HAVANA ROSE LIU

HAVANA ROSE LIU’S origin story echoes those of Old Hollywood, when stars were chosen merely for the way they existed, their radiance catching the eye of the right person in the right place at the right time. Today, the 25-year-old says that she was “dragged” into the spotlight. After years of rejecting overtures from photographers on the streets of her native New York out of fear of being trapped in a stranger’s basement, she finally gave in and started modeling. “I was street cast by the same casting director probably three or four times. Finally the last time, I was like, ‘Okay, I will see what comes of this.’” What came was a slew of commercials, short films, and eventually, features. “My inspiration for performance comes from life more than anything else,” the New York University graduate muses. “I was all over the map before. Somehow, acting is the intersection of the things I am interested in.” After a number of supporting roles in projects including Net flix’s The Chair, Mayday, and The Sky Is Everywhere, Liu starred in her first feature film last year, the A24 thriller No Exit, as Darby Thorne, a recovering drug addict who stumbles upon a kidnapping at a rest stop during a blizzard. Liu learned she had been chosen for the role while she had Covid, and immediately felt skeptical. Really? was her first reaction. This year, the actor will appear in the highly anticipated queer comedy Bottoms directed by Emma Seligman that also stars Rachel Sennott and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri. “It’s everything I crave out of a rich, punchy comedy,” says Liu, who herself identifies as queer. “I didn’t even know how much I craved that until I read the script.”

DANCE INFORMS Katerina Tannenbaum’s acting as well as her daily life. “There’s such an awareness that comes with it,” explains the 29-year-old Portland native, who originally moved to New York to attend dance school before pivoting to theater. “If you can clock the muscle connecting your left toe to your shin, then you can probably tell when someone is a little off in the room.” It’s a skill that’s served her well. For several seasons of Better Call Saul, Tannenbaum played Amber, the methaddicted girlfriend of Nacho, a career criminal with a big heart. Determined to avoid falling into a caricature, she ate a carton of ice cream during her audition tape—something just clicked. Outside of the six-season AMC series, Tannenbaum’s resumé includes several supporting roles in critical darlings, including the short-lived but beloved series Sweetbitter as well as the teen comedy Betty. In 2021, Tannenbaum got her big break when she joined the cast of HBO’s Sex and the City revival series And Just Like That… as Carrie Bradshaw’s neighbor, Lisette. She was offered the role by creator Michael Patrick King, with whom she had worked on the Net flix series AJ and the Queen. A majority of Tannenbaum’s scenes are opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, from whom the young actor learned a lot. “She has an ability to be really direct about what she needs, which is really hard to do in this industry: be direct, but also kind,” Tannenbaum says of her costar. As she’s currently filming the second season of And Just Like That…, the actor can’t say too much about what’s to come, except that the looks are “fab.” It’s not the only project her lips are sealed about— she’s also in the midst of writing her first feature film. “Dance has given me a great amount of focus and discipline and groundedness,” she notes. “Being in your body allows you to move out of your mind.”