NKD Mag - Issue #67 (January 2017)

JAN. double threats: 04 SKYLER DAY

on parenthood and sweet/vicious

30 HAYLEY ORRANTIA balancing both old and new passions

46 BRIDGIT MENDLER

20 KATIE LECLERC

saying goodbye to switched at birth

26 KEVIN QUINN

on bunk’d and his post-disney plans

36 SOPHIE REYNOLDS

dancers: 10 KALANI HILLIKER on the off-camera moments

56 KENDALL VERTES on what comes next

representing a gender of gamers

musicians:

40 BURKLEY DUFFIELD

24 MIDLAND

actors:

freeform’s newest leading man

keeping traditional country alive

08 DAN AMBOYER

42 NIKI KOSS

60 TONIGHT ALIVE

from stage to screen and back

on big dreams and famous in love

staying true to who they want to be

14 BRENDA SONG

66 JACK GRIFFO

growing up and into adult roles

putting in the hard work

finding her new voice in music

publisher: CATHERINE POWELL

editors: CATHERINE POWELL

writers: SAMANTHA BAMBINO DIANA FIGUEROA ELIZABETH FORREST AUTUMN HALLE IAN HAYS DUSTIN HEVERON MEGAN MARUSAK CATHERINE POWELL VANESSA SALLES HANNAH SCHWARTZ OLIVIA SINGH AMBER SPILLMAN RILEY STENEHJEM LIZ ZAVOYSKIY

photography: CATHERINE POWELL

design: CATHERINE POWELL

skyler day Words by DUSTIN HEVERON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

There are countless paths to achieve success in the entertainment industry — a music business professor of mine once said, “Ask a thousand people how they ‘made it’ in the business and you will get a thousand different answers” — but the common themes in those journeys usually include one of the following: great ambition, tremendous talent, or a willingness to do whatever it takes combined with an unwillingness to quit. When I listened to Skyler Day speak about her passions and her career, it was instantly obvious that she had all three — making her successes as an actress, musician and writer less of a serendipity and more of an inevitability (though not any less impressive).

Fans of the Jason Katims megahit Parenthood will recognize Skyler as the lovable but polarizing Amy Ellis, MTV devotees 04

know her as Mackenzie from the dark but important comedy Sweet/ Vicious, Firefly fans have seen her alongside legends Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk in their cult hit Con Man. Or maybe you recognize the dulcet tones produced by her musical works, or maybe you know her from one-off appearances on everything from Pretty Little Liars to CSI to Workaholics and seemingly everything in between.

Regardless of where you know her from, one of Skyler’s gifts is just that — that you feel like you know her (or the character she’s playing) almost immediately, and it’s that sort of connection that makes it impossible to ignore Skyler Day or the small empire of a career she’s been building for herself. But those are the results you get when you’ve been hustling as a professional entertainer since the first grade.

“I started doing commercials

and print at 6 and voiceover,” Skyler recalls, “I don’t even remember how I got into it, I was always that kid that anything that could be my stage… I was ridiculous. I’ve calmed down a bit.”

You know you’ve got ambition aplenty when you can mark multiple eras in your career before you’ve even hit your teens. “At 10 I decided it was time to move up in my career and that I needed to get a theatrical agent,” Skyler recounts jovially, “My parents were down for it, but we’re a gymnastics family, so they were like ‘Wait why do you want to do that?’ I was sort of born and bred to be a gymnast and so [my parents] were very confused by this want to be in the entertainment industry, so I told them that if I booked the lead in a film by the time I turned 11 then we would have to move to California in order for me to pursue my act-

NKDMAG.COM

05

06

ing career.” Skyler seems to recall this part of her childhood with the sort of incredulousness that other people recall how they dressed in the 90’s — a fondness mixed with a very clear understanding of how over-the-top it might seem out of context. “I ended up doing it at the very end,” Skyler confesses, “I was so close to missing the deadline, and I booked in the lead in a little indie film that was such a great experience. So that’s how I ended up moving out here.”

“I actually started homeschooling when I was in the third grade,” Skyler recalls, “I’m a really focused individual, so I was like I need to focus on my acting and music, and school just takes too long, so I started homeschooling.” As much a student of life as an actual student, Skyler transitioned back to a conventional high school for her freshman year… but still managed to do conventional high school in a very unconventional way. “I really actually enjoy school,” Skyler confesses, “I had a fear of being stupid if I had just tested out, so I just decided that as soon as I went to high school I was going to double my work actually graduate at 16.”

Spoiler alert: she did just that.

“When I turned 18, that’s when I really started working consistently,” Skyler notes, “And then Parenthood is what really set things off.

I think I was 20 when I got that.”

For as well versed as Skyler was in her art, she hadn’t spent much time with the project that would go on to be a defining moment in her career. “I had seen bits and pieces of [Parenthood],” Skyler says, “So once I booked it I was like, ‘Shoot I need to watch this show’ and I went back and I binged watched everything and I fell in love with it, to the point where when I was working on it I would not read other parts, because I needed it to be a surprise. Dax Shepard [who played Crosby Braverman on the show] did the same thing and I was like, ‘I understand. I get you’.”

“When I got Parenthood, the first few episodes we walk on set

and everything was just flowing. It was insane but it was so much fun, and I feel like that’s part of the reason the show was so good, because it felt so real,” Skyler reminisces.

Skyler still counts Parenthood as one of her favorite projects as an actress, in large part due to that “real” family feel and the degree to which the actors were allowed to improvise in character on set.

“I loved that [freedom] about [Parenthood] and I haven’t had an experience like that since,” Skyler declares, “It was such a blast. It started out as a three-episode thing and then turned into three years, which was a dream. I feel very lucky that I got to be around that and learn from [my cast-mates’] examples.”

From sweet-but-wounded Amy Ellis to her latest character – Mackenzie on Sweet/Vicious, Skyler is excited about building on some of the heavier themes from Parenthood and carrying those experiences as an actress to her character in MTV’s new hit dramedy. Skyler lays out the logline for the show: “Two girls in college, Jules and Ophelia, moonlight as vigilantes and they seek to bring justice for sexual assault victims. Mackenzie is Jules’ sorority sister; she’s very neurotic but I love her and she’s crazy, she makes it very hard for Jules to live this secret double life.

So it gets pretty funny throughout the show to see her just have such a hard time with Jules’ secret life that [Mackenzie] doesn’t know about.”

Skyler understands the importance of doing a show about such a weighty topic in an approachable way, without making light of the subject matter. “The way that [creator Jennifer Kaytin Robinson] built these characters, it’s about sexual assault, but it’s not the main thing,” Skyler says, “It’s about these friendships and how this one girl’s life is forever changed. And I love that it’s not this one thing, it’s not so heavy-handed. It’s really about her relationships and how the whole world changes to [Jules]

once this happens. Because these people who’re survivors of sexual assault are survivors, and they’re living their lives.”

The conversation about recovery itself is something very often overlooked or missing entirely in the aftermath coverage of sexual assault cases, which adds significance to a project like Sweet/ Vicious. “It’s so important for the healing process,” Skyler observes, “And you can’t do that on your own necessarily. I think Sweet/Vicious does a great job of touching on all the aspects. Of feeling alone. And then finally reaching out to your closest people for the support that you need.”

“I just hope [Sweet/Vicious] starts the conversation,” Skyler implores, “Because it’s been this thing that people don’t want to talk about, and it’s a hard thing to talk about, but I think it would be easier to move on and heal if it’s this thing they can openly discuss without feeling ashamed. And also from the guy’s perspective, it’s so important to educate what ‘no’ means. I’m really proud of MTV for being a part of it, I’m so happy to be a part of it.”

And just like what the “M” in MTV used to stand for, Skyler has been devoting plenty of energy into her music, alongside the rest of her endeavors. “I’ve been in the studio and writing a lot,” Skyler shares, “I want to play out more and I want to go and do a tour and I want to release more music, but I’ve been so protective of my music because it is mine so it’s scary to release things. But I’ve gotten more confident in my music in the past few years, so I feel like I’m ready to go full force into it, which has been great, to feel confident in my music and what I’m doing.” Step one will be a four-week residency at the famed Hotel Café in Los Angeles starting January 7th.

