SEPT. 2018 04 CARLY CRAIG
16 KATHRYN GALLAGHER
32 MEGHANN FAHY
on creating sideswiped + her favorite guest stars
on working on jagged little pill + her new show, you
on her life-changing year + her hopes for season 3 of the bold type
06 SOFIA WYLIE
20 THE NIGHT GAME
42 DREAMERS
on chasing her disney dreams + being a positive voice
on finding purpose in music again + the songwriting process
on building the band + their upcoming ep, fly
10 LOVELYTHEBAND
24 JENNA JOHNSON
46 AMANDA GRACE BENITEZ
on their formation + their debut album, finding it hard to smile
on following her dance dreams + her recent engagement
on her love of drumming + her upcoming movie, the ranger
30 NADIA AFFOLTER
on her role on amazon’s jack ryan + working with john krasinski
CATHERINE POWELL
publisher, editor, photographer, designer, writer
ELIZABETH FORREST
RACHEL HILL
VANESSA SALLES
AUTUMN HALLE
NICOLE MOOREFIELD
LEXI SHANNON
writer writer
IAN HAYS writer
writer writer
writer writer
OLIVIA SINGH writer
04
CRAIG
Words by LEXI SHANNON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
CARLY
From actress to screenwriter, Carly Craig does it all. The 38-year-old California native has been seen on the big screens since 2005, featuring roles in hit feature films such as Role Models and Hall Pass. The multi-faceted talent has recently released her own show – Sideswiped. Featuring Craig herself, alongside Rosanna Arquette and Chlesea Frei, the show follows the tale of a newly single 35-year-old woman on her ventures throughout the world of online dating. NKD: How did the concept for Sideswiped come about? CC: After getting out of a 12 year relationship at 35, I was thrown into this new digital world of dating and was shocked by how much it had changed. I thought I had skipped out on the Tinder era and was fine with that. So, I decided to be open-minded and dive in, hence all my crazy stories. Plus, my journal of embarrassing experiences was getting full and I was ready to start writing them into some characters. NKD: How long had you been working on Sideswiped until you realized you wanted to share it with the world? CC: I knew from the beginning
that this would be something I wanted to share with the world. Whenever something happens to me that’s embarrassing or uncomfortable, I feel it in the moment, but get excited to write about those experiences because they’re so relatable and you can’t make this stuff up! NKD: What made you decide to release the show via YouTube Premium? CC: I loved being able to get in on the ground floor with a company that was just starting to transition to premium programming. They’re doing amazing things and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of it. NKD: If you could redo the filming of the show, is there anything you would do differently? CC: I don’t think so. I’m really happy with how “Sideswiped” turned out. We got really lucky with the cast and crew being so talented. It made the first season run really smoothly. NKD: Who was your favorite guest actor to work with on set? CC: I don’t know if I have a favorite, but I always love working with Jason Sudeikis. He’s hysterical, very easy to work with, and
such a professional. And we shot the first scene of the show in the gynecologist’s office as a teaser before we went to YouTube Premium. That really helped show people the tone of the show and the kind of guest stars we were going to get. I will forever be grateful to Jason for shooting that with me. NKD: Who would be your dream guest on the show – dead or alive? CC: Dead: Lucille Ball; Alive: Paul Rudd or Kristen Wiig NKD: How has the public reacted to the release of the show? CC: We’ve gotten such amazing reviews and people contact me all the time via social media to let me know how much they enjoyed Sideswiped and that they binged it in one night. It’s so surreal to have it out there for everyone to see after working on it for the last two years. It just makes me so happy to see how much people related to these characters and loved the show. NKD: Can we expect more Sideswiped in the future? CC: I hope so! I would love to do a Season 2 (and many more!). We should find out really soon. I’m ready to get back to work on it. NKD
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sofia wylie Words by AUTUMN HALLE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Hair by MONAE EVERETT
Sofia Wylie is bursting with confidence. The 14-year old star of Disney Channel’s Andi Mack has all the reason in the world to be. In just a few short years, the actress has worked hard to make her dreams come true. A dream, it turns out, she never really thought was a reality. “I really never thought that a kid like me could become an actress,” Sofia says of those early dreams. “My sister and I used to stand in the living room and pretend to do the Disney wand ears like we had our own television show, but I never thought it could be real someday.” The triple threat, actor, dancer, and singer, got her start on the dance floors in her hometown, Scottsdale, Arizona. Studying hiphop and other forms of dance, she gravitated towards the stage and immediately craved being in the spotlight. Her successes in the dance world are numerous, including performing alongside Justin Bieber and even hitting the stage at world-famous Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It was during a dance audition in Los Angeles, surrounded by actors studying their lines, that Sofia realized she wanted to experiment with other forms of creative expression. The acting bug was in her and there was no denying it.
“I just started going to auditions. I ended up booking a commercial here and a small role there,” Sofia reflects on how she got started. For much of her success in the early stages of her career, she credits having mentors like casting director Amber Horn. Amber was one of the first people in Hollywood to see the potential in the young star and even ended up casting her in her first acting role. After they started working together, Sofia booked a reoccurring on Nickelodeon’s Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn and School of Rock. It became clear that she was well on her way to carving out a name for herself. “It was when I ended up booking the role of Buffy on Andi Mack that I realized it was all happening for me. I was so excited I couldn’t breathe,” Sofia laughs as she thinks back on that pivotal moment. “I couldn’t believe I was going to be on a Disney Channel show.” From there, Sofia started making a name for herself among Disney’s huge fan following. It was her enigmatic charisma and unapologetic confidence that garnered her a loyal fanbase. Sofia’s confidence has been a driving force, not only in her career but in her life as a whole. “I always want to convey confi-
dence and put a lot of importance on that for my fans. I think what helped me be confident and successful was my family,” Sofia says of where she draws her positive personality from. “They’ve always lifted me up and made me feel supported and special. It’s easy to feel like you can do anything when you have people telling you that you can.” What’s the one thing she wants fans to know about confidence? Believe in yourself. “If you think things like, ‘I could never do that’ it’s the worst thing you can do to yourself,” Sofia warns. “Just because people are telling you that you can’t doesn’t make it true.” Wise beyond her years, Sofia also feels that she shares her confidence with her on-screen persona, Buffy. It’s one of the many things that drew her to the character. But the comparisons don’t end there. “I think one of the other things Buffy and I have in common is that we both like athletics,” Sofia laughs. “Buffy really, really likes being an athlete and I love getting to experience new things through her and grow as she does that.” While Buffy is a huge inspiration for many Disney Channel viewers, Sofia has found inspiration in the entertainment world through admiring the careers of NKDMAG.COM
