scion MG and the mysterious Landon Kirby — come of age in the most unconventional way possible, nurtured to be their best selves…in spite of their worst impulses. Will these young witches, vampires and werewolves become the heroes they want to be — or the villains they were born to be? As they fight to protect their secret, their town of Mystic Falls and eventually the world, they will have to rely on ancient folklore and tales to learn how to battle their far-reaching enemies. Legacies stars Danielle Rose Russell, Jenny Boyd, Kaylee Bryant, Quincy Fouse and Aria Shaghasemi, with Matt Davis.

Season 1 Premieres October 22nd @ 9PM on The CW

Danielle Rose Russell Legacies “I think it’s time for Hope to create her own identity. For so long she was just known as the baby of The Originals. In Legacies you’ll definitely get to see her explore her rebellious nature.”

Siren The number one new cable drama among women 18-34, Siren, Freeform’s smash hit drama, has begun production on Season 2 in Vancouver.

The second season is set to debut in 2019.

In this epic tale, the coastal town of Bristol Cove, known for its legend of once being home to mermaids, is turned upside down when a mysterious girl appears and begins wreaking havoc upon the small fishing town. Using their resources, marine biologists Ben and Maddie must work together to find out who and what drove this primal hunter of the deep sea to land, and are there more like her out there?

Siren is based on a story by Eric Wald and Dean White who both serve as executive producers.

Emily Whitesell serves as showrunner and executive producer. Brad Luff, Nate Hopper and RD Robb also serve as executive producers.

The 2-hour debut of Siren on March 29, 2018 ranked as Freeform’s biggest drama launch in more than 2 years since Shadowhunters in January 2016.

Siren stars Alex Roe, Eline Powell, Rena Owen, Fola Evans-Akingbola and Sibongile Mlambo.

Stream Season 1 on the Freeform App

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Skyler Samuels The Gifted “I think my favorite moment [of Season 1] was meeting the triplets when they come off the bus and blow stuff up. We get to explore the triplet dynamic a lot more in Season 2.”

Sean Teale

Ian Verdun

The Gifted “It’s a six-month time jump, so its been six months of hard times, of despair, of effort, of searching and of helping The Mutant Underground as much as they can.”

Siren “To be able to do it and be proud of the work that you did, and then to see it and see how it’s being received, and to be able to piece all the pieces together… To see it was such a high point for me.”

Cress Williams

Nafessa Williams

Black Lightning “For me... flying was a big standout moment.

Being on the green screen and just getting pulled and moved all over the place. That was probably a childhood standout.”

Black Lightning “Understanding her powers, and then being able to walk in that truth unapologetically, uncompromisingly... For me that was the most exciting part about Season 1.”

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