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respond to all forms of bullying; as well as educating kids and teens in school and online, providing help for those in need and at risk of suicide, raising awareness, peer mentoring programs in schools, public service announcements by noted celebrities, and social media campaigns. An additional focus educates parents on how to keep their children safe and responsible online. Both the STOMP Out Bullying Program™ and its Annual BLUE SHIRT DAY™ WORLD DAY OF BULLYING PREVENTION initiative brings awareness and educates kids and teens, parents and schools about

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MAY 2017 06 APRIL KRY

22 MICHAEL MALARKEY

36 OCEAN PARK STANDOFF

on finding her voice and saying “yes” to opportunities

on his upcoming album and the end of the vampire diaries

on accidentally becoming a band and what’s to come

08 BEA MILLER

28 MARGARET ANNE FLORENCE on the first season of sun records and her hopes for a second

40 COLIN O’DONOGHUE

on captain swan, carrie pilby and the importance of having hope

14 CHARLIE DEPEW

30 DRAKE WHITE

50 MONICA BARBARO

on getting through tough times and penning her own new chapter

on famous in love and not taking “no” for an answer

on touring, family and his new album, spark

18 JACKIE LEE

on abandoning dance for acting and chicago justice

52 MADELAINE PETSCH

on riverdale and portraying a powerful female character

on being in control and writing “getting over you”

CATHERINE POWELL

publisher, editor, photographer, designer, writer

SAMANTHA BAMBINO

ELIZABETH FORREST

VANESSA SALLES

SHELBY CHARGIN

AUTUMN HALLE

HANNAH SCHWARTZ

DIANA FIGUEROA

ALEX LANE

RILEY STENEHJEM

writer writer writer

april kry Words by SAMANTHA BAMBINO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Throughout the history of country music, there has been a number of powerful female artists who truly related to the life struggles of their fans. Martina McBride sang about escaping domestic abuse, while Shania Twain touched on being a teenage mom. Country artist, April Kry, is following in her idols’ footsteps, making a name for herself by creating honest music that she hopes will touch the hearts of fans. April’s passion for music is in her blood. Growing up in Connecticut, she spent much of her childhood in the church, where her dad was a worship leader. At first, she listened to mainly gospel and Christian music, but eventually branched out into singer-songwriter. After her dad showed her the basic chords on the guitar, which gave her the skills to write her own music, she discovered her true passion. “When I started writing myself, I kind of fell into country. I just loved the storytelling aspect of it, and so I ended up in country and that’s where I am now,” April says. After graduating from high school, April decided to follow her passion for music instead of attending college like other teens her age. She moved to Nashville, a town far different from the familiarity of Connecticut, and jumped headfirst into the music industry. When she got to Nashville, April worked tirelessly to find her own sound. She immediately hooked up with an artist development company, and attended writing sessions with various artists and songwriters. “Artists are always evolving and developing, so I was just trying to find my sound at that time,” April reflects. She tried some pop tracks, but knew they weren’t for her. After spending more time writing and discovering herself, she solidified that country was the direction in which she was meant to go. While creating her first EP, Music Speaks, and eventual full length album, Up From Under, April pulled heavily from the messages of her childhood idols. When she was 12, April’s mom bought her Martina McBride’s CD, and she immediately fell in love with her voice and the deep meanings