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multidimensional, and not surprisingly, confident entertainers. “I really look up to Will Smith,” Sofia explains. “And I think Denzel Washington is really inspiring, too. Even just outside of acting, he’s always going to colleges and giving inspiring speeches to students about following their own path. I love that about him.” When it comes to her own career, Sofia has some ideas of what she wants to do next. “I really want to do more dramatic roles where I get to cry on screen,” she laughs. “I’d also really love to play Will Smith’s daughter. I don’t care if I only have one line that would be the ultimate role!” But acting isn’t all she thinks about, the passionate young woman holds being a role model close to her heart. She takes pride in being a positive voice on social media, encouraging her fans to do the same to one another. “I’m really passionate about spreading positivity,” she continues. “Especially in a world where it feels like we are constantly tearing each other down on social media and comparing ourselves to other people. I want to remind people that they’re unique in their own way and to keep following their own path to their own destination.” It’s clear just by the way that Sofia lives her life she is constantly following her own advice. The actress has worked hard over the past few years to prove herself and continue to be a voice for those that might feel like square pegs trying to fit in round holes. Even when it comes to choosing roles, she hopes to play strong characters that fans can draw inspiration 08
from. That includes her newest role as science fanatic and accidental soccer player, Bailey, in her first feature film, Back of the Net. The project is one of the many things that Sofia is looking forward to over the next few months. “The whole experience, going to Australia and working with a bunch of amazing people, was so special,” she says of Back of the Net. “I can’t wait to see what fans of Andi Mack think of it!” And that’s not all, Sofia has been hard at work becoming the voice of a new animated Marvel character. The experience has been a first for the star, who couldn’t get over the first time she heard her own voice alongside the character artwork. “It’s so crazy to hear myself as a cartoon character, it’s definitely another one of those things I didn’t imagine would happen,” she says. But when all is said and done, Sofia has allowed her confidence to lead the way, always pushing herself to work hard and tackle the unknown. The Disney Channel star looks forward to the day when Andi Mack fans get to see what herself, and the rest of the cast, are capable of. “It’s always about growing and I think it’s important for our fans to see us do that,” Sofia shares. “I’m excited to share the journey with them.” Sofia is part of a wave of Disney Channel stars that are ushering in an era of acceptance and self-love. And if anyone is capable of inspiring fellow young teens to tap into their own strength, Sofia stands at the top of that list. NKD
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lovelytheb Words by NICOLE MOOREFIELD Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
band
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The story of lovelytheband cannot be told without hot wings and The Roxy. Born from the mind of lead singer and guitarist Mitchy Collins, the trio is completed by Sam Price (drums) and Jordan Greenwald (keys and guitar). Falling somewhere between alternative, indie, and electronic, the band’s debut album, finding it hard to smile, was released August 3rd, a record full of ironically upbeat songs about depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Born in Michigan, Mitchy Collins was constantly moving until settling in New Jersey at age 10. Fascinated by the music scene, he picked up his first guitar at 12. A few years later, he started a band (the first of many), and at 18, moved to Brooklyn, performing with Danielle Bouchard as indie duo Oh Honey by 25. The band’s song “Be Okay” was an instant hit and was even covered by Glee, bringing Mitchy his first record deal and a massive touring gig alongside The Fray. Lovelytheband started as an idea Mitchy had almost three years ago. He had written a handful of songs, including “broken” and “these are my friends”, but wanted a band to play with. Mitchy’s dream came to fruition one drunken night in 2016 when he met Jordan Greenwald. Growing up in Los Angeles, Jordan was no stranger to entertainment. He attributes much of his success to supportive parents, and watching his father navigate the television industry
taught Jordan a lot about persistence. He went to college in Nashville for guitar production and moved back to L.A. after graduation. One night, Jordan’s friends wanted to stop by Mitchy’s house to hear some demos. As the evening progressed, Mitchy and Jordan grew closer, especially after relocating to On The Rox, the bar above The Roxy in Los Angeles. “We were not sober,” Jordan admits. They broke away to talk music, and despite being involved in other projects, Jordan agreed to join Mitchy’s new band. The next day, the pair met over buffalo wings and decided the collaboration was still a good idea sober. Their debut single, “broken”, was released in April 2017, and they played their first show at The Roxy that June. But they had lost a member, and the band still needed a third: a drummer. An L.A. native, Sam Price grew up in a musical family, his mother a singer and his father a touring keyboardist. “My dad started me off on drums pretty early,” Sam recalls. His first time playing with peers was in middle school band, and high school drumline “was a huge shift in my drumming abilities,” he shares. In college, Sam studied drum performance, bouncing between bands and experimenting with jazz, metal, and pop. For three years, he worked as a drummer-for-hire, growing a network of musical connections that led him to Mitchy. Discovering Sam through mutual friends, Mitchy invitNKDMAG.COM
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ed him to their show at The Roxy. “I literally met Jordan in the green room [the day] my own band played the first show ever,” Sam laughs. He signed on in July, and lovelytheband was complete. The name came about in a Dave & Buster’s — again, over wings. “I wish we had a cooler story,” Jordan laments. While brainstorming, Mitchy kept landing on the word “lovely,” and the only available Instagram handle was “@lovelytheband.” Inspired by the simplicity, they decided the one-word stylization could define their aesthetic. Artists like Chance the Rapper and The Band Perry validated the decision, Jordan mentions. The band’s musical influences vary widely, from Drake to Frank Ocean to Van Halen, and they search for new inspiration every Friday by going to shows or just browsing Spotify. Mitchy draws from the classic artists he grew up on, like Springsteen and Elvis, as well as singer-songwriters like Bryan Adams and Butch Walker. Bands like Dashboard Confessional, Alkaline Trio and Taking Back Sunday shaped his early songwriting. “They taught me what it was like to feel things through music and be able to open up,” he remembers. This past July, a dream came true for the band: they played the Mo Pop Festival in Detroit, headlined by a huge inspiration, Bon Iver. “It wasn’t a co-bill, or anything,” Sam clarifies, but they closed the same stage that lovelytheband opened the next
day. “It would be really cool to play with [Justin Vernon] again,” and to watch his creative process, he adds. Touring means meeting fans and discovering new cities (like band favorite Portland, Maine), but life on the road is hard. “It’s not all glam,” Mitchy recognizes. “It’s long days, it’s a lot of travel. There’s no sense of normalcy.” Living out of a bag, you realize all the simple things you take for granted, he explains. Another downside is being isolated for months at a time. Life at home doesn’t stop, and “you find out who your friends are really fast”, Mitchy notes. “[You realize] a lot of your relationships are out of convenience,” he says. “As the weeks go by, the texts stop coming in,” Jordan shares. When touring gets tough, music provides relief. For Mitchy, “music is how feelings sound.” In the studio, “everything comes to life and I get to be my own therapist, if you will.” When writing the album, he didn’t aim to create such a contradiction between lyrics and sound. Rather, “I was singing about things I needed to sing about and the music just kind of wrapped itself around it,” he tells. If Mitchy finds peace in music, Jordan’s reward comes from connecting with an audience. “You’re all right there in that moment, listening to the same thing, doing the same thing — it’s a really magical feeling,” he explains. For Sam, it’s the universal nature of music that he loves most.
