MAR. 2018 14 PARIS BERELC
on her new show alexa & katie + portraying a sensitive subject
04 KAYLA MAISONET
20 TEGAN MARIE
34 BEA MILLER
on the importance of representation on television
on learning how to write songs + her goals for 2018
on carrying the weight of the world + finding strength in music
06 LOGAN MILLER
22 DANIELLE SAVRE
44 LUNA BLAISE
on his upcoming film, love, simon + the types of roles he looks for
on her new series, station 19 + not being an asshole
on balancing touring with her role on fresh off the boat
10 HANNAH ZEILE
26 OLIVER STARK
48 BENJI AFLALO
on the success of this is us + staying grounded
on slowly climbing the ladder + his role on 9-1-1
on finding his place in comedy + working on alone together
32 CAITLYN SMITH
on her debut album starfire + letting her music be genreless CATHERINE POWELL
publisher, editor, photographer, designer, writer
CARLY BUSH writer
ELIZABETH FORREST writer
IAN HAYS writer
RACHEL HILL writer
MARISSA JOHNSON writer
NICOLE MOOREFIELD writer
VANESSA SALLES writer
OLIVIA SINGH writer
kayla maisonet Words by VANESSA SALLES Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
If Kayla Maisonet isn’t already on your radar, it’s time to get to know her. The 18-year-old actress, who’s best known for her role as Georgie Diaz on Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle, shines onscreen and is poised to have an incred04
ible career ahead of her. Born and raised on the east coast, Kayla found her love for acting as a young tween in New Jersey. “We commuted into New York almost five times a week for auditions,” she recalls. “Around 7th grade, I made the decision
to pursue acting full-time, which meant putting all other activities on the backburner. I started homeschooling and we made the move to Los Angeles in 2011; I love it here.” Though her love for the California sun is strong, the rising ac-
tress plans to divide her time amongst both coasts. “I want to be bi-coastal,” she says. “I think both places are great.” As the story goes for anyone successful in the entertainment industry, Kayla’s rise to fame wasn’t one that happened overnight. “I remember being here for a couple months and having nothing happen,” she adds. “It was frustrating but I knew that it was common. I ended up meeting with a manager who wanted me to read for a role on a Disney XD pilot and I ended up booking it! That was six years ago and that’s what made me think to myself, ‘Maybe I can do this after all’.” Fast forward to about two years ago, Kayla scored her breakout role on Stuck in the Middle, a show she knew she wanted to be apart of from the get-go. “I was immediately drawn to the show because it’s shot single-camera and most Disney sitcoms tend to be multi-cam,” she reveals. “There hadn’t been a Disney show that was shot that way since Lizzie McGuire so everything about it was intriguing; the script was unlike anything else and I loved how it focused on a big Latino family.” Kayla’s onscreen character, Georgie, is very family-oriented (much like the actress) and, now that she’s the oldest Diaz sibling at home, she finds herself as the new leader of the pack. “The new storyline is very fun to shoot,” Kayla shares. “Georgie has good family morals and is always helping out. She’s beginning to realize
that she needs to step up to the plate more often and make sure that she cares for the younger Diaz kids.” Stuck in the Middle, while a feel-good show that’s packed with laugh-out-loud moments, is also packed with something that’s always needed and appreciated on television: representation. “It means everything to me that the show focuses on showcasing that,” Kayla says. “There’s been a huge gap between Stuck in the Middle and the last Latino Disney family, which was on Wizards of Waverly Place. It makes me so happy that kids can watch my show and see people that look like them. Growing up, whenever I’d watch TV, it was mostly kids with blonde hair and blue eyes onscreen but never anyone that looked like me. Representation is so important and I think Stuck in the Middle does a great job at including it! We often show traditional cooking and the family speaking in Spanish but my favorite was when we showed the cultural tradition of having a Quinceañera – it’s things like this that people have commented on and reacted so positively about.” With such a hectic work schedule, Kayla hopes to make the most of her time after the season wraps. “I want to branch out into writing more,” she says. “I’d also love to learn more about directing and producing; I love all the behind the scenes work!” Of course, in between all of that, the busy actress still needs to set aside
time for schoolwork. “I’m in college right now,” she explains. “It’s definitely hard to balance work and school but it gets done! When I was younger, my schedule was easier to follow and easier to incorporate time for school. Now that I’m older, I have to focus and commit to getting everything done on my own – it can be a little challenging.” The bright side of balancing work and school? The lessons tend to overlap! “I think it’s always smart to further your education in anything,” Kayla says. “I really want to go to school for film but, for now, being on a set everyday is my film school. I get to further my knowledge by being around experts; I count everyday as an acting lesson and a lesson in what it is I want to be doing in this industry.” As for what’s to come with the rising actress, Kayla’s open to taking risks. “I think my dream role would be something opposite from what I’ve already done,” she says. “I think it’d be so much fun to play an edgy character. I look younger than what I am so I can still go for those young, crazy roles that I have so much fun watching; playing a mean girl would be so cool! But, for now, I’m focused on Stuck in the Middle. I want to finish out the season strong and just be present, have fun, and enjoy every moment of it. I also want that to apply to my day to day life; I want to travel more and go to more concerts! Of course, booking a movie would be pretty cool too.” NKD NKDMAG.COM
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logan miller Words by ELIZABETH FORREST Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
Logan Miller’s journey from Hasbro commercials to the upcoming film Love, Simon has been anything but ordinary. With a father that worked for a soup company and a stay-at-home mother, Logan describes his childhood as “average” but often moved from city to city. As a child, he loved to dress up as cartoon characters, which was partly to blame for him upsetting the family’s status quo. “I said, ‘Hey, I want to do something weird and kind of fucked up. Let’s try acting’,” he remembers. From there, he found an agent in Dallas and began acting in commercials. His first big movie was Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, performing alongside Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner.