“My musical dream is to start doing more film and TV music, and more things like that,” Skyler shares, “Because songwriting is my jam.” Jam on Skyler Day, jam on. NKD NKDMAG.COM

07

dan amboyer Words by MEGAN MARUSAK Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

08

Dan Amboyer might have never achieved his dream of becoming a clown, but taking on television screens and theatre stages seems to be a pretty good trade off.

“I loved going to circuses before I knew all the animal rights kind of things attached to it, but I loved circuses and I wanted to be a clown growing up,” Dan says. He even went as far as to apply to clown college as a child.

After being rejected from clown college for being a few years too young, Dan attended boarding school for acting, and eventually doubled majored in acting and musical theatre in college. These experiences led him to New York City, where he finally began his career as a fulltime actor.

He started out in theatre and was working towards pursuing that, but while touring with plays and traveling for theatre, he began to get more and more television jobs, and eventually, opportunity came forward in the form of a television movie.

The movie was William and Catherine: A Royal Romance. Dan played Prince William, and with the film being released right around the time of the royal engagement, the movie received quite a bit of attention. This was the role that Dan says really made him feel like a working actor for the first time, although having been a theatre actor most of his life, he did feel a little bit out of place. “All of a sudden I was the lead of this film and had the responsibly of that without a lot of experience on sets,” he explains.

“It’s great that people have such confidence in you to do it but you’re really going on faith and trusting people around you.” Shifting over to film was a bit weird, but he felt that being in theatre prepared him for the change.

“There’s a real discipline in theatre.

When you’re on stage, there’s clearly no editing and there’s no second takes.

You have to be very disciplined,” Dan says. This discipline, along with the long hours and six-day work weeks that went into theatre, gave Dan the skills he needed to succeed in film and television. While he might not have known all the ins and outs of being on a set, his work ethic made up for it and

helped him make a name for himself in the film industry.

Dan was late to his audition for the New York City-based TV series Younger, which was a role he fell in love with from the start. Darren Star, the creator of the show, was someone that Dan looked up to, and when he first received the email about the part, he knew he wanted it. “When I first got the email, the first thing I saw was Darren Star, so honestly that was the first thing,” he says. This, coupled with the fact that the show takes place in New York City, made it the dream role for Dan. “I grew up wanting to live in New York, so that was like a peek into the world,” he says. So when he arrived to his audition late and soaked in rain water, Dan called it a horror story.

“I was doing a play at the time and I came and it was pouring rain and I was late coming from a dress rehearsal from the play and [Darren Star] was honestly waiting for me,” he admits.

But despite this, Dan got the role.

The TV Land show is based around a 40-year-old single mother, Liza (Sutton Foster), who is trying to get back into the working world. Things don’t go her way until she starts pretending to be a 26-year-old, so with this new found talent, she lands the role of an assistant, and with the help of her coworker, Kelsey (Hilary Duff), she begins to create her dream career.

Dan plays Thad, Kelsey’s fiance.

He was drawn to the role because the character is so different than him, and he explains that those are his favorite kind of roles to play. “He’s very aggressive, very strongly opinionated, I mean, people say douchey, that kind of stuff. So I wanted to explore that in a way that we still have something that is likable and fun about him,” he says.

Things were going well until the end of Season 2, when he received a strange e-mail from Darren asking if they could grab dinner. Dan was scheduled to fly out for a week, so Darren said that when he got back, they’d talk. Needless to say, Dan was a bit nervous. “I thought, ‘Are they unhappy with what I’m doing?’ You just go through all these actor insecurities,” he says.

When he finally met up with

Darren, one of those insecurities was confirmed. His character was being killed off. But there was a silver lining. “[Darren] was like, ‘We love you so much and we don’t want to lose you, so we’re finding a way to keep you on the show.’ So that’s what they did,” Dan says. They played with a few different scenarios, but in the end they decided to have him come back as his twin brother, Chad.

Playing this character was a whole new challenge for Dan. The audience already knew him as one character, so he had to convince him that he was a completely different person. “It just goes back to being so thankful for having the theatre experience of playing roles that stretch me in so many different directions,” he says.

Him and Darren worked together to find a way to make the character feel different without making it seem unnatural. While while this sort of thing is pretty unheard of in film and television, Dan took this opportunity as a blessing. “What the chance do you have to be on a TV show playing two different people?” And although Dan has only played the part of Thad’s twin for one season so far, the audience has learned a lot of little pieces about his life. While Chad’s last appearance was somewhat negative, there is still an open door for him to pop up during the upcoming fourth season.

In addition to his recent work on Younger, Dan wrapped on an off-Broadway production of SQUASH at the end of November, where he played a professor at a university in Boston. He’d done a show by the same playwright back in middle school, so he says he “grew up with this respect for this playwright”. The show was, “a little bit of a play of sexual awakening and discovery and just questioning,” as Dan explains, and was his first time back on stage in quite a while. “It’s been a great experience to get back on stage because it’s been a little bit of time since I’ve been able to do that,” he says.

Over the next year, Dan is working with Nico Tortorella, his Younger co-star, on a play the two hope will eventually become a full production.

“After that, TBD,” Dan says. NKD NKDMAG.COM

09

kalani hilliker Words by ELIZABETH FORREST Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Styling by ALANNAH JONES

Kalani Hilliker, the 16-year-old star of Lifetime’s hit show Dance Moms, breaks long-held stereotypes. In a world eager to prove that teenage girls are naturally catty and jealous, she has a genuine love for her teammates and speaks kindly of them. “We’re all a team, so we have to be supportive of whatever someone else is doing. Everybody has their different times to shine, so instead of being jealous and upset about it, you should just support them,” she says. “If you’re really, truly their friend, then you should be happy for them.” Her statement is especially impressive because Kalani often competes against her teammates during dance competitions.

Dance Moms is a reality television show that follows the events of the Abby Lee Dance Company. The show highlights the talented young dancers, their moms and the dancer’s well-known instructor Abby Lee Miller. In addition to the stunning performances, the show is known for intense drama: one component of that being the infamous pyramid.

In past seasons, the pyramid rated the dancers from the top down by their performance quality the week before. When asked whether the public ranking served as motivation or a put-down, Kalani remains optimistic. “Whenever someone puts you down you want to prove them wrong,” she reasons. “In the end there’s just that little thing inside of you that’s like ‘I have to show her,’ so the pyramid does motivate us to do better.”

The studio’s environment is famously fast paced and the stakes are so high that the dancers can learn up to four routines per week. Because of the already demanding schedule, the show’s cameras sometimes add to the stress of producing 10

a high quality performance. “Sometimes we forget that we’re on a reality TV show and we have to talk,” Kalani says. Producers ensure that the girls or Abby explain to the cameras what the dances are about and what’s going on throughout the week, which takes away from their time learning in the studio. Because of the need to tape, they truly only end up with two or three days to learn the dances and perfect their performance.

Despite the hectic schedule, the show has been a positive and life changing experience for Kalani. She’s grateful for the opportunity and believes the absolute best part of the show was meeting and becoming friends with her teammates.

“The girls are like my best friends.

They’re like my sisters,” she insists. “I wouldn’t have known any of these girls without being on this team and show.”

Life is a bit different for Kalani compared to other girls because of her filming schedule and the fact that she’s homeschooled, so she’s glad that she was able to find such great friends through the studio. They can dance together, but they can also get frozen yogurt on their time off and talk about “real teenager girl stuff ” too. Whenever they’re not dancing, shopping together is the activity of choice.

In addition to becoming closer to her teammates, Kalani also thinks the show has brought her and her mom, Kira, closer together. Most of Kalani’s family still live in Arizona, but Kalani and Kira moved out to Los Angeles together for the show. It’s just the two of them living together, so they often bond over the fact that they miss home. “She’s very supportive of me and very devoted, so I have to thank her a lot. She does a lot for

me,” Kalani recognizes. They’ve always been close, but now that they spend time together non-stop, their bond is stronger than ever.

The show has an impressive reach and has led to Kalani having a huge social media following from all across the world. She thinks it’s cool, but it also puts pressure on her because she’s so young. “It feels like I always have eyes on me no matter where I am or what I’m doing,” she admits. “You don’t want to do anything wrong. You want to be perfect all the time, but I’m 16 and I still have a lot of growing up to do, so I can’t be.” She sees the following as more of an opportunity to spread positivity, though.