behind her songs. Martina covers everything from cancer to domestic violence, tough experiences that real people go through. “It just really touched me growing up, and I was like, I want to be an artist like that. I want to have the passion that she has,” April says. While shooting the music video for her single “Get Ready To Miss Me”, April decided to incorporate a fun spin on her influences from 90’s country. The video focuses on a little girl who represents April, having a blast in her bedroom listening to the CD’s of Shania Twain and Martina. April wanted the video to be out of the box, and even dresses up like her idols, rocking Shania’s denim outfit from her classic “Any Man Of Mine” video. Though it’s clear country is April’s passion, she likes to keep things interesting on YouTube by putting her own spin on covers from various genres. “I don’t like to limit myself to just country,” April says. “I love country, but I like to put my own flair on different covers.” Fans can find everything from “Love Yourself ” by Justin Bieber to Maren Morris’s “80s Mercedes” on April’s channel. Her favorite cover to date is “Chains” by Nick Jonas, who she had the pleasure of closely working with on a special project. April received a call one day from none other than Kevin Jonas Sr., the father of pop band, The Jonas Brothers. He informed her he was looking for a female artist to record a song that he and Nick wrote 10 years ago called “Daddy’s Little Girl,” a touching track based on a true story about someone from their church. Kevin heard her cover of “A Broken Wing” and knew she was the perfect vocalist. “Nick wanted to write this song for them which I thought was so sweet, and at such a young age he’s just so musically talented,” April says. “So I listened to the song, and I was like, absolutely.” Earlier this year, April released her latest single “While We’re Young,” a catchy track that she had been itching to be released for a while. A few years ago, April organized a writing camp at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, pulling together writers and

producers solely for the song. It was April’s first write of the day when the idea for the song came to her. After hearing a chord progression from producer Micah Wilshire that everyone loved, the song quickly blossomed. “We literally did the demo that day in the room, and we were just like, oh my gosh this song is amazing,” April says. “So it was one of those magical moments where we all came together and we’re like, wow this is something special.” April and her team’s passion for the song translated to the fans, who gave nothing but positive feedback. For April, this is what makes it all worthwhile and reaffirms why she is in the business. “Music was my escape growing up. I listened to a bunch of my inspirations who got me through a rough patch in my life. This is what I want to do. This is what I want to be for other people,” April says. “While We’re Young” kicks off April’s new beginning as an artist as the first track of her upcoming EP. Right now, she is in the process of choosing songs that are the best representation of her current self as an artist. “It’s definitely going to have a lot of different subject matters, which I love. Martina does that with her music. She doesn’t just talk about love, she talks about different things that we go through in life,” April says. “So many people can relate to it, or if they’re going through a situation, the song meets them where they’re at.” Though 2017 isn’t even halfway over, April has a jam-packed agenda for the remainder of the year. Aside from finalizing her EP and filming a music video for “While We’re Young”, which will be released towards the end of May, she is gearing up for CMA Fest and looking to get herself on a tour. After years in the industry, April has learned a thing or two about the road to success, which she hopes young girls with big dreams like herself can take away from her music. “At the end of the day, you have to live with the music that you put out,” April says. “So I would just say to trust your gut and be yourself.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

bea miller

Words by RILEY STENEHJEM Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

When musician Bea Miller first met with NKD in 2014, she had just released her debut EP, Young Blood, and was in the process of creating her first full-length. Now, after putting out Not an Apology in 2015, she’s in the midst of releasing her second album – a trilogy in three chapters that documents the honest hardships of her life. Bea started singing as a child, and first considered making a career of it as a way to help her family out of a hard time. Her parents were in the middle of a divorce when they both lost their jobs, leaving teenaged Bea stuck in the middle of

ing music videos, just in my room, and I was starting to learn guitar,” Bea explains. One day, she was singing “I’ll Make You Feel My Love” by Adele in her bedroom, when she heard someone crying on the other side of the door. “I opened my bedroom door, and one of my moms was sitting on the stairs, crying, and she was like, ‘I didn’t know that you could do that,’ and I didn’t really know that I could do that either,” she says. “I thought that singing was an unrealistic dream, and that was when I decided that maybe I could use this to help my family.” Bea and her family were on the

wood Records at age 15. Being so young and new to the music industry, Bea didn’t write much of the music for her first album. “I co-wrote a couple of the songs, but I didn’t really write it, it wasn’t really from my own perspective,” she says. “I didn’t necessarily know how to write songs, I hadn’t really tried before. I was kind of scared of my feelings. I was an introvert at the time.” She felt that the album wasn’t authentic to her and who she was as a person. “I had fans coming up to me, like, ‘Oh my god, this song means so much to me, and I really appreciate you for writing