That was when Logan truly fell in love with acting. He felt that were was a magic behind it all. As an inexperienced kid, it was a dream to work around so many actors that were already professionals and were industry veterans. Along with working with Matthew and Jennifer on set, he worked with Emma Stone and Michael Douglas. “It was kind of a no brainer that I wanted to keep it going after that,” he says. At 16, he left school in order to pursue acting full time. For all his success, Logan admits that he isn’t too picky when it comes to accepting roles. To him, the most important aspects to consider are whether the film has a voice and is not simply being produced to the masses for no NKDMAG.COM
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reason. “I found that independent filmmaking sometimes can be a lot more open creatively and there’s less people breathing down your neck for what you can or can’t say,” he reasons. Independent filmmaking has also taken him to new places: Logan has filmed in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Portland, Malaysia, and South Africa. The opportunity to act in many different places is a part of the profession that he enjoys most. He loves meeting people in the different areas that he visits and, in turn, destroying the concept that mass media has created about different cultures. While shooting Prey in Malaysia, Logan was fully immersed inside the jungle of Langkawi. “The fact that you get to see monkeys coming and hanging out to watch us do takes like they’re spectators is pretty hilarious,” Logan remembers. On the mainstream media side of his career, Logan plays Martin Addison in the highly anticipated film Love, Simon, coming to theaters on March 16. “Martin was great because he’s kind of an outcast in a way, someone that I knew in high school,” Logan explains. The film follows the life of a closeted gay teenager, and the film’s premise appealed to Logan because it was a chance to tell an unconventional story in a massive sphere. In addition to the story, Logan admired the film’s director, Greg Berlanti, and was eager to work with him. “The 08
fact that he has six shows he’s running and producing all of these other things and he just had a baby and yet he’s able to direct this movie and remain so calm and centered? It’s just amazing to me,” Logan says. With such a heavy topic at hand, the cast came in two weeks prior to shooting to begin rehearsals for the film. They ran the movie scene by scene to ensure that when the camera was rolling, everyone was relaxed and ready to perform. There were a few instances of experimentation, but the process was set. “Honestly, I don’t say this because the project was easy, but it was the easiest movie to do just as far as the environment,” Logan says. Because of how relaxed everyone was during shooting, it made for a fun and productive environment. Logan promises Love, Simon will be a lot of fun, and compares it to a John Hughes movie, but with a specific message throughout. “You don’t know what these people are going through,” he says of the film’s teachings. “If it’s someone dealing with them coming out or not being fully accepted by everyone else in school, or maybe they look a little different - who knows?” Logan hopes the overall message viewers will take away from the movie is that of full acceptance. In additional to Love, Simon, Logan has a handful of other films coming out in 2018. An awkward, situational comedy called You
Can Choose Your Family will be going to the SXSW Film Festival this month and Prey will come out later in the year, as well as a Sony movie called The Maze, directed by Adam Robitel. Logan looks forward to working in more unique projects in the future. “I just want to play something that’s a little darker, but has a different message,” he says. He’s willing to give anything a chance. Although he wouldn’t be interested in a procedural show of any sort, Logan looks forward to working in television more in the future. “I’m definitely attuned to stuff that’s happening on the cable networks,” he explains. “I love what’s happening on FX and Netflix and Amazon. They’re doing great things.” A dream for Logan would be to have a show like Zach Galifianakis’ Baskets. He’s interested in working on the development side of television as well. In fact, Logan is currently in a comedy collective group based in Los Angeles working on a show called DCS (short for Discount Channel Station). Logan’s favorite type of comedy is in the Adult Swim sphere. “There’s a lot of TV and a lot of bad TV, and I know how to make bad TV,” he laughs. He’s pushing out as much content as he can while working with his writing partner. And though he’s planning to stay working in front of the camera, he one day hopes to find himself in the director’s seat as well. NKD
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HANNAH ZEILE Words by CARLY BUSH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Glam by EMILY DAWN
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Hannah Zeile’s life has taken an unexpected path. The daughter of former Major League Baseball player Todd Zeile and Olympic gymnast Julianne McNamara, Hannah presumed she would carry on the family tradition and pursue athletics with as much passion and drive as her parents. She was a natural at sports, and “always loved” playing competitively in her younger years. But it was the stage, rather than the stadium, that beckoned Hannah. A spark of interest in acting developed, and soon blossomed into a full-blown obsession: Hannah recalls learning not only her own lines, but everyone else’s, in her elementary school plays. Born in Valencia, California, and raised in nearby Thousand Oaks, Hannah is a born-and-bred Angeleno, “Which,” she says, “Isn’t exactly that common in the industry.” However, being in the orbit of professional entertainers throughout her childhood was undoubtedly crucial to her realizing her dream earlier in life than others. In her teenage years she began to take her craft more seriously, enrolling in an immersive acting class. “I completely fell in love with it. It was the first thing that ever really kept my focus.” Fortunately, her family was supportive. It was the stereotype associated with being an athletes’ child, rather than her parents’ direct influence, that she had to fight against.
On the other hand, they didn’t encourage her to avoid the athletic world, either—if that had been her dream, they would have been equally determined to help her succeed. “I wouldn’t say they pushed me in any direction,” Hannah says. Everything was going well for a while, but the long hours on set conflicted with Hannah’s academic pursuits. After two recurring appearances on Anger Management in 2012, Hannah decided to put acting on the back burner until she graduated high school. “I wanted to do it independently,” she says, stating that the labor laws for adults versus minors played a major role in her decision not to be a full-time child star. Perhaps in another life, a more athletically ambitious Hannah Zeile would have represented the United States in the Winter Olympics this past month. In this one, she recently finished wrapping the second season of a wildly popular drama series, and at the tender age of 20, has already obtained a Screen Actors Guild Award. The series, of course, is This is Us – the critically acclaimed NBC drama featuring a star-studded ensemble cast, including Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore. Hannah plays the role of young Kate Pearson, whose teenage years are depicted through flashbacks. Where was she when she received the call? “I was working at Chipotle,” she recalls
with amusement. The small gap in her CV from the time she had taken off to focus on school ultimately didn’t matter much—her audition had convinced the show’s producers of her talent and credibility. Seemingly, Hannah was meant to play this particular role. Newly 18, she had only recently reconnected with her agent and begun auditioning again. “This is Us was actually my first audition back,” she remembers. “I was working a shift at Chipotle. I got the call. They wanted me to come in.” During the second round of auditions, Dan Fogelman, the show’s creator, wanted to personally meet with her. “I walked out of my shift and never went back,” she recalls. Joining the cast in this way—with the expectation that she not only brings something new to the table but ensure that the beloved Kate character was represented accurately—was an intimidating experience, especially considering how suddenly the spotlight was placed on her. The entire cast was “so welcoming” her first day on set. “I remember Milo saying, ‘Welcome to the family!’” she recalls. She was encouraged to approach Chrissy Metz, who plays the character of Kate in present day, with any questions relating to their shared role or “just to get to know each other personally.” However, the piece of advice that stuck with her the most was the simple reminder to NKDMAG.COM
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“take it all in—this time that you’re living in right now. Because the show we’re working on is such a phenomenon.” Sometimes, in the social media age, fans can become ruthless in their protectiveness over their favorite shows, but Hannah has felt anything but judged. In addition to the familial warmth she found amongst her cast mates, the reception from the general public has been amazing. “I already feel blessed just to work on the show, but when you’re working on something that not only you love, but the audience loves, it’s really cool,” Hannah says. Hannah feels that she is a part of a larger cultural movement that is making a distinct impact on many real people. Her character’s storyline, as well as the other delicately connected subplots, is vastly important in our day and age. “It touches on so many real issues,” she says, going on to describe how she is occasionally approached by fans who have been touched by the show. “A lot of the time, when I talk to people, they have these incredible stories to share. They relate so much to the show. It’s so cool that they have these connections.” Now that Season 2 has wrapped, Hannah isn’t planning on taking a break. “I go stir-crazy when I’m not busy,” she laughs. She will continue auditioning—and possibly offer fans a glimpse into a private side project involving music. 12
