Issuu

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

OLIVIA SINGH writer

ashe Words by LEXI SHANNON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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

cassadee pope Words by AUTUMN HALLE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

spencer ludwig Words by ELIZABETH FORREST Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

“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

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

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

tara lynne barr Words by AUTUMN HALLE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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

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

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

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

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.”

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

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.”

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

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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