She thinks it’s great to know that so many little girls or boys watch the show and like what she does. “I have two little brothers that look up to me. I put a lot of effort into what I’m doing, so it’s nice to get positive feedback,” she says. Social media positives completely outweigh the negatives.

Each different social media platform brings something special to the bond between Kalani and her followers. Twitter is great because she gets to interact directly with them and can see their comments and messages more than on other platforms. She loves Instagram because she can see incredible pictures and edits if she follows fans. Instagram also comes with a downside, though: spoiler accounts. “People come to the competitions and video the dances even though they say no video photography. But, I mean, who listens to rules, right?” she laughs.

She doesn’t seem to mind too much.

Their dances often make it onto social media before the show airs, but it doesn’t feel completely spoiled since they haven’t

NKDMAG.COM

11

12

seen the full dance in high quality, yet.

Alongside the show, Kalani has been busy with a multitude of other projects, including a world tour. During her events, she teaches classes for dancers of all levels, does a Q&A session to answer questions about the show, takes pictures, signs autographs and sells merchandise to her fans. “It’s a lot of fun, inspiring and just a good time,” she says. The tour took her throughout the states, but she was also able to travel to the United Kingdom, which was her favorite place to explore. “It was so cool because they all have accents,” she says. It’s difficult for her to comprehend that people know of her all the way in a different country, but she also thinks it’s special that people from far away actually watch the show and look up to her enough to want to come to her events.

Another exciting project that has kept her busy is her dancewear line. The Kalani Collection is actually a long time dream of hers come true because she began to design clothes at a young age.

As a child, she would print out pictures of girls and draw all different types of clothes on them, including dance outfits.

She’s excited that it’s become a reality for her and she genuinely loves her designs so much that she wears them all the time.

“If you watch the show, I wear lots of my tops on it,” she hints.

Because Kalani is so busy and has so much going on, it’s difficult for her to have the time to explore new hobbies.

But in addition to the show, her dancing and her clothing line, she’s found the time to get into acting. She has her own YouTube channel that she promised she’ll start posting on again soon, but she’s also been auditioning for roles and even filmed a TV movie this summer.

She thinks her dance background has given her a really great baseline to get into acting more seriously. “I feel like as a dancer, you learn how to do a lot of things without even realizing it,” she explains. “With dancing you have to portray a character and you have to act to portray a character, so I feel like I learned a lot from it.” It’s something she likes, finds fun and is hoping to get into more seriously. Above all, though, she’s a dancer, so she’s committed to that and waiting to see what happens when it comes to her acting career. NKD NKDMAG.COM

13

14

brenda song Words by ELIZABETH FORREST Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

As an actress that has been working tirelessly since childhood, Brenda Song has no shortage of positive fan experiences. Every time someone approaches her to compliment her on her work is flattering, but amongst all of the hugs and conversations, one particular meeting with a fan at a children’s hospital stands out from all others. “This little patient said she loved to watch my show because it took her out of her world and made her laugh,” Brenda remembers. “To me, that solidified why I did what I did. If I could help this person who’s going through so much and make her life better for even five seconds, it makes me happy.”

That memory was a huge reason Brenda was initially so attracted to the CBS hospital drama Pure Genius.

On it, she stars as Angie Cheng, one of the hospital’s main tech masterminds. The show’s concept is unique because a Silicon Valley billionaire funds Bunker Hill, the cutting edge

and technologically based hospital that serves as the show’s main setting. Because of the billionaire’s philanthropic vision, patients with difficult to treat conditions are given the healthcare they need to survive for no charge. It’s truly a utopian concept. “I wish that a place like this really existed,” Brenda says. “I hope we get there someday. To have a place where we can skip all that bureaucracy and that red tape and just get the best care possible would be incredible.”

Although the advanced technology depicted on the show sounds too good to be true, Brenda promises everything is actually based on real life medical research or practice, from cancer-sniffing dogs to machines that can measure and read brain waves.

Most of the show’s practices are still in the early development stages, but medical professionals hope to soon make the significant strides depicted in the show in real life digital health.

“We actually have two doctor writers

in our staff that still work at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA on the weekends,” Brenda says.

“What we do isn’t science fiction.”

What truly sets Pure Genius apart from other hospital shows, other than the advanced technology and unique premise, is that the show’s creator Jason Katims doesn’t come from a procedural background. Past projects include Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, so he specializes in human emotion rather than science and medical jargon. “I think that’s what makes our show different. We’re very focused on just how people live and focusing in on their stories,” Brenda says.

Personal stories are central to the show, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Jason talks to the cast to get their backstory in relation to the medical world ahead of shooting in order to get to know them. So touched by what he heard, he actually asked to use some of the cast’s personal medical stories for their own NKDMAG.COM

15

characters’ backstories. Brenda says, “it made it more real.”

Her mom is a three-time breast cancer survivor and she sadly lost her grandfather to nasopharyngeal cancer last year. Because Brenda had such close family members affected by medical issues, she found that linking real life to the show helped her connect to the script and the stories. The rest of the cast felt the same way; Brenda insists that many of the tears featured throughout the episodes are completely real. “We all know what it’s like in hospital situations. I think that’s why everyone was so emotional when we shot some of the scenes, but it was a really beautiful thing,” she says.

In addition to the true emotion, the cast’s chemistry adds a layer of authenticity to the show. “I’ve been a part of really incredible sets, but this one specifically is wonderful because we all just really get along,” Brenda says. The cast enjoys each other’s company so much that they actually meet at someone’s house every week just to watch the new episode together. Even though they haven’t all known each other for longer than they’ve been filming, the friendships were quick, easy and real. “I think that’s also why I’m so attached to the show,” Brenda says. “I’m attached to the people.”

She isn’t only attached to her other cast members, though. Brenda is enthusiastic about her role as Bunker Hill’s tech whiz, Angie. She thinks of her as an oxymoron and loves how versatile it makes the part. “Angie’s obviously extremely smart because she’s crazy in the tech world, but she’s also like a 14-year-old girl,” Brenda explains. “She’s super nosy and she has a super dry sense of humor, which I love because I feel like that’s a little part of me that I bring to her.”

16

That’s nothing new to Brenda when it comes to acting, though. Her favorite part of playing a character is that she realizes different things about herself that she didn’t know before taking the role. “People always ask me what my dream character is, and I always say I don’t know because it totally takes the fun out of my job!” she laughs. “I love reading something and asking how I can make that me in some way, shape or form.”

Although Brenda finds ways to connect and relate to her characters, an actress also has to find ways to believably portray someone on the complete opposite end of the spectrum of self. With Pure Genius, the biggest difference between the two is that Brenda doesn’t think she’s anywhere near as tech savvy as Angie. In her opinion, one of the most challenging aspects of the role is pretending to be a tech genius. Each week, someone has to take her stepby-step to explain the type of innovations she’s working with on camera and teach her the proper medical terminology. “It’s been really fun to pretend like I know what I’m talking about, though,” Brenda says.

She actually blames her age for her difficulty with keeping up with budding technology. “I didn’t grow up with social media or the Internet, so I’m still struggling,” she says. Despite her struggle, she still manages to keep an active social media presence and even regularly assists with the show’s promotion on her pages.

She often live tweets as an episode first airs and even posts behind the scenes content to her Instagram and Snapchat stories. She appreciates the direct connection to her fans through social media, but it can also come with its own set of difficulties. “It’s actually kind of scary to see people’s instantaneous reactions because you

NKDMAG.COM

17

don’t know what they’re going to think,” she says.

With more than 1.2 million followers on her Instagram alone, Brenda has a sizable following that she still has difficulty comprehending. “It’s weird because I’m like… this many people want to follow my pictures of my dogs?” she asks. Though she finds it hard to wrap her head around, she also finds the following to be flattering and sweet. She fills her Instagram with pictures of many different aspects of her life: photos with her cast and friends, sneak peaks of photo shoots for upcoming editorials and, of course, her dogs.

“You can’t please everyone, so love me or hate me, that’s just who I am,” Brenda shrugs. “I love my dogs and I love food.”

But when it comes to looking forward to 2017, future career plans aren’t set in stone. Brenda had a busy 2016 packed with nonstop filming and show promotion, so she’s looking forward to planning a vacation for herself. “I haven’t had much time off yet,” she confesses, but that makes her feel more appreciative than anything else. She’s proud of the work that she’s done and grateful for the professional opportunities she’s been given, both this year and throughout her career.