“I love to sing,” she says. “I want to maybe start doing some covers on Soundcloud, just for now, and hopefully one day do something more serious with it.” She has another creative hobby that not many of her fans are likely to be aware of, and it’s one that she takes pride in. “I love to cook. I’m not necessarily the best chef, but I love to look up the recipes online, and try to follow and learn new things through that. Because I love to cook, I’m obsessed with all those cooking shows,” she admits. Overnight fame does not happen often. Hannah, for her part, has been handling it with the grace and maturity of someone much older. She has managed to stay amazingly grounded during the This is Us whirlwind, and serves as a role model for young girls. In an industry where trust is difficult to build and even harder to maintain, Hannah makes a point of being selective with her friends. “I keep a pretty small circle. Not that I’m not willing to meet new people, but I’m very loyal myself, and I really like to have people that I totally don’t have to watch my back with,” she says. She’s also a bit of a homebody. “I’m extremely close with my family and all the people in my life that I love,” Hannah says, “When I’m not working, I’m just hanging out and spending time with those people and reminding myself of where my heart lies, and my roots.” NKD
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paris berelc Words by NICOLE MOOREFIELD Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Glam by EMILY DAWN
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Born and raised in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Paris Berelc’s unique moniker was inspired by Michael Jackson’s daughter, born earlier that year. “So I got my name from Michael Jackson, kind of,” she laughs. Not unlike the Motown star, Paris was filled with a creative spirit from a young age, finding her passion for gymnastics at 4 and adding both modeling and acting to the mix in elementary school. At first, Paris strictly prioritized the gym over the stage. “I would do a few auditions here and there, but I never really dove into it myself completely because I was so focused on gymnastics,” she notes. Over time, Paris’s interest in acting grew, as did the need for in-person auditions. “I never tried pilot season because that was always my gymnastics competition season,” Paris recalls. Even in elementary school, Paris was a promising gymnast with collegiate dreams and was afraid to lose her edge with recruiters. At 13, she decided it was time to take the risk. With reassurance from her mother that gymnastics would still be there upon her return, Paris flew to Los Angeles to audition for a guest role on Disney’s A.N.T. Farm. Though she didn’t book that part, “the casting director for that show sent my headshot and resume to one of the executives at Disney,” she remembers, which opened important doors in her career. “I started auditioning for a bunch of pilots, different recurring roles,
and then I booked Mighty Med, which was my first show ever,” she explains. So 14-year-old Paris was thrust into Hollywood with no prior experience but plenty of passion and heart. The journey from Milwaukee to Orange County “all happened so fast,” Paris remarks. Once she landed the role of Skylar Storm, Mighty Med’s resident superhero, Paris had time only to fly home and pack her things before her family moved permanently to Laguna Niguel. “It was really interesting going from my life as a little gymnast in Wisconsin to moving to California and starting a Disney show,” Paris shares. “I wouldn’t know certain things [on set] because I was so new. I was fresh off the boat, but I had good castmates to help me out whenever I was lost or confused.” In addition to the cast, Paris’s parents and three younger sisters were her support system during the hectic transition. After Mighty Med’s finale in 2015, the cast combined with fellow Disney show Lab Rats to become Lab Rats: Elite Force. Between the shows, Paris filmed Invisible Sister, a sci-fi DCOM, and after the conclusion of Elite Force had a small part in #SquadGoals, her first role outside of Disney. Paris’s most recent project is upcoming Netflix comedy Alexa & Katie, to be released March 23. The show follows Alexa Mendoza (Paris) and Katie Cooper (Isabel May), two childhood friends entering high school when Alexa is
diagnosed with cancer. Despite the difficult topic, the comedy stays light, showcasing another side of teens with cancer than is often depicted in the media. “They’re best friends and they’re just living their normal lives,” Paris says passionately about the titular characters. “They’re liking boys, and they’re going to dances, and they’re dealing with girl drama at school, and they’re going through all of this together with an underlying factor that Alexa has cancer. And even though she does, it doesn’t affect [their friendship]. It doesn’t change who they are.” When Paris first auditioned, it was for both Alexa and Katie. She liked both roles but felt more connected to Alexa, with whom she has more in common. “Katie is more of the cute, kind of awkward personality, but Alexa is a little more outgoing, which is how I am in real life,” she acknowledges. “She is strong, and she’s not afraid to be herself, and she doesn’t really care about what other people think about her.” Although Paris is similar to her character in most ways, she teases that Alexa is “maybe a little more rebellious than me, but you guys will have to watch the show to see.” Because the show emphasizes the girls’ high school experiences over Alexa’s cancer, Paris found that stepping into her mindset was easier than people often expect. “The truth is that it’s not always so crazy. It’s not always so intense,” she reveals. Paris did some background NKDMAG.COM
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research on Alexa’s cancer, but the insight she found most valuable came from a teenager named Katie. “We met her at Children’s Hospital, and she was telling us about her story, and she was telling us, yeah, she had cancer, but she would still go to high school and she went to her prom. She has a boyfriend,” Paris recounts. Katie’s story inspired the way Paris approached Alexa, which she hopes will translate through. “One thing I love about this show is that it will show people that even though someone has cancer, they’re still normal,” Paris adds. “They still live a normal life.” Although the story will focus on Alexa rather than her circumstances, Alexa & Katie will also tackle the serious side of her life, making the set “a rollercoaster” of emotions. “We have really funny moments and really good jokes, but then we also we get really emotional,” Paris remarks. She sensed the show was special at the first table read, when she witnessed a room of adults overcome by emotion at a script aimed at adolescents. “Everyone was laughing really hard, and then they would be crying, and then be laughing again,” Paris recalls. While she has remained in young roles, Paris has matured a lot over the last five years. “When I was on Disney, I was playing my age, and on this show, I’m playing four years younger than me,” she comments, and with age comes experience. Unlike many child actors, Paris enjoyed her early 18
career, noting gratefully that “Disney was great to work with. They were my first show. They were my first company that I ever worked for.” When Paris began acting professionally, it was hard to leave gymnastics behind, but the role of Skylar allowed her to combine both talents. “I got the best of both worlds,” she reflects, “because I got to act and I also got to flip around and do fight scenes and stunts.” Although that unique balance is lost with Alexa, who plays basketball, Paris has not abandoned her passion. She continues to train, hoping to star in an action movie one day. Additionally, her younger sister Joelie is a gymnast as well, “so I get to kind of live through her,” Paris mentions, her voice lighting up with enthusiasm. “She’s way better than me and how I was when I was her age.” There is one additional difference between Paris and Alexa. When she first stepped on set, Paris traded her sisters for a brother. The cast dynamic was instantly familial, and “we all got along really, really well right when we started filming,” Paris shares. “I knew Emery Kelly, who plays my older brother, for a while already before we started this show, so it was cool to be able to work with [a friend].” She also formed a close bond with her on-screen parents, played by Tiffani Thiessen and Eddie Shin. Most importantly, Paris harbors nothing but admiration for costar Isabel May, whom she was most worried to meet. “She’s very, very sweet,” Paris
gushes. “She doesn’t act like she’s 16. She’s really mature for her age. Everyone gets worried about working with another girl because, you know, girls can be girls, and I’m really happy that I have her because it wasn’t like that at all. There was no hostility, there was no drama.” Expectations are high for the series, which is the first multi-camera comedy produced by Netflix. Rather than nervousness or pressure, Paris feels sheer excitement for the March premiere. “I have a good feeling that the show’s going to do well, and I think that a lot of people are going to be able to relate to it,” she adds. “I know my sisters always watch Netflix now. Hopefully their friends and people around the world will be able to enjoy it.” Familiar with the expectations accompanying a young fanbase, Paris embraces the responsibility admirably. “I definitely want to be a good role model, but I think the important thing to remember is that I’m still a 19-year-old girl,” Paris imparts. “But it’s very inspiring, and it helps me stay grounded, and it helps me keep a good head on my shoulders for sure.” Paris hopes Alexa, showing incredible strength in the face of adversity, will serve as an inspiration for younger generations. “There hasn’t really been a show like this, especially when it involves a heavy topic like cancer,” she expresses, but “I would love for little girls to watch this and look up to it.” NKD