“I want to be honest, I want to be real, and I want to be the one who Is personally helpIng people and movIng them, so that eventually led me to wrIte thIs album.” fighting mothers. “They really hated each other, and it was really hard to be around them both together, but because they were both jobless, they couldn’t afford to actually get their own places,” she says. “So my siblings and I were forced to live in a house with two parents that hated each other, and were constantly fighting with each other.” She found a way out through music. “I woke up one morning, and I was like, ‘I feel like I could do something to help this situation and make it better.’ I didn’t really know what it was, at that point, but I started getting really into singing, and I was mak-

verge of losing their home when she decided to audition for the 2012 season of X Factor. “It sounds kind of shitty, like I was just doing it for the money, but I wanted to take care of my family, and let them keep their house,” she says. The winner of the show not only gets a $5 million prize, but a record deal. “I was like, ‘Cool, I can follow my dream and do what I love to do and I can also help my family at the same time’, so I thought that that was perfect,” Bea explains. Though she didn’t win, she made it through to ninth place and landed a record deal with Syco Music and Holly-

it,’ and I felt like a liar,” Bea admits. Through that, she came to realize that she had something to say, something representative of herself and her experiences that she’d been afraid to communicate in the past. Bea decided that for her next album would write every single song herself. “I want to be honest, I want to be real, and I want to be the one who is personally helping people and moving them, so that eventually led me to write this album,” she says. “I feel really good, I feel really inspired and really happy, and I feel like when people tell me that my music has helped them, it’s actually

NKDMAG.COM

charlie depew Words by VANESSA SALLES Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Starring on Freeform’s new series, Famous in Love, Charlie DePew is set to become a name that you won’t soon forget. The actor, born and raised in Pasadena, California, discovered his love for the craft at a very young age. “As a child, I was always an avid story teller,” he says. “My dad’s a very logistical thinker and my mom’s a very artistic one; I’d say I’m 50/50 with that. I’ve always been very vocal and always wanted to perform and do theater.” Though Charlie caught the acting bug pretty early, it wasn’t until he visited the set of 2009’s Jack and the Beanstalk, a movie his uncle was producing, that he decided acting would be his future career. Recalling his time on set, Charlie credits the two leads, Colin Ford and Chloe Grace Moretz, as a major factor in his decision to pursue acting. “We were all around the same age,” he shares. “Being on set with them and being able to hang out in that environment definitely inspired me. That’s when I knew that I wanted to be an

actor.” Having made up his mind, Charlie started going to audition after audition. After landing a guest spot on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up!, he made an appearance in the series’ pilot episode alongside his current co-star, Bella Thorne. “That was in the seventh grade,” he says. “Who knew I would be working with Bella again?” Following his guest-spot, Charlie went on to add impressive roles to his resume that included The Amazing Spider-Man, Mad Men, Awkward and, in his senior year, The Goldbergs. Being the team captain of his school’s water polo team, balancing his time between school and work proved to be difficult. “Senior year was super hard to manage,” Charlie says. “I was recurring on The Goldbergs and had to make sure I was available to do both. Luckily, the schedule for both worked out perfectly.” As if his plate wasn’t full enough that year, Charlie, in a true entrepreneurial fashion, started his

own business and soon became the founder of Respark, a company that specializes in social media promotion and app development. “My buddies and I started managing themed Instagram accounts our senior year and we wanted to change the game of advertising,” he says. “That’s what Respark does. We also came up with a new product that’s still in development but will hopefully be out in June. It’s called Toy Box and we’ve been working on it since 2014. It’s going to be a platform where you’ll be able to play integrated games for prizes and freebies. We’re very excited about it.” Fast forward about a year into what would’ve been Charlie’s freshman year of college, the young actor got a call to audition for Famous in Love. “I sent a taped audition and three months later, I got a call saying they wanted me to test for Jake Salt. I didn’t end up getting the part and in December of 2015, after the pilot was shot, they found out that the show was NKDMAG.COM