From her early days as the ditzy London Tipton on Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody to her current role as super genius Angie Cheng, it’s clear that Brenda has proven her talent and versatility as an actress.

She’s thankful to have been able to mature from the 17-year-old Disney Channel star to a now 28-year-old CBS actress. She admits that the network is “very adult” and intimidating because people like her dad are the ones that watch every week.

Still, she hasn’t forgotten where she came from and those who have supported her as the years have gone by.

When asked about the fans from her younger days, she smiles and says, “I hope they’re still following me.” She hopes her fans grown up with her as the years have passed and they watch and enjoy Pure Genius just as much as she does. NKD 18

NKDMAG.COM

19

20

katie leclerc Words by HANNAH SCHWARTZ Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Hair by HARPER Make-Up by BLONDIE

Moving is every kid’s nightmare.

Actress Katie Leclerc moved six times before she was 6-years-old, but she would not be where she is today if she hadn’t had that experience. “I think that it made me more willing to make friends, chattier, all of those kinds of things. Probably hard for my parents, but good for me,” she remembers.

Although she was born in San Antonio, Texas, Katie’s family relocated to Colorado for nine years.

Things were going great until Katie started getting bullied really badly in seventh grade. There were no resources at school to help her with the bullying, so her family picked up again and moved to California.

Instead of letting the bullying paralyze her, she has used the experience to motivate her to move forward not only in her life, but also in her career. “This bullying thing made me so much stronger, and without the bullies, I would not have made it to California, and I don’t think that I would have become an actress,” she says.

After moving to San Diego, the family realized that all of the acting jobs were in Los Angeles. Katie’s parents drove her to Los Angeles three to four times a week for auditions. Five hours roundtrip in a car made Katie and her mom the best of friends.

Katie and her family found a commercial agency pretty quickly, but they had trouble finding a theatrical agency. Katie’s parents decided that it would be easier to create a theater agency than find one. “I’m successful because my parents are amazing,” she claims.

Her talents shone on throughout the auditioning process. Katie booked a commercial during her second audition. She has an amazing work ethic, which has helped Katie succeed in the business. At 15-yearsold, Katie decided she was going to book one job a month, whether it was paid or not.

Similar to other actors, Katie went through some tough times in between roles, and she gave up.

She was living on a steady diet of

Ramen and could not afford to pay her bills. Katie decided to pick up and move back to her hometown in Texas. During her time in Texas, she worked at her family-owned Chinese restaurant.

After working for six months at the restaurant, she decided to give Los Angeles another try. Her boyfriend became her agent when she moved back to Los Angeles, and one year later, she got the role of a lifetime. Even though nobody thought that an inexperienced actress, such as Katie, was ready for such a big role, she landed the part of Daphne Vasquez in ABC Family’s Switched at Birth (ABC Family was subsequently renamed Freeform). “It was sort of right place, right time. If you look at my resume, I wasn’t really meant to play Daphne, based on my credits, but I was able to do it,” she remembers.

Katie credits her hearing loss with helping her to get the part. “To play [someone with] a hearing loss, you actually need to have a hearing loss,” Katie says. In Switched at Birth, her NKDMAG.COM

21

22

character, Daphne, lost her hearing at the age of 3-years-old. Katie suffers from Ménière’s disease, which is an inner ear disorder that causes hearing loss and vertigo. Katie learned American Sign Language to help her communicate. She checked all of the boxes to play Daphne Vasquez.

“I specifically remember the audition for Switched,” Katie says.

She was a huge High School Musical fan. “I have this tradition of blasting a song in my car before I go into the audition, and it was ‘I Want It All’, and I freaking did want it all,” she remembers. Katie did an amazing job during her audition and she was the second person cast for Switched at Birth. Katie had a surprise when she went in for the screen test and saw High School Musical’s Lucas Grabeel trying out for a part in the show. She wanted him to get the part so she could work with someone who was in High School Musical, and she was ecstatic when he was chosen for the role.

Everyone cast in Switched at Birth became fast friends. Katie remembers one time when she had a ten-hour fitting with Vanessa Marano, who plays Bay Kennish. They were wrapped in plastic because the wardrobe supervisor was nervous about them eating Chinese food. “I just remember looking at her and that was the first time that we really connected,” she says.

Katie and Vanessa clicked very early on. “Once you tell the two of us just to be ourselves and look each other in the eye, it is not possible for us to be serious,” Katie explains.

Once it is time to go on set, though, they are nothing but professional.

Katie loves that Switched at Birth does not shy away from controversial topics. “I have a lot of respect for the creators to be able to take the risk to go there,” says Katie. She is also grateful that she gets to play one of the first deaf main characters on television ever. “My favorite thing about Daphne is that she is just a high school girl. The deafness is secondary to everything else and I think fans responded to that,” Katie

says. Katie never had to justify her character being deaf. Her fans responded very well to a deaf character and they were grateful to have a voice for the deaf community.

After a successful five-season run, Switched at Birth was cancelled. The actors found out that the show was cancelled with a month left of filming, which Katie says was both good and bad. “You got a chance to really soak it in, because you knew that was it, and it was really sad,” Katie remembers. Everybody on set was comforting Katie after they heard the news because she had never had anything cancelled before. “My mom said, ‘now you’re an actress. Before that, you were on a TV show, but now, you’ve got the highs and the lows and the ups and the downs’,” Katie remembers.

Katie is very excited for her fans to see the final season. “It is the perfect bow on a show, that if I were a fan, that’s the finale I would want to see,” she promises.

The last few days on set were rough for everyone, including the cast and crew. She compared the last day of filming to the last day of high school. “You know you’re going to go on, and everybody is going to do great, amazing things, but you know you are not going to see them all of the time,” Katie says.

Even though Switched at Birth is done filming, Katie Leclerc is not going anywhere. She is auditioning all of the time and she might do a play. “I like the idea of branching out and doing something else,” she says. She got an offer to act in a play, but she is not sure if she is going to take it yet.

In the future, Katie wants to produce, as well as to act. In the long term, Katie also would like to direct.

She wants to continue working with her friends, including Vanessa. “This is a lifelong friendship that will never go anywhere,” Katie reminisces. “I love this town because it is a small town and I want the kind of career that I can work with my friends again and again. If you’re a producer you can kind of control that a little better.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

23

midland Words by RILEY STENEHJEM Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

All three members of the country band Midland started playing music through their families. Lead singer Mark Wystrach grew up on his family’s cattle town in a tiny town on the Arizona-Mexico border. A third generation farmer, he spent his childhood on the farm listening to his parents’ favorites, from ‘50s doo-wop to Frank Sinatra to Elton John. Most important, though, was the honky tonk influence. “That was what my mom taught me when we were riding to school or feeding cattle in the truck, I was singing along to ‘Always on My Mind,’ ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,’ Don Williams, Gary Stewart, George Strait,” Mark says. “That was what was playing live when I was a little kid watching my daddy get in bar fights, the band would be playing, like, ‘Drivin’ My Life Away’ by Eddie Rabbitt.”

He spent a lot of his childhood in a family owned bar, and from the age of 5, his older sisters were pulling him up on the stage to sing along with the honky tonk bands, and as he worked in the bar growing up, he became inspired by the musicians that would come and go “I just remember looking at all of these musicians, and I just knew that these were my people – that I wanted to be these guys,” he says. Though he grew up singing, he didn’t start getting serious about music until 19 or 20, when he bought his first guitar. “The first time I sang for somebody with a guitar it was the scariest, most invigorating sensation,” he remarks.

As a child, bassist Cameron Duddy wanted to follow in his cousin Chase’s musical footsteps. “I really wanted to participate,” he says. “My dad gave me one of his first guitars, an electric guitar, when I was in the fifth grade, going into sixth grade. I taught myself by ear, mostly, and wrote songs in a spiral bound notebook in sixth grade.”

At age 13, Cameron was already playing shows and recording music.

“I can’t believe how cool my parents were to drop us off at some guy’s house because he had a recording studio in his basement,” he says with a laugh. “My parents fostered it for me from the beginning.”

Like Mark, guitarist Jess Carson

grew up on a farm. “We didn’t have TV,” he says. “My family played music.” In his hometown in Oregon, country music is the genre of music, so to spite this, Jess started off by playing rock. “I guess intentionally went into rock when I became of age. It was stuff like Nirvana,” he says. Later, though, he found his way toward playing country music, and eventually met Cameron and Mark in Los Angeles.