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Words by MARISSA JOHNSONE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
TEGAN
14-year-old Tegan Marie is taking the country music world by storm. When she was 3-years-old, Tegan picked up the microphone of her dad’s old karaoke machine and never turned back, and after posting covers on YouTube, at the age of 7 she was picked up by Sweety High, an all-girls media company. “Sweety High made my dreams come true, they’re teaching me how to be an artist, I’m teaching them how to be young” and laughs about sending her manager, Veronica, gifts to make sure she stood out, the first being a photo of herself from the first time she went to Nashville to record. “Veronica put it on her desk and she was looking at me for three or four years straight so I was kind of manifesting her to bring me to Los Angeles”. Sweety High eventually brought her to L.A. to meet their team for the start of a whirlwind partnership. Growing up in Flint, Michigan, Tegan dreamed of one day making the move to Nashville. “Even when I was younger and I loved country music so much, the first thing I thought, and I think with every country artist what they think is ‘I’m going to move to Nashville because Nashville is the home of country music’,” she recalls. Now, she’s spending a majority of her time there learning how to write music and working with songwriters like Nathan Chapman and Jason and Nelly Reeves, who are taking time to teach her how to come out of her shell and not be afraid to express herself through her music. Though she hasn’t quite convinced her family to fully make
the move to Nashville, she’s certain that a move is in her future now that she’s fully immersed in the creative process there. After persistence from Sweety High and their intense belief in her talents – she jokes that her manager “likes to say she was kind of stalking Scott Hendricks [producer and VP of A&R at Warner Music Nashville]” and performing in showcases for Warner Music in Nashville, Tegan’s management flew to her hometown to surprise her with a record deal, which was a dream come true. “It was a miracle, Warner Music Nashville is like a family,” she says. Now, Tegan looks forward to the day her picture will be added to the Warner Music sign in the Nashville Airport – a sign that she’s always seen and wanted to be a part of and shares her excitement about seeing her photo in the lobby of the Warner Music Nashville offices. Earlier this year, Tegan released her first single, “Keep It Lit”, a song about having fun with your friends and family that has quickly gained attention of people all over the world. After the success of her covers online, she says that she “was really, really stoked because [she’s] had this music for so long” and felt like “Keep it Lit” was the perfect fit for her debut single because she walked into her first writing session and the first thing she said was, “Okay guys, let’s keep it lit” which sparked the inspiration within her and her writing partners to create a song that she says is one of her favorites. The “Keep It Lit” music video has already amassed almost 1 million views and depicts Tegan rid-
ing around the country in a bus picking up all of her friends and family for one epic journey. Now, with performances on The Today Show and her very first sold out, hour-long ticketed event at the Opry City Stage in Times Square, Tegan is very excited for what’s to come, sharing that her fans, or “Teganites” can expect a lot of new music from her in the near future. “I think we have enough songs for like, three albums if we wanted to,” she admits. Despite her newfound fame, Tegan has made an effort to keep up with her education by attending school online and doing her homework in between TV appearances and shows, and even goes back to her regular school in her hometown when she can. It’s a balance she says has been made possible with the support of her family and friends at home in Michigan. Tegan hopes that in the next year she will get her first No. 1 song and a chance to join a tour, with her dream tour being with country superstars like Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood or Kelsea Ballerini. “Performing live is my favorite thing. Seeing the smiles on their faces in the front row and just hearing them sing the songs is my favorite thing ever,” she says, also sharing an idea for future meet and greets that include a petting zoo with mini animals. As for now, her main goal is to simply inspire others saying, “I really want to be a role model for all the young girls, or anyone really, who want to follow their dreams, or do anything, just to not give up,” she says. NKD NKDMAG.COM
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danielle savre Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
For 13 years Grey’s Anatomy has been enticing fans with their over-the-top medical situations and dramatic doctor-to-doctor relationships. With the new spinoff, Station 19, things are about to get a lot hotter – literally. And star Danielle Savre is up to the task. Danielle started acting as a child, with her first gig being for Mattel toy commercials – meaning she got to play with Barbie dolls and My Little Pony figures all day. “The actual dream,” she jokes. She booked her first TV pilot at age 12, and while the show never went to series, it did ignite Danielle’s passion for acting beyond commercials. In an effort to fully focus on her dreams, Danielle fast-tracked her education and graduated high school at 15. She booked her first major reoccurring role on the WB’s Summerland, and things have been moving steadily ever since. On March 22nd, Danielle’s latest venture, Station 19, will premiere in the coveted postGrey’s Anatomy time slot as part of ABC’s TGIT campaign. Working on the show has been one of the best experiences of Danielle’s career – partly due to Shondaland (Shonda Rhimes’ production company)’s “no assholes” policy. Actors who join Shondaland shows are vetted to make sure
they’re good people, which leads to a very positive on-set atmosphere. “Most shows, you’re never lucky enough to have that. There’s always one bad seed,” Danielle admits, “But with our show they made sure. They called people we had worked with before and asked, ‘How do you like working with this person?’” The March 1st episode of Grey’s Anatomy will serve as the first introduction to some of the Station 19 characters, though Danielle herself will not appear until the first episode of Station 19. “You do a lot of projects and you expect the best, and it was so awesome to see the pilot and we all looked at each other teary-eyed because we were so happy to be a part of it,” Danielle says, “And we’re playing real-life superheroes.” By superheroes, Danielle of course means firefighters and first responders. The show will focus on the Station 19 firehouse in Seattle and the unit that works there. Danielle feels that the show is a highly accurate representation of these people and the jobs they do, as they had multiple technical advisors on set making sure things were as true to real life as possible. “They are always keeping us in line, making sure we look like firefighters,” she says. With the exception of actually running into flames, Danielle and
her cast mates do everything else, like running up the stairs in 40 pounds of gear or chopping doors with axes. Danielle plays Maya Bishop, a former Olympic gold medalist who now works at Station 19. “She keeps the walls up and is there for everyone else, and she’s everyone else’s cheerleader,” Danielle admits, “But when it’s time for her own personal life, she puts the walls up and blocks everything else.” Danielle says that as the show progresses you will learn more Maya’s backstory and why she is the way she is, but she’s sworn to secrecy at the moment. “She’s a lover of life – I always like to say that,” Danielle adds. Getting into the head of someone who is an American hero in two senses of the world has been a welcomed challenge for Danielle, who is happy to be playing a woman with multiple layers to her. “She thrives under pressure,” Danielle says, “The tougher it is, the more she thrives.” The immense pressure of saving lives and the unique pressure of representing her country as an athlete are welcome feelings to Maya – at least on the surface. “For her though, there’s a difference between being an Olympic athlete and then being a firefighter, simply because winning that medal was for her country, but it NKDMAG.COM
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was such a solo, somewhat selfish thing to do, because you’re doing it by yourself,” she says. Now, as a firefighter, she’s putting herself last at the expense of others – which is a huge shift in gears. As the season unravels, viewers will see exactly how Maya got from Olympic Village to Station 19, and Danielle hopes those who tune in will enjoy the suspense of it all. Since 2010, Jason George has roamed the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital as Ben Warren, the anesthesiologist turned surgical resident who married the Chief of Surgery, Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson). Now, with Ben switching professions, Jason has switched shows and brought over eight years of Shondaland knowledge to his new co-stars. “It’s a lot when you’re filming, and it can get very stressful for us actors,” Danielle admits, “We’re trying to balance all the lines you have to memorize, know what you’re doing in the scene, wearing this heavy gear and sometimes as a cast we just have to sit back.” While taking a moment to themselves on a recent episode, Jason sat the cast down and reminded them what really matters: the family that the cast has formed. He told them to remember to always have each other’s backs, because that is what is going to make the show great. “There’s so much pressure to do well and to be perfect in every scene, and sometimes you’re being asked to do a lot with the gear and the stress, so it was beautiful that Jason really sat us down and was like, ‘This is what it’s about’,” Danielle says. NKD 24