He references a lyric from “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder: “Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.” Sam elaborates, “I could sit next to someone from halfway across the world who doesn’t speak any English, cannot relate to me at all,” but through music, they can come together. Sam is excited to tour the album and hopes fans worldwide will connect to the music. “We still have not played a proper arena or stadium,” he remarks. He grew up watching his father perform at large venues and aspires to do the same in the future. Jordan’s goals are less career-oriented, but rather “to find peace and happiness in things that I didn’t think I would ever be able to”, like falling asleep in a tiny bunk each night. When the album was released, “we all definitely were crying, not even with a lot of alcohol involved,” Sam laughs. “This has been such a long time coming and we just hope people are in love with it as much as we are,” says Jordan. “This is our baby,” Mitchy adds. “All we can hope for is that people enjoy the music and maybe can take away a little piece of it, and [have it] help them maybe say some things that they’re scared to or [don’t] know how to.” “This is really the purest lovelytheband, right now. This is what we sound like and this is what we hope everyone can really gather of who we are,” Jordan concludes. NKD NKDMAG.COM
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kathryn gallagher Words by ELIZABETH FORREST Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
At 15, Kathryn Gallagher left her first record deal because they “didn’t understand” her artistic vision. Then, with a batch of songs she wrote herself, she personally reached out to every venue in Los Angeles to ask whether they had any space for her to perform. Eventually, she heard back: she was going to play The Whiskey. It was such a bold move that her parents didn’t believe her when she told them. “It wasn’t until they got a call from The Whiskey asking for them to sign my contract and they were like ‘what, this is real?’” Kathryn laughs. Music was Kathryn’s life until she was 20, but she was also heavily involved with musical theater. Since she joined an after-school theater group when she moved to Los Angeles at 11, she grew up with and performed alongside a talented number of kids that Kathryn is still in contact with today. “It’s so lucky and rare that we have such a good group who is genuinely supportive and genuinely excited about each other,” Kathryn says. “We’re the first people to say ‘I’m not right for this role, but you have to call my friend’.” One such friend from her theater group, Ben Platt, who most recently performed in Dear Evan Hansen, was actually the catalyst to Kathryn’s
professional musical theater career. “He called me and said, ‘My friend Michael is doing a production of Spring Awakening with Deaf West Theater and he’s looking for people. I told him about you, so he might give you a call’,” Kathryn remembers. Although at that point she was fully focused on music, she missed theater and felt like a part of her was missing. In the end, Michael did call, the two got coffee, and a year later, Kathryn made her Broadway debut in Spring Awakening. Since then, life has been a whirlwind. After Spring Awakening, Kathryn chased another musical theater role in Jagged Little Pill, a rock musical written by Diablo Cody and inspired by Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album of the same name. Initially the production said there was no part for her, but eventually Kathryn received an email for a general ensemble call. She read for seven different roles and sang “I Can’t Make You Love Me” during the audition process, but the most difficult part was the dancing. Sidi Larbi, who also choreographs for Beyonce, ran the auditions. “If you can imagine, a girl with only lyrical dance experience at a high school level is not really succeeding in that
realm,” Kathryn jokes. She was called back for the role of Bella, one of the most raw and honest roles Kathryn had ever seen written, especially in theater. She was ecstatic to be given the opportunity. “Very few writers write fully fledged, layered, complex characters, especially women, as well as she [Diablo] does,” Kathryn says. She wanted the role badly; Bella is a sexual assault survivor and from the very beginning, Kathryn knew the musical meant something. Three weeks after auditions ended, Kathryn officially booked the show. Playing a deeply complex and vulnerable role in such an important story was not an act that Kathryn took lightly. She worked with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center to receive training and truly understand what survivors go through. One of the most moving parts of the role was to hear how impactful it was to hear a survivor’s story told. “So often we don’t hear the story from the survivor,” Kathryn explains. “We’re just now starting to hear what happens from that woman or person’s point of view.” Many people in the audience found it powerful to see this story told so unapologetically; knowing that gave Kathryn the strength to play the NKDMAG.COM
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role when it felt too intense. The people she surrounded herself with during the production also kept her grounded. For such a serious show on stage, Kathryn says they were “the goofiest group of people you’ve ever met.” Kathryn also describes herself as a class clown, so much so that she and Derek Klena, who played Nick, were unable to stand next to each other during rehearsals. “We had to be separated like children,” she laughs. But when it came time to get serious, everyone knew when to tone it down. Kathryn’s latest project premiers on September 9th: she will play Annika on Lifetime’s new series, YOU. And although she’s excited for the series to premiere, Kathryn didn’t realize how much she wanted the role until the night before her audition. That night, after a failed date, Kathryn returned home, crushed and upset that she wasted her night. She hadn’t even read the script yet, so she cracked it open to prepare for the audition. Once she finished her read-through, she realized what a mistake she made. “I was like ‘I should have started prepping a week ago,’” she remembers. “It was a girl who was bullied for her weight, who was someone I identified with a lot and used humor as a defense mechanism, and she was brassy and bold and telling inappropriate jokes with no filter.” Kathryn spent all night preparing for her audition. YOU’s showrunner Sera Gamble is someone Kathryn looks up to and she describes as “one of the fiercest, smartest, most inspirational women” she has ever met. The show also features a dynamite cast. With names like Penn Badgley, Elizabeth Lail and Shay Mitchell, Kathryn
couldn’t wait to jump in and get to work. Of the entire cast, she was most excited to work with John Stamos, but due to her schedule with Jagged Little Pill, their episodes didn’t line up. “I couldn’t be there and it broke my heart, and of course those were the ones he was in,” Kathryn says. Still, she found close friends on set; she, Elizabeth and Nicole Kang went on a Eurotrip together after filming and Kathryn taught Penn and Shay about the history of musical theater between takes. “It was such a fun set. It’s the kind of show you want to work on forever,” Kathryn says. Though Jagged Little Pill and YOU had different timelines for release, both of Kathryn’s successful auditions were close to each other in timing and after a period in which she had difficult booking a job. She started to reconsider whether acting was her calling and whether she should shift her focus back to music. She had even packed up and moved back to Los Angeles to begin writing songs when she got the call that she booked YOU and had to move right back to New York. Two weeks later, she began the audition process for Jagged Little Pill. “It was the craziest time to go from ‘I’m never going to work again’ to being really lucky with two projects that I believed in,” she remembers. When not in front of the camera, Kathryn is developing a short film into something longer with a friend and she still works on her music. “I’m so addicted to telling stories in any way shape or form, so if I can keep finding stories that I think need to be told in any medium, I will be the happiest person on earth,” Kathryn says. NKD NKDMAG.COM