jackie lee Words by AUTUMN HALLE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Jackie Lee is finally in control. And that is no small feat. With six years in Nashville and two record deals under his belt, he’s spent most of his career searching for a sound uniquely him. With the release of his newest single, “Getting Over You”, he’s finally found that. But getting there was an adventure in life lessons. Raised in East Tennessee, country music was just as much apart of his life as church was, thanks to his music-loving parents. The two of them brought a plethora of influences into the house, encouraging musical experimentation and exploration of genres. For Jackie, his parents were the foundation for the music that would eventually define him. “My dad loved country music. He had never heard of Michael Jackson until he met my mom in 1987, and he didn’t want to like anything other than country,” Jackie says of his early influences. “But my mom was ‘80’s pop, hair bands and Michael Bolton, all the way. That fusion of music is where I landed.” In fact, the family loved music so much that they spent some time in Nashville, where his father pursued a short-lived country music career. Though that career didn’t pan out, the family, consisting of Jackie and his younger brother and sister, continued to make music a huge part of their lives. After his dad started a church in 1998, the family joined a gospel band, piling into a van on the weekends and playing gigs at churches across the south east. “I was 6 at the time, I played the drums and was the lead singer,” Jackie laughs at the memory of wanting to be like Phil Collins, a musical influence from his mother’s end of the musical spectrum. “That was my first touring experience. It was tough, I remember laying in the middle seat of the van 18

trying to sleep before we had to be back at school on Monday.” Music wasn’t Jackie’s only influence. When he got to high school he joined the world of athletics, playing for the incredibly competitive school football team. “You know Randall Cobb? He plays for the Green Bay Packers now, but he was our quarterback. We won the state championship four years in a row,” he reflects. “We were really good. It was hard not to live off of that high as a 16-year-old kid trying to figure things out.” But eventually, he came to a crossroads, knowing he had to make a decision about the future. Would it be college? Athletics? Music? The moment of clarity came in his sophomore year, when asked to sing at a church event for which he composed and performed a song all by himself. Being on that stage, singing a song of his own creation, lit a fire in him that he couldn’t ignore. At the start of his junior year he told his parents he wanted to move to Nashville and pursue music. Not long after, he was working with a producer out in Nashville, who tasked him with writing a song a week to prepare him for the Nashville songwriters grind. Though his parents were supportive, his father’s failed music career still sat in the back of their minds. When graduation came around and Jackie began planning his move, his father came to him with some hard advice. “My dad pulled me aside and said, ‘I want you to understand something. We will support you no matter what, through thick and thin, good times and bad times, but don’t come home crying when the music business spits in your face. You have to wipe it off and carry on’,” he says. Jackie didn’t know then how much those words would matter.

Not even six months after moving to Nashville, Jackie found himself signed to a record deal with Big Machine, working with a producer and a manager that had success in the early 1990’s. It felt as if the world was at his fingertips. It felt as if he’d bypassed the usual industry grind and jumped right into a career. And then reality came crashing in. “We did a whole record for Big Machine, and it was not good, and I knew it. My team was always fighting with the label.” Jackie continues, “I’m new to the industry so I didn’t want to overstep. Looking back, I wish I had gone into the label and been like ‘I don’t like this either!’ But I didn’t and they ended up dropping me before we released anything.” The frustration about being dropped was short lived when Jackie was quickly picked up by Broken Bow Records. Only, with the same team on his side, it felt like history was doomed to repeat itself. He went into making music based on the direction of his team, rather than what he wanted to do, feeling stuck in a cycle that he didn’t know how to get out of. In his early 20’s, he didn’t yet have the confidence to speak up for himself. Broken Bow released a single, but it did poorly on the charts, and Jackie felt disenchanted by the industry and frightened by the very real possibility that he was going to get dropped again. It was at that moment that he made one of the hardest decisions in his life. “I went to the owner of the label and said, ‘I’m sorry, I should have done this five years ago, but I didn’t know any better. So I’m leaving my manager and producer.’ I was very broken and vulnerable,” he admits. Looking back, he’s thankful for the experience, if only because it taught