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oliver stark Words by IAN HAYS Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
In his youth, Oliver Stark never had fever dreams of Hollywood. Life was about football (soccer). Growing up, Oliver regularly was in theater, but it wasn’t something he looked to as a potential career. His hometown of London has a rich history of both the arts and sport, and Oliver’s preferred stage just happened to be the pitch. Like most 18-year-olds, life changed after graduating with the dawn of university poking over the horizon. Oliver was set to start school as an Economics major. A last minute change of heart allowed him to abandon that path and discover another. “I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. So, I started working different jobs. I sold video games, I was an insurance salesman, a cleaner; I was a night club promoter- just a multitude of different jobs,” he recalls. But, Oliver’s relationship with acting was re-kindled. When he wasn’t working, he was acting in student short films. He finally reached a point with enough footage where he could make a demo reel. The search for an agent and roles began. He got an agent and slowly but surely began landing guest spots in small shows and indie films in the UK. “They were little indie films that no one has seen nor will ever see,” he recalls, lovingly. In 2014, Oliver went after his first potential break. He came over to United States to try a pilot season in L.A. Unfortunately, the expectations he had built up in his head came tumbling down. He was hoping to be working non-stop, landing three auditions a day. He had only a few auditions in three months. “I went home pretty dejected and thinking I’ve been a bit a failure, traveling 28
half-way around the world and then going back to your family just to say, ‘Sorry, didn’t happen’,” he recalls. Hope soon found itself in the form of another indie film. Oliver made just enough to cover a trip back to L.A. in October 2014. It was there he booked his first series regular role as the character, Ryder, on AMC’s, Into The Badlands. He starred in the show for two years. It allowed him to get a new agent based in L.A. and slowly pull himself up the ladder. He credits this slow climb with keeping his head tight on his shoulders. “When I first got the job [Badlands], I could have been like, ‘Alright. Hollywood- I’m here!’” he says, “And it just didn’t happen like that. And that was a really important lesson to learn. It was a slow burn.” After his tenure was up, he spent a year not acting at all. No one expects maintaining an industry career to be easy, but going from being a series regular for two years to then 365 days of nothing at all was a twist of the knife. There were days when Oliver was convinced his acting days were over. The unease of this potential reality struggled against him keeping it at bay. “There’s this thing that you have to have in the back of your head. That even when it feels like it’s never going to happen - you’re never going to work again, you’re done - there’s just one little spark, somewhere, that says, ‘No, no. You’re going to be fine.’ And as long as you can keep that spark alive somewhere within you, then you keep on going,” he says. Oliver soon caught a new break in the form of a higher-profile audition. He was given no real story or character background - no official script to speak of. He didn’t even
know how large of a role he was even auditioning for. But Oliver saw others attached or associated with the project and knew if they were about it, he should be, too. The show turned out to be FOX’s new drama, 9-1-1, co-created by household name, Ryan Murphy. Oliver passed the audition and landed a main character role. He plays firefighter, Evan “Buck” Buckley. Going from “foreign” underground indie shorts to American prime time TV in a matter of years has allowed Oliver to learn from a menagerie of artists. On the set of 9-1-1, Oliver is working with the writer/ director who legitimized a lavish darkness on shows such as AHS (American Horror Story) and Scream Queens. While 9-1-1 is a procedural drama, Oliver is starting to see a bit of that special, dark twist happen with the show. Oliver has been a fan of Murphy’s work from AHS to Feud, but with this project, Oliver sees how aspirational and feel-good it is. Getting to explore this new avenue alongside Murphy has excited Oliver’s creative process. Since the first season, Oliver has worked with career firefighters on set and gone on several ride-alongs to witness first-hand the world of the reality he portrays on TV. “It’s been amazing and just so inspiring. The way he spoke about it was so engaging,” Oliver recalls, “On shows, there’s always technical inaccuracies; but I want to be able to get that feeling of truly being in their shoes.” Each station is its own family unit. There’s an inherent trust between everyone because doubt leads to loss of life. Oliver sees this as not just a way to save others, but to save themselves as well. First responders not only witness but engage some
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of the most terrifying and heart wrenching situations imaginable. It’s about balancing the rawness of desperation and helplessness all humans feel while maintaining that sense of duty of completing the job at hand because they are the first line of defense and offense. Oliver noticed the detached and often humorous ways they related certain stories. It’s a coping mechanism that can allow them to push that event aside because they need to make room for everything else around the bend. The humor is a rickety construction that easily crumbles when faced with its own reality. Fear and Death have no patience. On 9-1-1, this has translated to character growth. Oliver’s character, Buck, and the rest of fire fighter family, have seen some changes. “Everyone’s opening up to each other a little more, discovering the human side to each other. I think this is only going to bring them closer,” Oliver says, “From Buck’s point of view, he’s seeing how these people he has tremendous respect for aren’t too different from him. That’s quite an empowering thing.” Life often imitates art. Oliver is still a newcomer when looking at the cast 9-1-1 and this is not lost on him. But the lack of egos from veteran actors and actresses on set created a welcoming environment for him to learn as much as he is actively working. When all the elements behind the scenes become cohesive, success begins to translate not just on the screen, but in viewership and fandoms, as well. As Oliver jokes, “It’s nice to be on something people watch. But, it’s quite surreal to be honest. I enjoy interacting with people on social media as they watch the show. With social media, the reac30
tion to everything is immediate. It’s nice to be putting out stories people have quickly become invested in.” For instance, Buck’s romantic entanglement with Connie Britton’s character, Abby. The age difference argument gets flipped on its head with Buck being her junior. But for Oliver, it’s a beautiful thing. He knows if the roles were reversed the relationship wouldn’t be questioned. So, he’s not going to question it and treat in the way any other relationship would. He likes to say that he is “shipping” those characters. But at the center of these story lines are events that occurred in real life. The first episode with a fire struck a particular chord with Oliver. It was based on Grenfell Tower fire in London back in 2017. “A lot of Londoners lost their lives that day. The fire happened because the building was made with this cheap material. So, that was a touching [episode] for me,” he says. The whole show has been a learning experience for Oliver; most recently was filming his character take things romantically to the next level with Connie Britton’s character. He found out about it on a Friday night and filmed it on that Monday, with the laughs the whole time from his co-star. With the ordering of a second season, Oliver is excited to not only see where the show brings his character, but his career, too. While the focus is on the show, he is of course always being shown other projects. It’s a luxury he is grateful for. The goal is to keep making work that is socially conscious, asking the honest questions about society. And with the way things have been going, that shouldn’t be too difficult for Oliver to do. NKD
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caitlyn smith
Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
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Caitlyn Smith has finally arrived. After years of writing hits for artists like Meghan Trainor and Garth Brooks, Caitlyn released her debut album, Starfire, in January. During a week of promo in New York, Caitlyn and I meet at a hotel café in Midtown. She’s exhausted – rightfully so – but her face lights up when she starts talking about her record. At the beginning of 2017, Caitlyn signed with Monument Records, a division of Sony Music, and spent the year putting the finishing touches on her debut album – most of which was written prior to signing. “There definitely was a shift,” Caitlyn says of her songwriting priorities. While she’s had countless success writing for other artists, she felt it was time to fully embrace herself as an artist. She typically went into writing sessions with some certainty as to whether she would be writing for herself or writing for another artist that day. The first introduction to Starfire came in the summer of 2017 when Caitlyn released an EP of the same name. The five songs were a brief synopsis of Caitlyn’s story, and the full album fills in the missing pieces. When she originally recorded Starfire, she recorded a full album but opted to only release half at first because she was “very pregnant” at the time and couldn’t tour to support it. “The plan was to release the other half, but then the label came along,” she says, “And within that amount of time I had written a ton more with the intention of saving those songs for myself.” Some of the later additions to the record include “St. Paul”, which is Caitlyn’s story of growing up and driving into the “big city” and how it shaped who she is as a person. “East Side Restaurant”, which Caitlyn describes as a “dramatic, sad song” is