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THE NIGHT GAME
Words by IAN HAYS Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
To feel purpose is to be in the present. As The Night Game, Martin Johnson has never been more self-aware. Uncertainty is as human as eating and sleeping. But through music, meditations allow for honest growth. Martin is no rookie when it comes to the music industry- or music in general. But as The Night Game, a new found energy is driving him, coalesced with his past selves after a period marred by doubt and fear. As The Night Game, he has found meaning in music again, eager to share it with the world. Born and raised in the Boston area, music has always been Martin’s biggest passion. He received his first ukulele at 3- years-old and his first guitar at 6. “You had to rip me away from the mirror because I would be in front it pretending I was a rock star. I used to watch the Simon and Garfunkel Live in Central Park VHS. There was this little pole on the preschool playground,” Martin recalls, “While the other kids were running around playing tag, I would be standing there pretending to sing into it like Paul Simon.” When he was around or 8-yearsold, he began doing musical theater. At that age, it’s hard to find a band. Martin yearned to sing and perform, and musical theater fulfilled that need. Community theater pro-
ductions led to bigger roles around Boston. But his parents wanted to ensure a safe and normal childhood. So, when theater agents came sniffing around, they were promptly turned away. But around 15, Martin decided he wanted to write and perform his own music. To do that, he needed a band. He likes to joke that he forced his friends into it, but they all got their respective instruments and jammed for years. Influenced by Martin’s cousin who was in a streetpunk band, they played ska and punk. Then, Martin was introduced to emo. He knew that was what he wanted to perform and write. Eventually, he joined a new band. After completing a DIY tour, he befriended a drummer on tour, John Keefe. “We got home and decided we wanted to join forces. So, we broke up both of our bands and started Boys Like Girls,” he says. Boys Like Girls are synonymous with the pop-punk side of emo that dominated the early 2000s. Lyrics to “Hero/ Heroine” were written in high school binders all over the world. By 2010, touring for Boys Like Girls had started to slow down. That’s when Martin began writing for other artists. But years of treating music as an office job wore Martin to his core. “There came a point in 2014 or 2015 where I cracked a little bit. I
wasn’t being fulfilled by music anymore,” he admits, “I would look at myself in the mirror, remembering when I would stand there with my telecaster, wanting to be a rock star, and thinking, ‘When did I lose this kid?” Some might call it extreme, but Martin, in search of purpose, cancelled his writing sessions with other artists and took an indefinite hiatus from writing for others. At a certain point, the ever-present commodification of artistic talents places doubts. Martin found himself in that gnawing, depressive spiral. He found himself in an unrelenting cycle of doubt, stealing that sense of self. He came too close to quitting music for good. A desperate revelation was due. Martin decided to embark on a passion project of recording his own music his own way. But even with this new found freedom and primal urge to write and record, it took time for Martin to form The Night Game and become comfortable in a sound that is uniquely him. “I was writing really depressing singer/songwriter stuff. I have a full album sitting on my hard drive of those original demos. I don’t know if they’ll ever come out. A year of staring at the wall and wondering if I even liked music anymore, things finally began to click. I found truth NKDMAG.COM
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in it again,” he says. In the early stages of this project, Martin wasn’t even sure if he was writing to record an album for release or not. But putting his music under a microscope allowed him to face those feelings head on, embracing music for what he always knew it could be. Once Martin powered through the initial writing and dusting of cobwebs, The Night Game and the upcoming self-titled debut truly began to take shape. Through all of Martin’s songwriting in the rock and pop worlds, the earnest emphasis on anthemic melodies was influenced by his experiences in and love for musical theater. An acoustic guitar and solo singer can overflow a stadium with melody at only a whisper if the energy is true. With The Night Game, Martin is following that energy where it leads. “I gravitate to songs that have expansive, dramatic melodies. I tend to write the melody first and that dictates what the lyrics will be,” he says, “I’ll be digging into a melody and a story will pop out and a song is born. I want the melody to stay with you for weeks, so you can sing it on ‘La la la’ and still feel something.” With a focus on writing in major, utilizing suspended chords to maximize dissonance, Martin credits his partner and producer, François Tétaz. To Martin, François takes the time to see what the song is saying at the core. It’s the search for purpose. Partnering with François on The Night Game, they took a more selective approach when composing and writing. “We would go over a synth line and discuss if it needed to be there.
The reason the melody dictates the lyrics is summed up by, ‘What does that melody line mean to you?’” he says. All that mattered was what was good for the song. Being present in the art you create allows for meaning to flow naturally. In the past, Martin followed his Top 40 contemporaries when producing and composing. With The Night Game, he didn’t want to be chasing after a predetermined sound. Form and function are the foundation of all artistic disciplines. To achieve what he needed, the sole focus was on the songs at hand. Everything is now coming to fruition. The Night Game finished a successful tour with John Mayer. “When I put ‘The Outfield’ out on the internet, it somehow got added to Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist. I get an email that same week, asking if I’m free in a month because John Mayer wanted us to tour,” Martin says. And now, on September 7th, The Night Game will release their self-titled debut record. The Night Game will be touring Europe in September, then opening for St. Lucia on the west coast leg of their fall tour in October. Then, of course, comes The Night Game’s headlining tour. “I’m happiest when touring. I came of age in a van and trailer; I’m excited to get back out there,” he says. Martin found meaning in music again. He has a humble understanding when it comes to writing music. Writing a melody is really finding a melody. It’s in those discoveries we find the power for redemption and an awareness of the power music holds on everyone. NKD NKDMAG.COM
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jenna johnson Words by RACHEL HILL Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Styled by AUDREY BRIANNE
LOOK 1: Dress by ABERCROMBIE & FITCH LOOK 2 Shirt + Jeans by ABERCROMBIE & FITCH LOOK 3: Shirt by GUESS Sunglasses by LOREE RODKIN
She dances with stars. And now one will be a bridesman in her upcoming wedding. 24-year-old Dancing with the Stars pro Jenna Johnson is living the life she dreamt for herself since she learned the Cha Cha. It should come as no surprise that Jenna has been dancing since the age of 3. Her first glimpses of the formalized art came from trying to creep into her older sisters’ classes at a studio in her native Utah, eager to participate as well. After many attempts of sneaking in and her natural draw to singing and dancing in front of crowds, her mother enrolled her in a combo class — half an hour of tap and a half hour of ballet. She possessed an instinctive sense of movement and quickly added more classes like jazz, lyrical and hip hop to her lineup. Around the age of 11, Jenna was introduced to ballroom dancing. Coincidentally, during this period, ballroom blew up in the dance world and became the thing to do. Not wanting to have to choose between one or the other, she decided to crosstrain and was equally as committed to her line dances as she was with ballroom. Unsurprisingly, her dedication paid off as she is a five-time U.S. National Latin Champion, U.S. National Youth 10 Dance Champion, and a three-time National Contemporary Winner. Her obvious talent and passion for the art led to her hoping to be in it for the long haul. “I knew from a very young age that this was something that I 26