NKDMAG.COM

michael malarkey Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

margaret anne florence Words by HANNAH SCHWARTZ Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Growing up on the sunny beaches of Charleston, South Carolina, is a dream for most people, but it was a reality for Margaret Anne Florence. Margaret attended an all-girls school from Kindergarten until her high school graduation. “I loved it. It was nice to be all about the girls. It was just a really good environment for women and for self-confidence,” she remembers. After graduating from high school, she followed in her family’s tradition and attended the College of Charleston, where she majored in Music/Classical Voice and minored in Theater. After graduating from college, she attended New York University, where she received a Masters in Music Theater Performance. Margaret’s family often vacationed in New York City, which made the transition easy for her, although she admits that it was an adjustment because it is so different from Charleston. “I missed the beauty and the relaxation of South Carolina and the beach, but I was excited to come to the city and to start [my career]. It’s a scary place for anybody. It’s just a different life, it just is. So you have to get used to it,” she says. Performing was always on her agenda. “I was always into that. I did dance as a child. In fifth grade, I got involved in a performing group that did singing and dancing,” she says. Her mother’s side of the family is musical, and her grandmother was very interested in arts and singing. She had support from her family, which further helped her pursue her dream. “My parents always encouraged me to just do whatever I wanted to do. But I always knew that I wanted to be a performer. There was never a doubt in my mind or anything else I ever wanted to be,” she says. At the beginning of her career, she starred in commercials. Her big break was when she was cast in an Axe Body Spray commercial. “I was so proud. I got my SAG card. It was amazing,” she remembers, laughing. After her Axe commercial, she starred in the movie, My Super Ex-Girlfriend. “That was a big experience there. To show up on set with Rainn Wilson, Luke 28

Wilson and Anna Faris; that was a big job,” she says. In 2008, Margaret starred in the Off-Broadway play, The Fantasticks, playing Luisa. “That was a big accomplishment as far as my theater and singing because that was something I wanted for a while,” she says. Margaret focused more on theater when she started her career. However, after she finished school, she became more interested in acting in film and movies, but she enjoys both now. Most recently, Margaret has been acting in the CMT show, Sun Records, portraying Marion Keisker. Her interest in Elvis Presley attracted her to this show. “I love Elvis. My mother was born in Memphis, so I grew up with my grandparents, who loved Elvis. I had an Elvis poster on my wall as a teenager. I always had that interest [in Elvis] and in the 50’s. I always loved that time period and the songs,” she remembers. Her favorite thing about being on Sun Records is portraying a woman as accomplished as Marion. “She was such an interesting woman and so ahead of her time. She started working in radio when she was 12-years-old. She was eventually producing her own programming and helped start the first all women’s radio station,” she says. Not only did Marion Keisker break barriers in that time period in music, but she also loved helping other women. “She did a lot for women’s rights. She was just a really, really smart woman and was well educated. She was the brains behind Sam Phillips,” she says admiringly. Margaret loves playing Marion. “It’s rare that you find these actual women in history that have so much going for them in that time period, so I think that is what made her so exciting,” she gushes. She thinks that it is a privilege to play such an accomplished woman. In addition to the research Margaret did about Marion to play this role, she also talked to some of Marion’s friends. Somebody working in the wardrobe department, named Chuck, owns a vintage shop,

and knew Marion later in her life. Margaret spoke to him to get a better feel of Marion’s life and to hear stories from that time period. “It’s hard to get a real sense of exactly who she was from these little conversations, but it’s fun to have somebody that really had a first-hand experience with her,” she says. Every person Margaret spoke to about Marion agreed on one thing: her smarts. “Everybody I talked to said that she was very intelligent,” she explains. While reading the script for Season 1, Margaret was surprised to find out how many people and famous musicians recorded at Sun Records. “I think I just didn’t realize the volume of artists that had come through Sun Records. I knew Elvis. I knew Johnny Cash. But I didn’t realize Roy Orbison. All of these different people that you didn’t realize all filtered through there,” she says. Sun Records has an amazing and rich history that many people do not know about, and Margaret is excited to bring more attention to it. “Most of the country doesn’t know what Sun Records is. I think people that are interested in this music know and people maybe more from the South know, but I hope that’s what people might take away from the show is that idea that all of these people filtered through,” she explains. She wants more people to appreciate the history and the music that was produced because of Sun Records. Sun Records has been well received by viewers, and Margaret is hoping for a second season so they can tell more of Marion’s story as a powerful and successful woman living in the 1950s. “Marion was far from arm candy. It’s been written really well and we did a lot in the process of shooting to protect Marion so she didn’t veer off into the ‘other woman land’ and keep her smart and somebody that women could still look up to even though maybe she wasn’t doing the right thing all the time. That was important that we did that. So I hope [in the] second season you’ll see more of that,” she explains. NKD