Cameron and Jess met first, through a cousin of Cameron’s. “Cameron’s cousin had said, he goes, ‘this is my cousin, he just got out of rehab,’” Jess recalls, laughing. “It’s not true, but I didn’t say anything to Cameron, so for a long time, that was ingrained in my first impression of Cameron, that he was just fresh out of rehab.” The two started playing together at a club called Moscow, where Mark would occasionally come to see their shows.

The three became friends and decided to start making music as more of a fun project. “When we went to go to the studio, it was just an experiment.

It was just the three of us being like, ‘hey, we’re three friends, let’s go fuck around with this and see what happens’,” Jess says. “It was so good and we liked it so much, that’s when we were like, oh, okay, we’re a band.”

“We started trading songs, writing songs together, and recording demos probably a year before we even played our first show,” Cameron says. “We were really trying to figure out what particular brand of country rock and roll we wanted to play.” They started off in a very traditional vein, and used that to influence the sound they have now. “That’s always had a big part in our music,” explains Cameron. “It’s always about the stories.” Once the trio had created a repertoire of original material, they crafted their live show, and started playing at country bars in their home base of Dripping Springs, Texas, and the surrounding area. “We were really lucky to have some great early reception from the local honky tonks, and that’s how our sound has evolved — playing live and seeing what works,” Jess says. “There’s nothing like playing live, that’s the crux for this band.” Their live show is always

changing and improving, and they agree that as far as inspiration goes, Bruce Springsteen sets the bar for how they hope to entertain.

With country music moving in a poppier direction, one might think that Midland would worry about not fitting in with the Nashville scene.

Conforming to the rest of the genre was never an issue for them, though.

“There was no part of us that was willing to do something because we thought it was going to be successful,” Cameron says. “If we had come around in a different time, then we would have just been a bar band, but I think Nashville was ready.” The three don’t aim to fit into any one category, nor do they find themselves a complete throwback to another era of music. “People will say we’re modern traditional, and the way we dress, we’re clearly love and reference back to a different time, we do, but we’re not a derivative, retro band,” Jess says.

“We’ve found something that is truly our style.”

The band recently opened for Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakum, two greats of country music. In true Willie Nelson fashion, Jess, Cameron, and Mark celebrated their set with a postshow joint. “Outside, after our set, we just sat there and talked, and got super stoned, and then Willie Nelson came out of the bus and we met him and the whole band,” Jess recalls. “We hadn’t released music yet, at that point, so getting to open for the likes of Dwight and Willie, and getting to have Willie say, like, ‘great set, I really enjoyed it,’ it’s like, wow, you’re the reason we started this band. Dwight Yoakum, shaking his hand -- our band is named after one of his songs. It’s surreal. If we could make a living from doing this, it’s like living a dream.”

Midland released their first, self-titled EP in October, and plan to release the rest of the album in 2017. They have dates lined up with Aaron Lewis, as well as Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s joint tour for next year, and have more yet to come. With big things in the works for the three, their goal is just to have fun with what they have.

Mark says, “It’s a gift and a blessing to be able to do this.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

25

kevin quinn

Words by SAMANTAH BAMBINO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Styling by ALANNAH JONES Grooming by SONIA LEE

26

There are many ways to describe Disney Channel’s Bunk’d actor, Kevin Quinn. He’s driven, funny and insanely talented. But the single word that truly captures him?

Confident. At only 19-years-old, Kevin has achieved more than most of us can only dream about, and has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

Kevin was born in the suburbs of Chicago on May 21, 1997, and lived a fairly normal life as a kid, hanging out with friends and playing wiffle ball on Sundays. As a self-proclaimed Cubs fan, Kevin also played little league baseball like the other kids, but started to realize his passions lied elsewhere.

“I wasn’t super into sports. I was more of a creative person and I felt like I wanted my creative juices to flow more, and I didn’t really get to do that with baseball,” Kevin says.

At 13-years-old, he entered the world of community theater, which is where his love for entertainment began. He still took classes and lived a normal middle school boy’s life, but continued to grow his new found passion on the side.

When he turned 15, Kevin took it a step further and auditioned for the now-cancelled singing competition show, American Idol. Though the audition didn’t necessarily go badly, Kevin attributes his lack of success on the show to his young age.

“I think if I were to do it again, it would be a lot different just because I’d be older and more cognizant. I was kind of just going with the flow, I was like, ‘Okay I’ll sing for you guys!’ I had no idea what I was doing basically. I was a naive

15-year-old,” Kevin says.

At the age of 16, Kevin explains how he finally “screwed his head on straight” and decided that he wanted to pursue singing and acting professionally. Kevin performed in various productions during this time, including Steppenwolf, all the while balancing a crazy schedule that truly reflects his determination.

“I’d leave school early to drive myself downtown to make it for a 7:00 p.m. show, and then I’d come back at 11:00 p.m., do my homework and then go to bed, and do it all over the next day,” Kevin says.

After a year of local plays and productions, Kevin made the move to Los Angeles to give his acting career a real shot. His dedication and talent were evident, because within two weeks he landed the role of Zac in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Adventures in Babysitting.

Kevin continued working with Disney after finishing the movie, and transitioned into the role of Xander on their original show, Bunk’d, a spinoff of the popular show Jessie. Though Kevin is now the epitome of Xander, he wasn’t the least bit familiar with Jessie and had to spend time binge watching the first season to understand the context of the show.

Fast forward two years, and Kevin has become fully immersed in the show and considers the cast his second family. However, it was nerve wracking stepping into a new situation where everyone, from the cast to the special effects crew, already knew each other from working on Jessie.

In true Disney fashion, the other

cast members made a special effort to make Kevin feel welcome and got to know him as a person, rather than just a costar.

“Now by the end of the season, it had felt like we’ve been working together for years,” Kevin says.

They say that most characters change and develop as a series goes on, but we can see an evident maturity increase in Xander between the seasons as he starts to grow up and have relationships.

“I remember the first few episodes, he was a very happy go lucky, all smiles all around kind of guy. And we’ve since gotten to see him at a more vulnerable state,” Kevin says. “This character is very confident but we also now see his vulnerability as a person because the walls have come down a bit.”

Fans of Bunk’d are also able to see a large part of Kevin’s personality portrayed through the character.

After the writers got to know Kevin, they evolved Xander from just a likeable, charming guy and added more depth.

“What about Kevin? What do we see in him? He’s got that humor.

He’s a pretty real person and he’s confident, he has vulnerabilities, and that’s what it all comes down to. They started to see the real, humanized version of Xander,” Kevin says of the writers.

Though he doesn’t predict Bunk’d will run for more than three or four seasons, Kevin has grown attached to his loveable character and wants to see Xander fulfill his dreams of breaking into the music industry.

“It’s going to be really weird to see that character go. I feel like a piece of me will be left behind.

NKDMAG.COM

27

He’s so innocent and I feel like I’d be leaving my innocence behind,” Kevin says.

When the day comes to say goodbye to Xander, Kevin will most likely be living out the character’s dream of becoming a musician.

In addition to his love of acting, the multi-talented star also has a passion for singing and a knack for songwriting.

“When I’m acting, I love it so much but it’s someone else’s writing. For me, to be able to write my own songs and to express what I made as an organic thought, and make it into this 3.5 minute catchy song, that’s the coolest thing for me,” Kevin explains.

While filming Bunk’d, Kevin has been hard at work in the studio recording an album that will be released next year, and it’s already clear that we can expect more than catchy pop tunes.

“I feel like a lot of Disney stars tend to do the bubble gum pop thing because it’s appealing. But I’m not really going that route. I grew

28

up listening to the greats like Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Eric Clapton,” Kevin says. “The dream is to be one of the greats.”

The album will be a mix of soft rock, pop, and even some blues and gospel songs, which will feature a gospel choir. Each song will be an original, with much influence from cowriters Max Waller and Justin Stanley, who previously worked with legends Eric Clapton and Prince.

Kevin understands he has a primarily young fan base who generally loves the pop tracks most Disney stars release. Kids may be surprised by what they hear at first, but he is staying true to his sound and not giving into the stereotype.