wanted to pursue and have as a career potentially. I didn’t know how that was going to work out or what I was going to be doing, but I knew I had this huge dream and I wanted to go for it,” Jenna says. This dream brought her to compete on Season 10 of So You Think You Can Dance?, again, following in her older sisters’ footsteps, funnily enough. They both auditioned prior to her, but were inevitably cut during the last episode before the live performances. Jenna made it to the Top 8, paired with contemporary dancer Tucker Knox. Years later, she returned to a spin-off of the acclaimed series, So You Think You Can Dance?: The Next Generation as a mentor and choreographer, competing with Jake Monreal, again progressing to the Top 8 before elimination. Now an established franchise veteran, Jenna competed in Season 14 as an all-star, mentoring Kiki Nyemchek. The pair advanced to the Top 4. Adding another dancing-centered reality show to her résumé, she performed as a troupe member on Dancing with the Stars during seasons 18-22. The following season, Jenna was promoted to a pro dancer and was coupled with Wizards of Waverly Place and The Fosters star, Jake T. Austin. The pair were the first eliminated. After a brief break from the show, she returned to Season 25 as a troupe member once more. This past season, however, won the coveted Mirrorball Trophy alongside her
celebrity partner, American figure skater Adam Rippon, who rose to fame as the outspoken bronze medalist in the 2018 Winter Olympics. The 26th season focused on celebrity athletes and was shorter than a typical season with only four weeks of competition. Jenna and Adam’s first routine, a dazzling take on the Cha-Cha to “Sissy That Walk” by RuPaul, ending up going viral thanks in part to Jenna’s sassy and synchronized choreography. Her favorite routine of the season in terms of her and Adam’s friendship was the jazz number to “Anything You Can Do” from the Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun. The piece was highly revered by the judges, as Carrie Ann Inaba proclaimed they should take the witty and humorous routine to Broadway itself. “We just got to be complete idiots and just have so much fun and I think that kind of depicts our relationship,” Jenna explains, “I’ve never laughed so hard with anyone than with Adam Rippon. He’s just a character and brings out the best in people and definitely brought out the best in me.” The duo’s unparalleled chemistry was undeniable. They immediately clicked and formed a lasting friendship on a deeper level, which viewers could clearly see through their performances. Even in the beginning stages of the competition, we saw similar quirks and humor in Jenna and Adam. This magnetic charisma Team Just Friends shared is
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certainly grounds for working together in the future, right? Jenna thinks so. And they’ve already discussed it. “I’d love to be able to do something together. Whether it be hosting or having a show together, just continuing working together definitely in an artistic way,” she reveals. However, their wild success didn’t come without challenges. Throw in some understandably high expectations – especially on Adam’s part – mixed with demanding rehearsal schedules, as well as Adam’s commitments to the Stars on Ice Tour, and you get a hectic agenda. They were flying back and forth on planes at least three times a week with Adam refining the current week’s routines in lengthy rehearsals followed directly by three hour long Stars on Ice shows. Somehow Jenna and Adam managed to wipe the slate clean with each new dance they were assigned. “I think it put a lot of pressure on us and so trying to keep level headed every week helped. We would go back to zero and we’d say we have no expectations for ourselves this week,” Jenna admits, “Let’s just go put out a number that’s going to go viral and that people are going to talk about.” Of course, Team Just Friends reigned victorious as the champions of Season 26. As the cameras focused on the contestants seconds before the results were read, Jenna’s face stood frozen in anticipation. As their names were revealed, Jenna cried in an embrace with her partner. “It was such a surreal feeling be-
cause I grew up in Utah watching Dancing with the Stars with my mom every Monday and I just loved it. I told her ‘Well, I want to do that’,” Jenna says. And that she did. Imagine idolizing something so much as a kid, determined to live out a dream, and when it actually happened? Jenna couldn’t find the words. The surge of emotion was overwhelming. In retrospect, she uses the term ‘grateful’ to try and relate how she feels about this past season. Not only has she accomplished a goal she’s set for herself since the age of 12, but she was able to experience it all with her now lifelong friend Adam who will be serving as a bridesman in her upcoming wedding to fellow dancer Val Chmerkovskiy. With a Mirrorball Trophy under her belt, Jenna has transitioned to pre-taping a new spinoff, Dancing with the Stars: Juniors, which will premiere October 7 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The series features celebrity kids and dance pros, but with a twist: each pair is mentored by one of the DWTS regulars. Keeping the love of dance in the family, the junior dance pro Jenna will advise is her 12-year-old niece Hailey Bills. The family affair doesn’t end there. Her fiancé, Val, and former partner, Adam Rippon, make up two-thirds of the judges panel. But fret not, they aren’t playing favorites. “They are playing very professional and coy so they don’t tell me anything but I can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks of
them judging,” Jenna says. For any younger dancers out there looking to move out to L.A., Jenna has a word of advice that her father actually passed down to her: ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’ “I think we get so focused on other people and what they’ve accomplished, what they’re doing and I think everyone’s journey is different, individual and special. So I’ve tried to make that my mantra in the past few years,” she explains. Her father’s advice has helped her focus on her own experiences, which she believes has allowed her to accomplish more of her own goals. On the horizon, Jenna is planning her wedding to Val after getting engaged in June 2018. She supposes having a significant other in the same industry and working the same gig as you has its pros and cons. A definite benefit is the mutual awareness they have of each other’s work struggles. “It’s nice because we understand what each other are going through, the draining hours and the kind of mental exhaustion it causes,” she discloses. However, the couple now enforces a ‘no work talk’ rule when they are at home in an effort to unwind. While dance is Jenna’s first love, she hopes to break into acting – more specifically Broadway – which she unfortunately doesn’t have time to do at the moment with her DWTS schedule. Jenna will be returning as a pro dancer for the show’s 27th season and “wants to keep riding this amazing wave and see what happens.” NKD NKDMAG.COM
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nadia affolter Words by VANESSA SALLES Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