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ocean park standoff Words by HANNAH SCHWARTZ Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Samantha Ronson knows what will get people dancing. As a world-renowned DJ, selftaught guitarist and self-proclaimed angsty poet-turned-songwriter, she has made a name for herself by penning catchy tunes and lyrics that have projected her to national stages like the Super Bowl, and the Cannes and Sundance Film festivals. These days, Samantha is putting those skills to use with her new group Ocean Park Standoff - an alt-pop, electro-rock, feel-good group comprised of herself, classically-trained vocalist Ethan Thompson, and self-taught producer and drummer, Pete Nappi. Samantha and Pete met in November of 2014 at a songwriting session, and Ethan was brought into the mix just a few months later, but the three of them never intended to start a band. “Initially it just started out as ‘let’s just have this as a project we put out between the three of us because we enjoy making music together’ it was never really like ‘let’s be a band,’”

Ethan says. “And then as things went along it turned into a band.” “We were just having so much fun,” Samantha chimes in. Before long, they were writing, playing and recording with each other constantly - but it still didn’t feel like a “band” for any of them. According to Samantha, the turning point was signing with Hollywood Records earlier this year. For Ethan, though, the realization came from a feeling. “I always bring in the story of ‘We Do’,” he says. “I think that was when it cemented for me that we were a band and we were capable of being a great band. Because we were practicing our song ‘We Do’ and it was like the third day of rehearsals, and we locked in and we were all just leaping around and smiling. And it felt really good.” “We Do” is the third track on their debut, self-titled EP which came out in March of this year. It’s a heavier pop song, playing on a thick drum beat, catchy chorus and layers of vocal subtleties. It sits at the NKDMAG.COM

COLIN Oâ€™DONOGHUE Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Grooming by FAYE LAUREN Styling by ERIN TURON Location: THE BRYANT PARK HOTEL

Shirt by JOHN VARVATOS Jeans by ALLSAINTS Jacket by REISS

Monica Barbaro currently stars as Assistant State’s Attorney, Anna Valdez, on NBC’s Chicago Justice, a legal drama joining Dick Wolf ’s Chicago series. However, prior to starring on the show, Monica’s resume wasn’t so much dedicated to her acting or television work at all but another performance art entirely. “I started ballet when I was 5 or 6, I was very young. I did The Nutcracker every year,” Monica recalls. Yet, it wasn’t until Monica was 12 that she realized she wanted to do something a bit different, away from ballet, but still in the realm of the arts. “I played two parts [in The Nutcracker] that year. The main character, Clara’s brother, breaks her nutcracker. We didn’t have any boys in our school, so they gave me that partm” she recalls. At first, it was hard for Monica to adjust to having to act on stage, never having done so before, adding on the fact that she had to play a male character. Nevertheless, her first experience proved to be influential to growing her love for acting and eventually, the desire to keep moving forward with it as a career. “I did [the role] and I wasn’t really in love with the whole process, but on stage, when I had to play a mischievous boy, I had such a blast. I got to be this tomboy that I had been repressing for a few years [because of ballet], and it was so fun,” Monica says. The acting opportunities continued on throughout her earlier school days. “I was lucky enough to go to a school with an arts program. It was required for all the seventh graders to do a Midsummer’s Night’s Dream and I played Hermia,” she remembers. “And again, I had an amazing time playing someone who wasn’t myself and letting out emotions I couldn’t express unless in the body of a character.” It was after that performance that marked the turning point for Monica. “I knew then that I really loved acting,” she says. However, even with her new found love for acting, Monica didn’t pursue it until well after university. After graduating high school, she enrolled at NYU and decided to pursue a three-year degree in dance. “I loved performing and I didn’t feel comfortable quitting something I knew I was fairly good at. It was unique; it wasn’t something everyone else was doing. I had really good friends [in dance]. I think I had a fear of failure with acting,” she says. 50