“We want them to feel something. It should be more about not just a catchy tune. It should be about remembering something while you’re listening to it,” Kevin says. “It should be a nostalgic thing. It should be an experience more so than a song.”

In addition to filming more

Bunk’d episodes and releasing an album in the near future, Kevin has some average 19-year-old guy plans on the agenda. At some point, he would love to go back to college to study Political Science or Psychology. He was signed up for classes, but his crazy schedule forced him to drop out after a semester. Believe it or not, Kevin loves school and actually misses doing assignments.

“I miss writing. I miss writing expository essays. I thought those were so informative and I felt this empowerment whenever I wrote those,” Kevin says. “It sounds weird but I liked academics.”

Kevin is also on the lookout for that special someone. Keeping his love life as private as possible, he admits that he’s gone out with a few girls, but says dating in the industry is “weird.”

“I’m still looking for the right one. And I’m not going to say ‘We’re going to get married!’,” Kevin laughs. “No. It would be cool to have a person I can hang out with on weekends.” NKD

NKDMAG.COM

29

hayley orrantia Words by IAN HAYS Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

As Erica on the hit TV show, The Goldbergs, Hayley Orrantia’s life is anything but ordinary. Hijinks are abundant and there is always a lesson to be learned in this sitcom. But while her TV life can sometimes be a non-stop circus, Hayley’s childhood and formative years weren’t always quite as hectic.

The 22-year-old actress had a pretty standard childhood growing up in Texas public school and all.

And you’ll never hear her complain about that normalcy.

“One thing I talked to my parents about is the fact that I chose this path in my career, I wanted to make sure I did as many things that a normal kid in high school would do before trying to really focus on blowing up,” she says.

For many child stars, normalcy isn’t an option. Unfortunately, everyone knows the consequences.

Because of this, Hayley, with the full support of her family, lived the average high school life of homework, school dances, football games, and more homework.

30

Hayley always knew the arts were for her. She grew up singing and wanting to perform for others as a bit of the black sheep of her family.

It was when she was young they discovered this passion was fueled by talent and not just mere hobby.

“The first time I sang for my parents, I went to a roller rink with a family friend of ours. I sang in the car and she was like, ‘Oh, you sound great. You should sing for your parents when we get home.’ I was like 9.

So, I sang ‘Amazing Grace’ when we got home and my parents were like, ‘Oh- maybe we should do something about this?’”

While her talents were recognized when she was still young, there is still a clear humbleness that exudes from her that sadly dissipates in many other artists in similar circumstances. This can be attributed to her appreciation for her family and their support through this journey.

They supported her taking voice lessons and pursuing the opportunities that presented down the line.

This led to Hayley being enrolled as

a voice student at Septien Entertainment Group just outside of Dallas (a company that honed the skills of young Jessica Simpson). Being a part of this collective allowed her to not only hone her talents, but to connect with higher-ups and known talent in the industry for songwriting. “It was kind of an eye opener for my parents. And that made them go, ‘Oh, maybe we should take this more seriously. This is going to be her profession’,” Hayley says.

And all of this was accomplished by the age of 14. But while she loved singing, it wasn’t until she joined Septien that she realized songwriting was a path for her. They had courses available and she found songwriting to be a great release. No matter the age, but especially for teenagers, there is lots of angst that needs to be properly channeled; Hayley found her outlet in songwriting. She sharpened her poetry on the playgrounds of her schools before she started getting connected with professionals “The biggest thing in songwriting for me was being led by all of

32

NKDMAG.COM

33

these people who do it professionally. Something sparked in me and I started doing it more on my own…

It all just made sense for me,” she recalls, “When you know, you know, right?”

Solidifying herself at Septien, she began to make those connections. She started writing songs with professional songwriters in pop and R&B styles. This provided her the opportunity to meet with record labels. It was at this time that Hayley got her first real taste of the entertainment industry. They recognized her talent and told her so. But, they said they were looking for someone who already had a platform. She was still just some kid form Dallas who could sing and had a dream. She needed to get a following more than just small shows in Texas. “They told me the best way to get a following was to get a TV show, like on the Disney Channel. ‘Oh alright, just get a show on Disney.’ And at that time I had literally no interest in acting,” she admits.

But, Hayley wasn’t about to let that stop her dreams of writing and performing music. She was willing to do whatever it takes to reach that goal. And as luck would have it, she lived in the same city as Cathryn Sullivan who taught every Disney kid under the sun. So, Hayley joined her acting school. And according to Hayley, “I literally didn’t know what I was doing.” She felt lost and struggled to work on acting in order to get in to becoming a professional musician. And this is where her ever-present humbleness came into play. While her talent was recognized, she accepted that struggles are a part of the game and necessary for any journey.

This eventually led her to auditioning for and landing the role of Erica Goldberg on The Goldbergs.

And while she had taken acting classes, this was a major role on a major television network.

“I mean, man, there was a lot of anxiety. But, for me, when I read the script for The Goldbergs, I immediately knew the character. The humor is exactly my kind of humor,” Hayley

says.

For Hayley, it was a no brainer for her to book this role. This was not only an opportunity to grow her career but to learn from the best and grow as an artist. Although, she does admit there were times in the beginning that she was “winging it”.

But, she knew this was where she was supposed to be. And this drive, combined with her humbleness, allowed her to be guided by her fellow cast and the producers. And as luck would have it, her character as Erica is now pursuing music on the show and Hayley is getting to perform music for a larger audience than she could have imagined.

Now it’s about finding that balance. How does she pursue both musical and thespian outlets?

“I feel like it is good that I’m never fully comfortable in my skin when it comes to acting because it keeps me on my toes,” she says, “For me, it’s a great way to open myself up to new things; that’s something I am so big on right now, because of it [acting]. I work with some of the best people in improv. So for me, it’s a great release.”

And then there’s music.

“It’s a lot more personal. For every song I write, even if I write with someone else, it’s all my concepts or something I personally relate to. I’m very adamant about making sure the songs that go on my album are my own,” she says, “I like knowing that someone can listen to my album and hear the full story of the last two years of my life.”

Hayley recently released a single, ‘Strong, Sweet, & Southern’ along with a music video for it. It’s a fun, upbeat song that pokes at the idea of chivalry being dead. Living in Los Angeles will do that to you. For Hayley, if you want to stand out, just make an effort.

When it comes to an album, she is still an independent artist. She is a “one woman show” who has to balance a full-fledged acting career with these musical pursuits. While she has a team around her, it is up to her to make the decision on when the time is right for diving head-first

into music. When do you now when the time is right? She is still working on and recording songs, but for the time being it will be at her own pace.

But, her musical life still has some perks. Hayley was invited to not only attend, but present at the 2016 Country Music Awards with her co-star Wendi McLendon Covey who “makes everything more fun”.

The whole night was an out of body experience for her. She got to meet and greet with Reba and Martina McBride. “I was there with the people I look up to most in country music. Everyone I met, no matter big or little of a star they were, were so genuine and kind; it was unreal. It just felt like this is where I’m supposed to be,” she says, “To be there and physically feel at home, it was surreal. I sat next to Matthew McConaughey. And I was like, ‘I’m going to die; I’m going to die right now.”

For Hayley, this is all part of the journey. It has its ups and it has its downs. She is steadily rising up in her career, but realizes there will still be future challenges. For her, you can’t be afraid of the word “no”. That is one of the most commonly heard words in the entertainment industry and you have to just keep pushing forward. She has friends who have been working on similar pursuits as her and they are learning that “as much as it sucks, it takes time” to get to where you want to be. You have to stay humble and stay original with your art.

As for the future, she has found herself becoming obsessed with interior design. She recently bought a house in Nashville and fell in love with getting to decorate everything herself and create her own unique space. So, there may be a Hayley Orrantia home décor line coming your way in the future. She is still learning the process but has been inspired by the process. And at the mention of fellow Texans, Chip and Joanna Gaines, she lets her love be known. “No joke, Joanna is my idol. I literally tweeted her, ‘If you ever need an assistant let me know.

I’ll quit everything and I’ll come to you’,” she laughs. NKD NKDMAG.COM

35

Words by AUTUMN HAILE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

sophie reynolds 36

Sophie Reynolds is a certified dreamer. The star of The Disney Channel’s Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything has spent the majority of her 17 years chasing after her dreams.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Sophie began dancing and performing at only 3-years-old. “That was my entrance into the entertainment business,” she says. “I did everything from ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary. I just kept adding more as I got older.”