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Set to star in Amazon’s Jack Ryan, newcomer Nadia Affolter is proving to be one to watch. Born in the U.S., the rising actress spent her childhood internationally in Central Asia, Africa and Europe before settling in New York. “My dad works for the United Nations so we traveled quite a bit,” she reveals. “Still, I think my passion for acting came very easily. My entire family loves it and we’ve always loved putting on performances and being musical and whatnot. When we moved to New York, I joined the Children’s Theater Company and started going to auditions. Eventually, I booked a role on The Blacklist, joined my agency, and landed Jack Ryan.” Primed to serve as the actress’ breakout role, Nadia recalls the audition process to be a lengthy one. “The audition process was actually very long,” she laughs. “After my initial audition, I didn’t get contacted for months. At that point, I just thought they had decided to go with somebody else because that’s how things go in this industry. When I finally got a call back, there was a lot of back and forth to figure out things like speaking the language, etc. Time went on and then one day, I came home and my mom told me I booked the role. I was shocked!” On-screen, Nadia is Sara: a resilient, young, refugee woman. “My character is definitely a strong one,” she shares. “Sara’s character development throughout the series is remarkable and I really admire her strength. One thing that the series really touches on is the story of refugees and
that’s something that’s shown pretty early on. Sara is a refugee and has to step into the role of ‘mother’ to her younger siblings and has to leave her home and everything that she knows. It was intense and rewarding to portray her.” Though she’s definitely got the acting chops, the up-and-coming entertainer couldn’t help but be intimidated on set. “Jack Ryan is the first major project that I’m involved in,” she shares. “I think it was really helpful watching the seasoned actors just do their job – I learned so much. John [Krasinski] was incredibly focused and determined while on set but he was also very nice to all the cast and crew members; he made everybody feel good and I really admired how he was so ready to work but also made himself available to everyone around him.” Ultimately, Nadia made sure to use her experience on set as an opportunity to learn as much as possible. “I think we all learned a lot from each other,” she says. “A lot of what I learned was just me being able to learn from experience. It was nerve-racking to be there and having to act in your first big project while everyone watches you but it was just such a great environment that I felt very comfortable with everything I was doing. The directors are amazing and I definitely learned a lot from them and their feedback on my performance.” With all episodes now streaming on Amazon, Nadia assures viewers that the show will keep everyone at the edge of their seats. “You can expect a lot
of thrill,” she says. “There are so many important topics that are discussed but it’s still so full of action and excitement; I would recommend it to anyone.” When thinking of her dream role, the young star says it’d have to be something with purpose. “Something that’s very important to me is making sure the role has a message,” Nadia says. “I’d want to be involved with something that has a serious message and in-depth characters. What’s great is that I think movies and shows are now moving in that very direction and bringing awareness to bigger issues. I’d want to be apart of something that’s in touch with the serious things going on in today’s world because I think that’s what audiences connect to the most. Jack Ryan is definitely a dream role.” One of many talents, Nadia is also incredibly gifted in music, having even performed at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. When she’s not busy on set, Nadia can be found singing, songwriting and playing her guitar. “I think music has always been a big part of my life,” she shares. “I’m very serious about both music and acting. Ideally, I’d be happiest being able to do both.” As for what’s up next, Nadia’s working on finishing up high school before devoting her time to acting and music. “I’m in my senior year now,” she shares. “It’s a lot of work but when I’m done, I hope to continue going out on auditions and start to pursue music. I’m definitely excited to pursue both my passions but I think, for now, I’m going to do one thing at a time.”NKD NKDMAG.COM
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MEGHANN FAHY Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Make-Up by BRITTANY GHARRING Hair by HIKARI TEZUKA
Spend a few hours with Meghann Fahy and you’re sure to feel like her best friend. On a rainy afternoon in August, the two of us wander her neighborhood in Dumbo, Brooklyn, avoiding puddles and gushing over how good Ariana Grande’s new songs are. We duck into a coffeeshop a few blocks from her apartment, where Meghann reflects on her wild year. It was only 15 months ago that the first episode of The Bold Type premiered on Freeform to monstrous fan approval and critical praise. After ten episodes, the show was toting an impressive 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was promptly picked up for two additional seasons. Before this, Meghann had worked steadily: a long-running arc on the soap opera One Life to Live, a role in the 2016 thriller Miss Sloane and plenty of theatre. But The Bold Type was a game changer. “I feel like the show has been picking up more steam as we continue to move forward, which I think is unique,” she says, “To be on a show that is continuing to build an audience is really exciting.” The entire first season was filmed prior to a single episode airing, so all Meghann and her co-stars could do was cross their fingers and hope people liked it. “We were sort of in this bubble,” Meghann says of filming that first season, “You forget about the part where people watch it and have opinions about it.” Luckily for the cast, the general opnion across the board is that people 30
are resonating with The Bold Type, so going in to film Season 2 (which finished airing in August), there was a new level of comfort on set – both in the stories being told and the familiarity with the characters. “The show sort of has quickly become a platform for discussion,” Meghann says, “We talk about a lot of really current issues, and that’s really important, but I think we want to present the information in a way that is accessible and not one-sided. We want to facilitate conversation.” In The Bold Type, Meghann plays Sutton Brady – an administrative-turned-fashion assistant at Scarlet Magazine who is as hard-working as she is witty. Throughout the first season, she tried to balance and hide her romantic relationship with Richard Hunter (Sam Page), who sits on the board of Scarlet’s publishing company, Steinem. In the wake of the Me Too movement, new precautions are put in place at the company to ensure those in power are not exerting their status upon younger employees. While Sutton and Richard have the option of filling out the paperwork and going public with their relationship, Sutton opts to end it so people don’t think she’s getting special treatment. “I really support Sutton’s decision to put herself first and choose her career and trust that everything else will come to her in time,” Meghann says, “But it’s also really heartbreaking that she has to choose that and a loving, mutually
respectful relationship. I think women deserve to have a career and a love life, and I think that they can have both.” Luckily, the heartbreak only lasted one season as the Season 2 finale saw Sutton and Richard reuniting in Paris and putting their relationship on full display. “For Sutton, going to Paris is the one thing she’s wanted to do her entire life and she goes and has this amazing experience, and then she realizes, ‘Oh my God this is everything I’ve ever wanted but I can’t share it with the person that I love’, and that’s really what matters at the end of the day,” Meghann says. Because the writers of The Bold Type knew going into Season 2 that a third season was definite, they were able to let storylines breathe more than they would have if their fate was still up in the air. “I think it’s more exciting for the writers because they could setup things in Season 2 and know it would pay off in Season 3,” Meghann says. She believes that the double season order allowed for the Sutton and Richard relationship to take its time rekindling, as opposed to fixing itself mid-season to give them time together on-screen. Meghann happily reports that in Season 3, viewers will see Sutton and Richard “fully together”. “Jacqueline knows, the office knows, everyone knows,” she says, “They’re always sad and breaking up. Finally, we just get to see them frolicking around together.” The show’s romantic relationships are written and