Which is not to say that she didn’t try and integrate acting within her school experience and daily life regardless. Monica took as many acting elective courses as she was allowed, also content with the fact that NYU’s dance program required acting classes as well. “I just relished in every moment of it,” she says. Upon college graduation, Monica started dancing with smaller companies and neglected auditioning for anything “big” because the desire to start acting professionally always seemed to loom over her. At that point, she decided, “it was now or never.” “It’s scary to go for the thing you really care about. I think in our minds we believe that if we fail at the thing we care most about, that’s going to break our hearts versus failing at the thing we never gave as much effort to,” she explains. “Not to say that dance didn’t affect me personally, but acting for me, was more close to home. It was just the right form of expression for me.” Eventually, Monica moved back home to San Francisco and began self-submitting. “I didn’t want to go throughout my entire life not having tried it,” she says passionately. At first feeling like, what she describes, “as a small fish” was intimidating, especially in New York. Instead, while at home, she submitted work to student films and to up-and-coming filmmakers who just got out of school. Once she started booking smaller roles, she also began training, never having gone through the formal acting process due to ballet. “I knew if you wanted to be good at something it’s to train for it, learn the ropes and really learn some technicalities,” she says. Eventually, she secured an agent and started doing commercial work, followed by a slight YouTube video stint that helped her move out to Los Angeles. From there on out, things moved rather quickly. Monica mentions how fast everything began rolling out and how she never lost sight of how lucky she was throughout the entire process. She started working on short films immediately and felt the energy on set, with everyone coming together. Being accepted by people who, she says, “knew what they were doing” was the moment that she felt that acting was truly something that she could do and pursue for the long run. “I guess I just had the instincts for it,”

she says. “I still doubt myself sometimes and I’m not the type of person that always feels so sure of myself. I was always really nervous and on edge about seeming like an amateur, but I was lucky that there were always people around from all walks of life on set who helped me.” She remembers one of her first times on set, when a producer came up to her with advice that has shaped her outlook on acting and future life in the limelight. “He said to me, ‘You’ve got to let go of being afraid to be wrong’,” she recalls, “In ballet, there’s more of a right answer. But with acting... having the permission to not have to ask for permission made a huge difference for me and I’ve tried to remind myself of that ever since.” She now currently stars on Chicago Justice, her second major role on a major television network (following her stint on UnREAL), playing the smart, feisty, blunt, “not afraid to speak her mind,” Anna Valdez. The show in itself is brutally honest and raw, with stories sometimes seeming like they are ripped right from the news headlines of today. “You get a fully fleshed out character that you get to add to, since there’s lots of room for interpretation. That coupled with the writing being so good. It’s like the show’s taking care of you. It’s relevant, it’s media and technology, there’s a lot of variety in the writing. It’s such a dream,” she says about being on the show. Though initially intimidated, Monica says she instantly felt welcomed into the community, by fans on social media and her colleagues. Being a part of the show, felt like “big shoes to fill” for her, but she wasn’t worried after getting to know the cast from the entire Chicago franchise. She reminisces about being at a party with everyone at Jon Seda’s [Chicago P.D.’s] house and feeling the same way she did in her early dance days. “I didn’t expect it to be as big of a family as it was. It was amazing,” she smiles. Though the future of Chicago Justice has not yet been revealed, with Season 1 almost wrapping up, Monica continues to show her gratitude and appreciation for her choices, for ballet and for finally deciding to be bold enough to pursue her true love and the emotional attachment that is acting for her. “I’m going to keep looking, auditioning and living the typical actor life,” she claims, especially so, now that she is one. NKD

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a barb Word s Photo by D I A N A F I G s by C A U THERINE EROA POWELL

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madelaine petsch Words by SHELBY CHARGIN Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Hair by MICHAEL KANYON Make-Up by GRACE PHILLIPS Styling by ADENA ROHATINER

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