The acting bug came later, at 15-yearsold, when Sophie stepped outside of the dance studio and began taking acting lessons for the first time. After just a few lessons it was clear she’d been bitten by the performers bug in more than one way, and eventually, she found herself having to make a hard decision between her two passions. “It was really hard to give it up, when I was first doing acting class it was a couple nights a week, and I remember being traumatized that I was missing that much dance,” she admits.

But acting caught her by surprise by becoming the art form she gravitated towards the most, “The more I got into acting the less I cared about missing dance class. They’re both such difficult crafts that doing them both at a high level is really hard,” she says.

Sophie relocated to Los Angeles determined to chase her dream of becoming an actress. In her youth, she was inspired by strong female roles like Harry Potter’s Hermione Granger and actresses like Meryl Streep. So, when the opportunity to audition for the role of Ashley Parker on Gamer’s Guide presented itself, she was immediately drawn to the role. “One of the things I loved about the script was that Ashley was this very strong female gamer. It was one of the first roles I auditioned for that I felt like I could really play. She was sort of this Tomboy, and her three best friends were guys, I related to everything about her,” she says.

When she landed the role, she became even more attached to building a strong character that young girls could look up

NKDMAG.COM

37

38

to. Specifically, those that might feel like outcasts in the male dominated gaming world. “For me, it’s a cool thing to be able to break stereotypes, especially in the gaming community,” she says, “There are so many girl gamers out there that are incredible and to be able to represent them is an honor for me.” In fact, female fans of the show frequently express their gratitude for having a young, female gamer in pop culture that they can look up to. “I have gamers coming up to me telling me that they love Ashley because they can relate to her and it’s making gaming cool for girls,” Sophie says.

It’s one of the upsides to social media: giving performers and fans a chance to communicate and interact in real time, and it has allowed Sophie to tap into the fans that connect with her character.

“I know when I was a kid I would have loved to talk to the Disney stars that I looked up to. It’s really cool getting to see their immediate reaction to an episode. I love getting the feedback from them and being able to tease them along with the show,” she says.

Gamer’s Guide is the first show of its kind for young viewers, one that sheds some light on the positive and negative realities in the gaming world. One of those realities? That it’s more than just playing games: this is something that kids passionate about the industry can actually make a career out of. Sophie picked up on that right away. “I thought it was innovative the way we incorporate gaming into our show,” she says, “There’s such a giant gaming community among kids, that to be able to make a show about it was a really cool thing.”

Another one of those realities is the stigma against female gamers. Immediately, Sophie found herself taking this aspect of the industry to heart, wanting to ensure that Ashley came across strong, opinionated and smart. “I think

it’s important for girls to know they can do whatever they want. Whether that’s gaming or acting or maybe a sport; it’s important for girls to have someone they can look up to that is breaking down boundaries,” Sophie says, “So many industries are male dominated and I love that Ashley gets to break down those boundaries within a world that is very much male focused.”

As the character develops, she continues to build a strong representation of female gamers, and for girls who stand up for themselves and hold their ground even in the face of adversity.

“Just throughout Season 2 she’s matured a lot and become a stronger leader. She’s finding herself and she knows what she stands for. Something that I’ve always loved about Ashley is that she stands up for herself. She’s proved everyone wrong and I admire that so much,” Sophie says.

With Gamer’s Guide only in its second season, it’s hard to think about what the ideal endgame result would be for Ashley, but Sophie has some ideas in mind. “As Ashley is getting older she’s becoming a better leader and I’m excited to see where that goes. She’s also becoming a better gamer; I’d love to see her become a stronger force in the gaming world,” she says, “Developing her as a mature girl who can do her own thing and rock the gaming community even more than she already has would be the ultimate for me.”

As for Sophie’s real life; she’s balancing her hectic acting schedule with her senior year of high school. No easy feat for someone with a busy schedule, so she frequently sets aside time to focus on her studies. “Education is really important, but balancing school with acting can be hard. When we’re working we have great teachers on set, but for me it’s all about prioritizing and making a plan,” she says.

That plan includes what she wants to do in the future. College is definitely on

her mind, but acting continues to be her number one priority. “I’m trying to figure out what I can do to continue my education without having to give up acting.

So, I’m looking at online classes or even local community colleges to see what my options are,” she says.

When it comes to acting, Sophie wants to step outside of what she’s already accomplished and try something new. “I want to do movies. I want to do more TV. I want to expand as an actress.

I’ve done a lot of comedy but I want to branch out into drama,” Sophie admits.

Of course, she hasn’t forgotten her first love of dancing. Someday, she’d like to be able to include her dancing talents in her acting roles. “I want to try incorporate that into my career, for sure. I’d love to do roles where I could do both,” she says.

The immediate future, however, still includes a whole lot of gaming. “Right now I’m focusing on Gamer’s Guide and auditioning to see what might be up next,” she says. One of those other projects was the Halloween-themed film, Mostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House, which fans of spooky R.L. Stine stories can find on Netflix and OnDemand now.

Sophie Reynolds has a few things in common with her fictional counterpart, Ashley Parker — they’re both successful, determined young women. From her feisty, go-getter attitude to a steadfast belief in herself and a willingness to stand her ground, it’s no wonder that Sophie has already made so many of her dreams come true.

But the real question everyone wants to know — has playing a girl gamer made Sophie a powerhouse player on her own?

“I know a lot more about gaming than I did when I started, but I’m still not very good,” she laughs.

It’s a good thing this dreamer has so many other talents to fall back on. NKD NKDMAG.COM

39

40

Words by AMBER SPILLMAN Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

burkely duffield

From starring in his first commercial to landing the lead role in Freeform’s upcoming show, Beyond, Canadian actor Burkely Duffield is certainly someone you want to keep an eye on.

Catching the acting bug at the young age of 11, Burkely began his career in a way that every child dreams of – in a McDonald’s commercial. “I got to meet the real Ronald McDonald, and I mean, who wouldn’t get hooked from that?”

Burkely says.

From there, Burkely began to take on other roles in both television and the big screen. However, it wasn’t until then that Burkely felt like he was part of the family on set. “It’s when you sort of start something that you have more than one day on set,” Burkely says. “You sort of get that camaraderie with cast [and] crew. You get to know the cameramen, you get to know the crew and everyone around there and it was just a sense of like, ‘Wow, this is a cool, little family on set that now I can call sort of home to work with’.”

Burkely currently stars as the lead role in Beyond, which is centered on a 25-year-old named Holden who miraculously wakes up from a 12year coma.

Without revealing too much, Burkely tells us that Holden must come to terms with how much his family, friends, and entire reality have changed over the course of the decade he was asleep. And not only that, but through these surges of emotions, Holden discovers he has telekinetic abilities where he can change and move matter as well. “[Holden’s telekinetic powers] brings our antagonistic organization to him and they want to take and harness that power for their own gain,” Burkely says, “It’s Holden coming to grips and seeing all of that and having to live through it.”

Holden wakes up in the body of a 25-year-old, but according to Burkely, still has the mind and maturity of a 13-year-old boy. “He’s very innocent and just loves the discovery of everything, which is a really fun thing to play,” Burkely says. “You see

so many of Holden’s firsts, and the wonderment he has in his eyes when he has his first kiss, his first drink at a party, his first feelings of betrayal and guilt. All of these things shape him into the man he is by the end [of the season].”

Burkely also let us know that throughout the season, we will see Holden go back to school, get his driver’s license, see his family and friends again, and meet new people.

In this sense, Burkely hopes that the audience watching the show will also be able to relate and even relive moments of childhood with Holden. However, as Burkely mentioned, there is an antagonistic group after Holden and his powers, and as a result he tries to hide them from his family in hopes of keeping them safe.

Burkely was attracted to the pilot script for Beyond from the very beginning, and says that it was not only very well written, but also that Holden was a very diverse character.

“The sci-fi aspect and the supernatural powers that are endowed to this character, are just really, really fun,” Burkely says. “You’ve got the fun, dramatic aspects, but then anything could happen, and the action sequences are really cool.”