portrayed wonderfully, but the main draw of The Bold Type is the way the show paints female friendship. Sutton, Kat (Aisha Dee) and Jane (Katie Stevens) are incredibly supportive of one another and never tear each other down. While they don’t always agree on everything, they make a point to hear each other out and settle their differences as adults – as opposed to acting petty. The show has its drama, but it’s not between the three leading ladies. Off screen, the bond between Meghann, Aisha and Katie was instant. They met in New York at Katie’s now-fiancé’s concert, and spent the night having fun and getting to know each other. “Aisha just finished filming Sweet/Vicious and literally came from the airport, and I went to get ready in Katie’s hotel room with her and we were like, peeing in front of each other already,” Meghann recalls, laughing, “It just felt like we had known each other for years. It was the same with Aisha. We just fell into this really natural dynamic of friendship.” Meghann’s favorite episode of the second season was Episode 9, where Sutton, Kat and Jane ventured out to rural Pennsylvania to collect Sutton’s birth certificate, and consequently crossing paths with both her mom and ex-boyfriend (played by her real-life boyfriend Billy Magnussen) in the process. “In the first season, we didn’t get much back story on Sutton, so it was pretty exciting to see where
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she came from, and why she is the way she is, and how she became who she is,” Meghann says, “Even to meet her ex-boyfriend is so informational. It’s like when you meet anyone’s family you’re like, ‘Oh, I get it’.” Meghann believes it really helped the audience understand what the stakes are for Sutton when it comes to succeeding in her career. She doesn’t have a financially stable family to fall back on, and she definitely doesn’t want to end up back in her hometown, so succeeding is the only option for Sutton. “She worked her ass off to get to New York and to get this job against a lot of odds,” Meghann says. Getting to work on-screen with Billy for the first time in years (the two met while filming a movie together) was also a treat for Meghann. “It was so fun. I love acting with him, and it was just so great to have him on set and just play,” she says. Because he was playing her ex-boyfriend, Meghann had to be a lot less kind to him than she normally is, which she admits was difficult at first. “My impulse was to be really sweet, and the director came up to me and we’re like, ‘I get it, but you’re not really excited to see this guy’,” she laughs. Because her and Billy are both actors, their schedules are ever-changing and work often leads them to be in different cities for months at a time. Meghann admits it can be hard, but also finds comfort in knowing there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to their 35
balancing work and personal lives. “You can do that thing where you say, ‘We don’t go longer than two weeks without seeing each other’, but the truth is sometimes you just can’t swing it,” she says. Right now, the two are only a 45-minute plane ride away from each other and utilize their weekends off as much as possible. “We both really, genuinely want each other to succeed, and it’s really nice to be with someone who’s just like, ‘Go kill it!’” While Meghann can’t give any spoilers for the already-filming third season, she does have a list of scenarios she would like to see happen – such as a double date between Sutton and Richard, and Jane and Pinstripe (Dan Jeannotte). And while Meghann is all for Kat and Adena (Nikohl Boosheri) rekindling after breaking up in the Season 2 finale, she anticipates it won’t be an immediate reconciliation. “It’s the formula of TV – not everyone can be happy at the same time, because then where’s the dram?” Meghann says. Once the double (or maybe eventually triple) date is done, Meghann is gunning hard for a Sutton and Richard wedding. “I’m ready for a wedding, I’m ready for the bachelorette party episode,” she laughs. Outside of her romantic plot point dreams, Meghann is crossing her fingers for a throwback episode where the audience learns how Sutton, Jane and Kat all met. She has her theories, but the writers
have not given her any clues. “Maybe Jane hooked Sutton up with a job because she worked at Scarlet already,” Meghann says with a shrug, “But I have no idea.” When she’s not in Montreal filming The Bold Type, Meghann is using her free time to travel and plan future trips – often with her boyfriend, Billy. After the first season, she went to Greece and Italy, and after Season 3 wraps she’ll be going to Hawaii for the first time. “Whenever [Billy and I] finish a big job or whatever we like to plan a trip and just go,” she says, “I think it’s an amazing way to reset after being on set every day for a million hours.” While much of Sutton’s and Meghann’s lives are parallel – they both live in Brooklyn, they both work their asses off, etc. – at the end of Season 1, Meghann and her co-stars admitted to their showrunner that they felt the girls spent too much time in the office, which doesn’t paint a full picture of what living in New York in your 20’s is like. In Season 2, the group’s personal lives were developed more – with a few hangovers thrown in for good measure. But despite everything the girls have gone through, something is still missing: “They’ve been through a lot but they have not been to brunch,” Meghann declares. It’s a simple request, but one Meghann is truly passionate about. Before we go our separate ways, we make plans to get brunch next time she’s in town. NKD
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DREAMERS Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
Los Angeles-based band DREAMERS can’t categorize their music as falling into one genre. It’s inspired by grunge rock, classic rock, jazz, and synth-pop – among others. Tracks are sparked by endless thoughts, from deep, existential questions to heartbreak. With more than one million monthly listeners on Spotify, a second album being released, and a headlining US tour, DREAMERS are not stopping any time soon. DREAMERS – comprised of Nick Wold (vocals, guitar), Marc Nelson (bass), and Jacob Wick (drums) – began a few years ago in New York. Nick, originally from Seattle, moved to the East Coast to study jazz saxophone at NYU. His interest in the instrument first began when he was 11-years-old. At the same time, he also grew up with an older sister who played grunge music. In a way, listening to those cassettes inadvertently paved the way for his future as a musician. It was during his time in college that realized that he needed to fully pursue music on his own terms. “I remember pacing around at a
certain point, just thinking, ‘Am I going to do music as a career?’” Nick recalls. “Because growing up, I always thought it would be finance or a lawyer or something. But I could do music, and I remember ending up deciding that one, I felt like music, if you do it right, if you do it well, it can be really meaningful and make a positive impact on the world. And two, I felt like I would always regret it if I didn’t try to really do the thing and follow the dream, so I just kind of cut it off there and made the full decision.” He was part of a band called Motive with drummer Chris Bagamery at the time. But once the group fizzled out, Nick continued to write music while living in a practice space. He wrote “maybe 100 or more songs in there” and that’s when he met Marc (who goes by his last name). Nelson, who frequently practiced bass growing up in Maryland, took a liking to songs that were written and joined a band with Nick and Chris. The group got some radio plays from songs like their first single, “Wolves (You Got Me)”, and went on tour with Stone Temple Pilots.