about all of Caitlyn’s past boyfriends rolled into one, and “Don’t Give Up On My Love” – which Caitlyn penned by herself – is her love song to her husband. Her current single, “Starfire” is “the cornerstone of the record”. Caitlyn has dubbed it her theme song, because the journey she’s had has been “long and winding”. “It’s my anthem to never give up, and to not care about what other people think about the art that I’m making and just do it,” Caitlyn says. Caitlyn’s journey reached a crescendo on January 19th when Starfire was finally released to the world – which brought on a range of emotions for Caitlyn. “First emotion was overwhelmingly happy and excited that this day was finally here, and I did feel a little emotional just finally having my song babies out in the world,” she says, “A lot of pride and gratefulness. It’s a very overwhelming process.” Now that the record is out and Caitlyn is not – as she puts it – “super pregnant”, she will be heading out for her first headlining tour this spring. Her husband plays in her live band, so their almost-2-year-old son will be joining them on the road. “He is just happy to be wherever,” Caitlyn laughs, “I don’t think he really knows what’s going on, but it will be the norm for him – just rolling around in a tour bus.” While Caitlyn is in a very exciting point in her career, she describes becoming a mother as “the biggest blessing” – both for her personal life and her career. “It’s allowed me to gain this perspective of what is truly important and what is truly worth my time, and what’s not,” Caitlyn says, “There’s almost an automatic balance that came with having a baby.” She admits that some weeks are harder than others, and balancing time can be difficult
sometimes, but she and her husband always make it work. “But the fact that he comes on the road and we get to do it together helps,” she says. Having a child has also influenced how Caitlyn picks which songs she’s going to record, as she knows that he’ll hear them all one day – but only to a point. “It also has opened this new door of inspiration,” she says, “I’m able to draw from this new love and understanding that I wasn’t able to before.” Starfire may still be brand new to most listeners, but Caitlyn promises that there will still be more music this year. There are two additional songs she tracked for the record that didn’t make it that will be available exclusively on the album’s vinyl release. One is titled “Breakfast in the Afternoon”, which was written on a train trip to Tacoma, and the other is “If I Didn’t Love You”, which is Caitlyn’s favorite song to sing live. She’s hoping the vinyl will be released on Record Store Day this year. Caitlyn has been heavily immersed in the artist side of her career the last few months, but she is still exercising her songwriting muscle with other artists when she can, and has been working on a few songs for different movies, which is a new challenge she’s had fun tackling. And though she is a Nashville resident and most of her songwriting cuts have been by country artists, Caitlyn has been dipping her toe into the pop waters lately and is biting her tongue on some exciting news. “It’s really exciting that Nashville is on the map for not just country,” Caitlyn says, “The red thread of the music coming out of Nashville is that the songs are strong, whatever genre you’re listening to.” Caitlyn describes her own music as “genreless”, and is eager for more pockets of the world to discover it. NKD NKDMAG.COM
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BEA MILLER Words by IAN HAYS
Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
Raised in the suburbs of Maplewood, New Jersey, Bea Miller had a perfect view of the mansion on the hill. New York City is a thirty minute ride away, a stone’s throw for any young explorers. But growing up, the opulence of that big apple was more theme park than destiny. Maplewood is the town where everyone knows your name. Taking respite in the blessings you have created an inclusive and diverse community. Bea’s wealth came in the form of those relationships. But who can blame the curiosity of a child at the foot of the world? Bubbles are no fun unless they’re popped. “It was amazing getting to hop on the train with friends and visit the city after school,” Bea reflects. “We got to see a more urban and gritty lifestyle. It was more realistic in terms of the rest of the world.” That reality confronted Bea around the age of 7. The love from tightknit communities works to shield, but Bea’s eyes were built to see. While her family got by financially, as years passed, money became an unavoidable shadow. This meant no shows in the city. But viewed through a box in her living room, Bea sat front row at some of the most watched pop performances. “The one show my mom would let me stay up to watch was American Idol. I used to always say I wanted to do it, but I didn’t think I was good enough at the time. I didn’t realize that having a deeper and raspy voice could be cool. I didn’t know that was a thing,” Bea admits. Modern pop praises upper register vocal runs. Her voice wasn’t Christina Aguilera or Mariah Carey. Her voice was Beatrice Annika Miller, kept in its place by the tastemakers and self-appointed ambassadors 36
bravely reminding the public what good art is. But as luck would have it, music speaks for itself. One of Bea’s moms was a vinyl DJ in the good old days. The well of that music satiated her ears was more than enough to nourish that seed within. A diverse set of sounds old and new set the foundation for a future songwriter who had still never written a note of her own. Bea found solace staying in with friends. There was no need for that constant stimulation so many youths crave. There was no need to be out always doing something. For her, it was nice to just be. The bond of Maplewood played out in Bea’s relationships with friends. If there was good company, then the experience itself was already acceptable payment. Whether it was sitting in friends’ basements secretly reveling in the banality of suburbia or exploring the city with everything to offer to everyone but you, Bea’s friends and family safeguarded those spotlight fantasies. But the world soon crumbled in the grasping hands of the ones closest to her heart. “My parents went into bankruptcy and both lost their jobs within two weeks of each other when the economy crashed,” Bea recalls, “Neither of them could get jobs for years after that. For a long time, I let myself be consumed by our struggles. I was a very unhappy person and I was very lost.” Most days, getting out of bed required clawing her way from the depths, muscles still recovering from the day before. It was when Bea looked beyond herself that the tunnel vision soon bloomed to full scope. The insurmountable stress and sallow hope of her parents grinned as it looked Bea in the eyes.
Pain and hardship do not create strength; those metaphors are tired and faced their truth long ago. The shift it took within 12- year-old Bea to take on Goliath was a power of her own making. Losing more wasn’t an option. The words ‘shot in the dark’ don’t matter when the only thing below you is an unfeeling abyss. She was too young to audition for American Idol, but you only had to be thirteen for X-Factor. Her birthday was a month before auditions. “I mean, the reason I originally auditioned was because the grand prize was like 5 million dollars for the winner,” Bea admits, “I didn’t really know if I could sing like that but it was worth a try. I knew it was an unrealistic expectation but I had to have hope somewhere – that everybody would be okay.” Music was one of the only constants in her life that never took anything, only give. She passed the audition and began her run on the second season of X-Factor. But the reality shaping around her hid in plain sight. She was still a teen going to middle school during the day and music as a career was still just a fevered dream. Setting expectations would only lead to new heartache. A person can only carry so much. Bea was eventually cut, placing ninth. The clouds of doubt darkened. A few days later, back in Maplewood, the phone rang. On the other end, a record deal. Tattered hearts and strained psyches were offered a breath of relief. Simon Cowell and his label, Syco Music, wanted to showcase Bea Miller: singer. “I had just turned 14 at this point and didn’t really understand. I was just like, ‘Simon Cowell? The Simon Cowell?’ My mind was so blown,” Bea says,
“And that’s when it sunk in that if he thinks I can do it, then I must be able to.” Opportunities are often double-edged swords. The deck, while now stacked in her family’s favor, was constructed on the other side of the country in Los Angeles. But noble reasons often find hospitality when needed most. Bea had uncles who lived in Huntington Beach, a little over an hour south of L.A. So, Bea and one of her moms moved in, commuting to L.A. every day. And while studio time kept her busy, working on that dream did not instantly translate to sunny, new days. The shock of going from zero to one hundred that quickly took its toll; the familiar faces she relied on were thousands of miles away. Her other mom and siblings moved into a friend’s basement as money had become even more tight. The short term goal of this record deal became to make enough money from the debut album to buy her family their own house again. While initially signed with Syco, there was a duel partnership with Hollywood Records (now her permanent label). Owned by Disney, the staff was befitting the name. And Bea soon learned that while her stubbornness was rooted in wanting to just do right by her family, she needed to loosen her grip and trust this new community was wanting her to succeed just as badly. “I was set on wanting to write my own music and my own lyrics. I wanted to make the music I wanted to make,” Bea says, “The label eventually sat me down and said, ‘Bea, we think you are very talented. But you’re 15 and never released music before. You need to trust we’re writing songs that fit you.’”