When they were offered a record deal in Los Angeles, Nick and Nelson signed on in early 2015 and moved to California. Then, they filled the vacant drummer position in the group with Jacob, a San Luis Obispo native who grew up in a musical family. “That was the final piece of the puzzle,” Nick says. In August 2016, DREAMERS released their debut album, titled This Album Does Not Exist. The LP included “Wolves”, “Sweet Disaster”, and “DRUGS”, in addition to other tracks. All the songs were the result of artists that the guys grew up listening to, from Nirvana and Weezer to Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles. “When I moved to New York, I was obsessed with The Strokes and the new punk thing that was going on there,” Nick recalls. “I kind of got back to my roots of the grunge rock in a way, because to me, the ‘60s rock and the ‘70s punk and the ‘90s grunge are all the same ethos, and it just carried forward into the future. I think that’s what we wanted to do with our band, just carry it into a new time, that same mentality.” NKDMAG.COM
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On July 13, 2018, DREAMERS released LAUNCH, the first of three EPs. Separately, the EPs tell a distinct story – but together, they form the band’s second album. Thematically, the four-track EP (comprised of “SCREWS”, “Fake It Til You Make It”. “Black & White,” and “Karma”) is about new beginnings. “SCREWS” recently cracked one million streams on Spotify. “Ever since our song ‘Sweet Disaster’ came out, we’ve kind of been touring for a solid two years and had a few days home, then we’d just go right back on the road,” Nick continues. “So it’s kind of this crazy period of life for us, with a lot of change.” There were ups and downs that inspired the songs on this album, including breakups and hardships that go along with life on the road. “It felt like the first album was this fun, summer record, and this one goes into autumn a little bit,” Nick adds. “It’s a little more dark, but also good and bad and all kinds of things. To us, it’s deeper and we felt like the songs in it have a narrative arc to them. We arranged them in a certain way.” The second part of the album, FLY, will be released on September 7. “LAUNCH is about beginnings and FLY is about just being in the thick of it,” Nick explains. Fans have already heard one track from the FLY EP, “All Washed Out”, which tells the story of a relationship that has run its course. “It’s about being in the breakup and dreaming about the past and having these memories of the past that are really good, but also kind of blurry and faded away, and everything’s changed,” Nick says. “I moved to L.A. from New York with 44
a girlfriend and it was kind of like we had the idyllic relationship in New York – and in L.A., everything started to fall apart, so that’s what that song is about.” To coincide with the release of the second album, DREAMERS will be hitting the road for a 31-date headlining tour. After getting to opening for bands like All Time Low and Atlas Genius, they’re excited to have a show that’s entirely their own. “We get to play a longer set, we get to bring out bands to open for us that we really dig, and curate the night,” Nick says. “So we’re stoked about that and we’re stoked about being able to stretch out a bit. We’re going to play to play the new songs from LAUNCH and FLY, we’re going to reach back to our first EP and play a couple of songs from that.” DREAMERS is currently focused on their headlining tour, but they plan to release “a ton more content” in the next few months. Ultimately, they just want to continue carrying out the same mission of creating and putting out music that they’re passionate about. “It feels like a mountain climb, so we just want to take it as high as we can,” Nick says. “We’re dreamers. We like to dream big. That’s our whole thing. As long as our lives are and as long as we get to do it, we want to just keep going higher and higher.” Whatever they end up doing, they’re going to tackle it with an open mind and ambitious attitude. “We say our goal is to have the first sold out arena show on the moon,” Nick adds. “But first we’re going to have to build an arena on the moon. Anything short of that, we’ll just keep pedaling toward that goal and see where we can take it.” NKD
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amanda grace benitez Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL
Growing up in Valencia, California, Amanda Grace Benitez inadvertently discovered an interest in acting through dance. Around the age of 3, she started dancing and later did so competitively. Then, Amanda randomly decided that she wanted to audition to be the host of her school’s talent show. Aside from memorizing her lines for the show, she managed to recall everyone else’s, too. At the same time, Amanda’s parents were set decorators, so she often accompanied them to work. “I thought their job was super cool and I would actually fake being sick just to go with them to sets,” she recalls. “I walked around the soundstages and I remember my mom was working on Becker at the time and I was always watching, interacting with Ted Danson and I just thought, ‘Oh my gosh, these people get to do this for a living? That is so much fun’.” At 10-years-old, Amanda enrolled in acting classes – but she also gravitated toward the drums four years later. She used to visit an Italian restaurant with her dad, and would often stop by the next door Guitar Center. “For some reason, I would just walk upstairs and I just loved drum kits, the look of it, and I would get in the back and sometimes just jam out,” she recalls. When her dad noticed that she could keep a beat, he bought Amanda a drum kit for Christmas and enrolled her in lessons. “I just realized that it was such great therapy for me and such a great relief,” Amanda says. “It felt innate to do drumming, which is interesting for actors, because most of the time, actors
want to sing or be guitar players and be right out in the front. But for me, it just feels like home.” Around 16-years-old, Amanda focused her attention on building her acting career. “There’s nothing else that I connect with or to, it’s what I was meant to do,” she says. After getting roles on The Bold and the Beautiful, All Cheerleaders Die, and School of Rock, Amanda landed a part in the upcoming horror film The Ranger. In the movie – scheduled for release on September 7 – Amanda stars as Amber. She’s one of several punk teenagers that finds herself in trouble with the law and coming face-to-face with a menacing park ranger (played by Jeremy Holm). “It’s about these punk kids that go to a warehouse party,” Amanda explains. “There’s a new drug on the streets called Echo, which is a hallucinogenic.” At the party, “things get out of control, the cops come, and then one of the punk kids decides to do something that ends up making us having to flee to the forest,” where they are introduced to the ranger. For Amanda, her character was reminiscent of her own demeanor when she was a teen. “I fell in love with the role of Amber, because I was a punk kid growing up,” Amanda explains. “I listened to Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, Comeback Kid, so I was automatically drawn to it because I already felt like I was her – except Amber was probably way cooler than I was in high school.” In addition to music taste, Amanda related Amber’s need to try and fit in with others.
“She’s not very close with her own parents, she doesn’t really technically have a home, so wherever she travels, she just tries to navigate her way through people and just try to find people that she considers family,” Amanda says. “She hops trains and just travels. And she basically just hops from style to style, trend to trend. Punk is something that she decided to take on just for fun, just for her to be able to meet new people and have friends.” “When I was younger, I think I was the same way,” Amanda adds. “I think I was trying to try out different trends and styles, figuring out who the heck I was.” Once people get a chance to watch The Ranger, Amanda hopes that they are delighted by the ‘80s punk nostalgia and take away a clearer understanding of the punk community. “I feel like some people think that punks are just anarchy and ‘everything sucks’, and though we do have one character in particular that is like that, there’s so many other things, like what punk is all about,” she says. “I think you’ll be introduced to the culture, and I don’t think it really has been thoroughly introduced yet.” Aside from The Ranger, Amanda recently filmed a movie called The F* It List with Jerry O’Connell and Peter Facinelli. She tries to set other objectives for herself, whether they’re related to acting, music, or another venture. “I always set new goals for myself,” Amanda says. “I’m always pushing myself. I don’t know if this is a negative or a positive thing, but I’ll never quite be where I want to be.” NKD NKDMAG.COM
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