She trusted and they delivered. While she only wrote a few songs on her debut album, Not an Apology (released in 2015), the promise of more creative control on future projects was enough to qualm her worries. And while she was busy curating her first step to pop stardom, her mom was adamant about her education. In Bea’s mind, she had already informed school not to let the door hit its ass on the way out. That dream never became a reality. She found an online program she could do on her own schedule. This came in handy once the album dropped and touring began. With the success of Not an Apology, Bea found an ever-growing fan base. Even after singing on national television, playing shows with the likes of Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, recognition was still a foreign concept to her. “I would be at lunch and someone would come up and ask for a picture. And I would be like, ‘What? I’m in a bun and no make-up, how do you know who I am?’ It’s still such a shock, because I feel like a normal person, I just forget,” Bea says. The more Bea encountered fans, the clearer the picture became. She is a normal person and it’s this that confirms her fans’ appreciation for her music. Interacting with fans was her first time seeing how her music was impacting those who listened. Surrounded by industry types, praise and admiration is an echo chamber set on auto-pilot. But these were people who had no stake in Bea’s success. Art that they could relate to was being brought into the world by someone who has fought, conquered, failed – just like them. This paved the way, providing strength for Bea’s next chapter.
In 2016, the end of a serious romantic relationship began tearing down the home Bea had fought tooth and nail for. Upon the walls being stripped, she found the structure and framing to be a sham. The truths she thought delicately protected her heart only reflected what she wanted to see. It was a period of contemplation and doing what she could to get out of her own head. Healing came in the form of a new musical project. But facing that vulnerability head on took time. “It was really hard to get myself into the studio. I was working with these writers and producers I had barely met and I was so new to writing. I had this insecurity because with writing music I had never tried like this before,” Bea says. She was working with songwriting veterans and the fear of not being good enough was enough to swallow her alive. How could she be expected to have them accurately write songs with her when she is unsure of what is going on her own head and heart? The realization Bea had at 12 returned anew. The only way to start moving forward is to actually take action. Just as this well of strength brought a child onto a national stage for the sake of her family, it reassured Bea that her heart was just as important as those she loved. Self-reflection is world-reflection. “When I listened to certain artists when I was upset and saw how their lyrics and music helped me when I was upset, it made me feel less alone,” Bea reflects, “And when I recognized that and realized I could do that for other people, that’s when I finally felt inspired to break down my walls and be honest.” Once the train left the station, there was little anyone could do to shift Bea’s direction. Writing sessions became therapeutic. Writers NKDMAG.COM
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and producers shared their own experiences with heartache and loss. It was this building of community that took writing and producing sessions to new heights for Bea. Everything was on the table for the singer on the cusp of adulthood. Sharing these songs and stories with the world became a badge of honor Bea was itching to show off. “We established that people don’t consume music in full albums as easily anymore. Listening to 15 songs in a row in an album is tough. It’s hard to convince people you’re worth an hour of their time when we all lead such busy lives,” Bea says, “As a fan of music, I also hate how artists I love only release one record every year or two. I’m still connecting with songs while they are in the studio, moved on from those emotions. There’s a disconnect happening.” Encapsulating this journey, Bea set out to release the story as three EPs over the course of 2017. This would allow Bea to keep up consistent communication with her fans and reveal to them not only what had happened in her life, but to reach out to anyone struggling like her to reassure them she was bleeding right there alongside them. The question of which three songs should be grouped together for each release quickly found an answer. Bea Miller has synesthesia. When she hears music, she sees shades of color and shapes that are representative of particular sounds and lyrics. As she listened to her new songs, she found herself grouping them by the colors and shades they produced for her. “Blue was about the phase in my life when I was sad and alone. Red was dealing with the anger I had at myself for staying sad for so long. It’s where I said, ‘No, fuck that. I’m
going to make a better life for myself even if I die trying.’ And Yellow were the songs where I was finally done with that situation and I was over what I was so sad about in that Chapter One: Blue phase,” Bea explains, “When you’re at a down, your up will come. You can be happy.” On February 23, 2018, the final installment of this story arch, Aurora, dropped. It’s exactly one year after the first chapter was released. The album contains the songs from the three EPs along with five new originals. Originally titled “Spectrum”, it represented not just the color aspects, but the range of emotions that came along with those albums. She wanted something that captured the power of not just recognizing these emotions, but offered strength to those who needed these songs most. As it turns out, it was herself. There was something more she was trying to reach and the title wasn’t cutting it. It was in her explorations for a new title that she came across the story of the goddess Aurora, bringer of the dawn. Bea’s raspy laugh may ring true when told this, but she is Aurora. When night began to drag into eternity, Bea was there to offer her family a ray of hope when even the moon seemed to have turned her back on them. When the gnawing realization that a relationship was over and she was left alone with scattered pieces, she found strength in her words bringing fresh life to those struggling just like her. The beauty in her story is not in overcoming every obstacle she encounters, but in her strength to continually press on and forge her own way at the continual benefit of others. And it’s this selflessness that assures Bea Miller is just getting started. NKD
luna blaise
Words by RACHEL HILL Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
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You may recognize this onthe-rise teen from the silver screen, your nearest concert hall, your TV set, or even Jacob Sartorius’ hit music video “Sweatshirt”. Regardless of how you know her, Luna Blaise is taking the world by storm. The 16-year-old L.A. native began acting professionally at
Off The Boat. Nicole, the Huang family’s sassy next door neighbor, came out as a lesbian this past season. Luna’s portrayal of this sensitive matter was deemed Entertainment Weekly’s online show BingeWorthy’s performance of the week in November 2017. In order to prepare for and accu-
reveal, Luna turned to social media. “I didn’t know how people were going to respond, but it actually kind of made me very proud of my generation,” she affirms, “Everyone was super supportive and everyone was like, ‘This is amazing’.” As for where a possible Season 5 will take Nicole, Luna predicts
“If it’s a script or if it’s a scene in a TV show that doesn’t really fit with me and I don’t really connect with it, I’ll pass on it because I don’t want to waste their time. And I don’t want to waste me own time.” the age of eight. Armed with a theatrical manager and agent, Luna booked roles in the 2008 movie Vicious Circle and the indie film Memoria, produced by James Franco. Her big break arrived in 2014 when she was cast in the recurring role of Nicole in ABC’s television series Fresh
rately depict the slew of emotions and inhibitions a young person faces when coming out to their loved ones, Luna teamed up with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Anxious to know what her fans and Fresh Off The Boat viewers thought about Nicole’s
new love interests and a journey into figuring out who she really is. All actors and actresses have a system of reviewing scripts they come across, whether it be audition for anything and everything or only going for compositions that match their interests. Luna believes con-
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nectivity is key. “If it’s a script or if it’s a scene in a TV show that doesn’t really fit with me and I don’t really connect with it, I’ll pass on it because I don’t want to waste their time. And I don’t want to waste my own time,” she says. She credits her time spent on set as a contributing factor in her comfortability on performing on stage in front of thousands of doting fans. “I have a crew on Fresh Off The Boat with at least 60 people. So I’m so used to performing in front of people,” Luna says. Hitting the studio for the first time at age 14, her intention was never to make singing part of her professional repertoire. “I was going to do a cover and I ended up writing a song which was ‘Over You’, my first single; I’ve been in love with the making of songwriting,” Luna reveals. After the positive reaction from “Over You”, which has since garnered over 330,000 views on YouTube, she headed back to the studio to see what else she could cook up. “I just did it for the fans and the fans loved it and my supporters loved it. I just kept going to the studio over and over again and I made a bunch of songs,” Luna says. Her style of music has understandably evolved since her debut single. Her newest hit released last month, “Camera Roll”, has a noticeably more mature sound. Some have equated it to a softer, younger sounding Ariana Grande-esque tone. The music video was watched 150,000 times in its
first week. If you’re wondering about the status of future material, she’s currently working towards assembling an EP consisting of three to six songs, but wants to make sure it has a cohesive feel to it before she releases it to the world. “I’m taking my time on it because I want to make sure that it’s the right sound all together,” Luna says. The transition of bringing a piece of work from the studio to fan-facing, under a spotlight, can be crazy. “Singing the song at home alone or listening to it on a speaker or in the studio and then performing it on stage are two totally different processes,” Luna divulges. She admits the on stage element is probably her favorite. “You think it’s the same because it’s the same song, but it’s two totally different things,” she admits. Throughout both of her professional spheres, juggling multiple projects has proven a challenge, yet Luna has handled it with grace one would expect from an industry veteran. She pays tribute to her work ethic, a quality most people her age have yet to develop. “You can’t be a stressed person that overthinks a lot because if you overthink, that’ll lead to really bad things and you just have to know how to balance yourself and balance what you’re doing,” she explains. The young starlet has yet to have to choose between an acting role and tour dates. She finds a way to work out filming
Fresh Off The Boat and supporting Jacob Sartorius on The Left Me Hangin’ Tour, which wrapped in February. Luna is often only in a city for a day at a time, having to fly back and forth between tour dates and Fresh Off The Boat’s set in LA. As for what to expect on her own headlining tour that kicks off this May. The setlist? She’s excited to be performing her own songs instead of covers. Not to mention being able to call the tour her own. After becoming comfortable touring with Jacob in the past, Luna is ready to set out on a new adventure. One that involves her own name up in lights. Luna will be dipping her toes in new waters as she is slated to produce a horror feature film. Most of the project details are still under wraps. She’s not even that nervous for this new experience. “When it comes to being confident and setting a rule and direction and all that like a producer, I think I’ll do good at that,” she adds, “But you know what? I could also be really bad because I’ve never done it before. So we’ll see.” Also on the horizon are two independent films coming out in 2018. And for you music lovers, have no fear! Luna will be hitting the books (and studio) to work on more tunes. Her goal is to continue what she’s doing, pursuing acting and her singing career on both fronts, and successfully so. Luna’s prediction for the rest of 2018? “It’s going to be a really, really good year. It’s going to be amazing,” she says. NKD
benji aflalo Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Grooming by SIMONE
Benji Aflalo calls himself lazy, sometimes lacking in self-worth, and filled with self-doubt. He’s incredibly self-deprecating, but he’s also persistent and passionate about comedy. And despite all his perceived shortcomings, he is currently the star, co-creator, and writer on Freeform’s latest comedy, Alone Together. Benji was born in Los Angeles, California and says he was raised by his four older siblings, housekeeper, and parents, who he describes as “grinders” – hardworking people who came from humble backgrounds. Benji always wanted to do comedy, and he participated in several plays in high school. After getting an agent during his senior year of high school, he booked a guest starring role and then a second audition, but decided that he didn’t want to continue. Instead, he wanted to go to college. At the time, he didn’t realize that hopeful actors often struggle, constantly getting denied until they can even land their first role. “I was 17, I didn’t really understand that it was a big deal, and everyone was going to college and I was like, ‘Oh I’ll go to college now, too,’” Benji explains. “It felt like a summer camp choice.” Neither of Benji’s parents went to college and all his siblings dropped
out, so by the time he made the decision to continue his education, his parents were “disillusioned.” Benji just wanted to get out of L.A. because “the idea of being around all the high school people again ate me up inside,” so he went to the University of Arizona. His experience there was one marked by isolation and it was clearly an environment that he didn’t fit into, but at the same time, he didn’t want to go back to L.A. After applying elsewhere with the help of his sister, Yael, Benji got accepted to New York City’s Marymount Manhattan College. “I obviously probably belonged in a liberal arts school in New York, but because I didn’t have any guidance, I ended up at the University of Arizona,” Benji says. As he was nearing the end of college, he started participating in open mics. He initially wanted to be a musician, but felt that he didn’t have the chops for it. Plus, the crowds at open mics responded more to him as a comedian than a guitarist. “I don’t think it’s an easy road for anybody,” Benji says. “But I was insecure, and I think standup actually gave me that immediate satisfaction.” Impressed by seeing comedians like Jim Norton and Jeff Ross at The Comedy Cellar in N.Y., Benji went to L.A. and attended a comedy show
at The Improv – but was unaware that the people doing standup that night were amateurs. Thinking that the comedians in L.A. didn’t measure up to the high standard set by those in N.Y., Benji moved back to L.A. in the hopes of easily making it big as a comedian. He did bringer shows in L.A. for several years, where he was able to perform standup if he brought people to the venue. Then, he got a job working at The Comedy Store, which he describes as being “empty all the time,” “lawless,” and “fun” – but it was also the place where Benji met Esther Povitsky, who would become one of his good friends and co-creator of Alone Together. After working at The Comedy Store, Benji continued doing more writing gigs, but he and Esther realized that if they wanted to progress in the industry, they had to develop original projects and pitch them. The problem was that neither of them was confident in their ability to pitch material, especially in a city filled with other talented comedians. “You’re either competing with celebrity comedians in L.A., people with experience we don’t have, or at the very least, you look at the Workaholics guys,” Benji explains. “They had a whole web series and all this content. A lot of our other friends who had gotten some success, they had that too, so we were like, ‘We
have to do our own thing to prove to people that we can have the things we want.’” They put together a short film that led to their show on Freeform. It was written in December 2013, filmed the following summer, and pitched in December 2015. The pilot for Alone Together was filmed in August 2016, and the entirety of Season 1 was filmed in 2017. “I’ve had my heart broken a million times over the course of that,” Benji says. Alone Together focuses on Benji and Esther as the main characters. Their characters are exaggerated versions of themselves and lines, themes, or scenarios in the show are often inspired by their real-life
experiences. Benji considers himself “lazy” and “disinterested,” so naturally his misfit character shares the same traits. On the show, Benji and Esther are strictly platonic friends, and they’re firm in their stance that the characters will remain just friends. Alone Together is not intended to be a show where viewers speculate as to whether or not the two main characters will become love interests. Alone Together was renewed for a second season in October 2017, before the show aired in January 2018. Benji credits the success of the show to his partnership with Esther, who has been a massive help in getting them to the stage they’re
currently at. “Having a show before is something I’ve never done before,” Benji says. “I’ve never even worked on a scripted show or acted in a show. No one would have me forever in any capacity, as a standup, as an actor, as a writer. It’s all been denial, rejection. If I was dealing with that completely on my own, I probably would have had no chance.” Even though a second season is underway, Benji doesn’t take any of his achievements lightly, because it’s the result of hard work. “I didn’t get a TV show because someone handed it to me,” he says. “At the end of the day, we had to do a lot on our own and I think everyone has to.” Going forward with Alone Together, Benji feels a little surer of himself and the show – even if there are moments when he’s “crippled by self-doubt.” “I feel like Season 2 has to be better just because I’m more experienced and know more about what I’m doing, but maybe I’m wrong,” Benji says. “Maybe that’ll work against me, who knows.” “With a season of experience under our belts, as much as I think the first season is awesome, I think there’s no way the show can’t get better,” he adds. In the future, Benji hopes that he can return to standup, and possibly do a tour with Esther. “Standup is so hard that it requires a lot of dedication, so I’d love to have some time to really dedicate to it and see what that looks like,” Benji says. “And then after that, I’m kind of putting everything I have into this and standup and then after that, I would just be spreading myself way too thin.” NKD
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