As far as the science fiction element goes, Burkely says the audience will certainly be able to physically see the telekinesis. Using the green screen and working with special effects was something to get used to, but according to Burkely, it was a fun adjustment. “There were many days where it was me on a giant green screen studio, where you have a bit of dirt on the ground and a whole bunch of green and the directors are shouting things that are happening around you,” Burkely says. “You get to work really collaboratively with directors and writers to be able to create something that really isn’t there to begin with.”

Burkely says just seeing the finished special effects is unbelievable, and he’s excited to share Beyond with fans, as a wave has been coming in already, and Burkely only hopes for those numbers to grow. In fact,

Burkely has currently been teasing the audience by sharing little snippets of the show.

“I am excited to see where Adam [the director of Beyond] take these characters,” Burkely says. “The first season was so amazing to lay these ground rules and entire world out for the audience to live and breathe and understand where they live and what goes on. I think that as we explore the rest of the seasons I can only imagine that things are going to get more interesting and gritty.”

However, despite some of the darker and antagonistic aspects of the show, Burkely says that the familial element is definitely there.

“For the Matthews family, it is such an unbelievable moment – you see it in the pilot,” Burkely says.

“They’ve kept their son in such a state that when they get that call that he’s suddenly woken up and he’s fine that the mother and father, the brother, are just so happy to have their son back.”

Aside from the characters, story, and even special effects, perhaps the most exciting thing about filming Beyond was the fact that Burkely was able to return to his hometown of Vancouver to film. After being able to work in other parts of Canada and around the world, Burkely thought it would be a blessing to be able to work in his home city. “Vancouver has really been up and coming and gaining its studio presence up north,” Burkely says. “Having grown up and auditioning and getting roles on these other shows that have cool sci-fi elements - to be able to work and breathe and be a lead on one myself is really something I can only have dreamed of and be totally honored to be a part of.”

Beyond just finished up wrapping its first season with ten episodes and Burkely thinks it’s something that everyone will enjoy. Burkely has also recently just finished working on another project: Live Like Line, a movie based on a true story about a high school volleyball team and stars Erin Moriarty, William Hurt and Helen Hunt. Beyond premieres January 2, 2017 on ABC’s Freeform. NKD NKDMAG.COM

41

42

niki koss Words by VANESSA SALLES Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Set to star in Freeform’s highlyanticipated Famous in Love, Niki Koss is a name you won’t soon forget. The Los Angeles native, who’s been acting for most of her life, discovered her love for the craft at a very young age. “I started acting (on and off) when I was only 3,” she says. “When I was 17, I started doing it professionally and at 18, I started directing, writing, and producing.” Having fallen in love with all aspects of being in front of and behind the camera, the multi-talented actress takes part in – and creates, whenever possible – projects that allow her to hone in on all her specialized skills.

Recalling her Famous in Love audition process, Niki says the experience was just as thrilling as it was scary. “The whole audition process took about a year,” she shares. “I actually went in for the role of the best friend but got called back for my now-character, Alexis. I went back in to audition for Marlene [King, the show’s creator] and some of the producers and just immediately fell in love with the role.” That was only the beginning.

“After that, I had to audition for the studio which was in the Warner Bro’s president’s office and was just terrifying,” she says. “I auditioned for the network after that – which was equally as terrifying – and then, later that

day, I got a call from my rep telling me that I had gotten the part. It took about another six months to find out that the show was picked up by Freeform and was going to series. The process was definitely a long one but it was all worth going through, for sure.”

Starring alongside an incredible cast ensemble, Niki’s excited for the show’s debut.

“I can’t wait for fans to meet this cast,” she says. “It’s a group of amazingly talented and charismatic people; I think the world is going to fall in love with these characters and the amazing people behind them.” Having fallen in love with portraying Alexis, Niki hopes viewers will enjoy her character just as much as she does. “She’s definitely someone that people will love to hate,” she laughs. “She’s just so fun to watch. She’s very feisty and has this incredible and glamorous wardrobe.

She’s willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants.” Being the total opposite of Alexis in real life, Niki has a blast with the mean-girl role. “It’s so much fun,” she says.

“It’s really hard to commit to being like that in real life so it’s kind of a fun way of being able to bring out this crazy alter ego; I think everyone has a side like that! Fans will have a good time watching how she handles things.”

Though the series isn’t set to premiere un-

til April, Famous in Love has already amassed a very loyal group of fans. “I’ve been so pleasantly surprised by the show’s following,” Niki shares. “It’s still a few months out and it’s just really cool to see so many fans talk about it already. I see so many fans reach out on all these different social media platforms and they always have such nice things to say and are always sharing funny tweets or pictures about the show. The support that is out there for the show and for the cast is incredible and it just makes us all want to make this show the best that it can be.” Set as a drama, the vibe on the Famous in Love set could not be further from that. “It’s such a feel-good environment,” Niki says. “The vibe is always super light and fun; there’s such an incredible energy on that set and everyone’s always goofing around and having a total blast. No one really takes themselves too seriously, which is something that I really love.”

The series’ executive producer, I. Marlene King – who just recently wrapped Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars – is always around to oversee and inspire the work on set. “Having Marlene around is so great,” Niki says. “Her career is such an inspiration and she has this way about her where she’s always so cool, calm and collected about everything; she’s NKDMAG.COM

43

44

always in control and it’s just such an impressive thing to watch. I can’t even imagine how many things are running through her mind at all times. Her attitude and work ethic is just awesome to be around. I’m so happy and grateful for the opportunity of working with her.”

When Niki’s not busy on set, she’s usually busy with writing, directing, producing, or even acting in other projects. “I love all four things equally,” she says. “I don’t think I’d ever be able to pick one over the other.” At the moment, Niki’s been hard at work on a few passion projects. “My producing partner and I are pitching a pilot that I wrote and directed last year,” she says. “We’ve got our fingers crossed for that to go well. I also just finished directing a short and am acting in a cool indie film called Burying Yasmeen.

That’ll be out later this year. There’s been a lot of awesome stuff happening.” Outside of her cinematic passions, Niki’s also got a love for fashion and using it as another form of expression. “I’m super into fashion,” she says. “However, I don’t think I’ve ever really considered myself to be very ‘fashionable’. I feel like I’m always the last person to find out about trends; I’m always just wearing whatever I like.” Niki, who’s a total pro at going from casual to chic, uses clothes as a creative outlet. “Sometimes it works and sometimes it’s an absolute disaster,” she laughs. “I just use my clothing choices as a way to express what I’m feeling; I never try too hard to be trendy.”

Though Niki already has a killer resume for a 22-year-old, there’s still more she’d like to do. Career-wise, she hopes to follow in the footsteps of some incredible women who have managed to create empires for themselves. “There are a few females whose careers I truly admire,” she says. “Amy Poehler, Jennifer Lawrence, Lena Dunham and Mindy Kaling all have awesome careers.

Those are definitely my main inspirations.”

As for 2017 goals, Niki’s got a lot she’s hoping to accomplish. Aside from having a successful show premiere in April, “meeting Orlando Bloom is definitely on the list,” she laughs. “Also, I really want to take the time to learn how to cook; so far, I only really know how to cook about three different things.

I’d also love to be able to take my mom on a shopping spree in Italy – that one might be a few years down the line, though. Right now, I’m just trying to get back into the swing of things and focus on all that I’ve got coming up this year. I know it’s going to be an exciting time.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

45

Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Words & Styling by LIZ ZAVOYSKIY Hair by RYAN KAZMAREK Make-Up by FAYE LAUREN

bridgit mendler

46

NKDMAG.COM

55

48

The first time I heard Bridgit Mendler’s song “Atlantis” on Spotify, it took a bit of time to put together that this was the same musician who’d put out “Hello My Name Is” just four years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her first album. I bopped along to “Blonde”, belted out the lyrics to “Ready or Not” and wished a significant other was throwing rocks at our windows when I listened to the track titled by the same name. But “Atlantis” was different. With its eerie and almost numbing underwater tones, the record told the story of a love gone cold. But aside from the subject matter of the lyrics, it also instantly made it clear that over the past four years, Bridgit had not only grown up, but she’d also learned, matured and was ready to put those lessons into her art.

Fast forward to a couple months later. Bridgit is playing a show at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn and the fans are already lining up, four hours before her designated set time. As we prepare for our photoshoot with her, a small crowd is forming at the sidelines. I watch as they realize she’s cut her hair into a sleek bob, a power move that elicits the fans’ attention. We hear a girl murmur “slay” under her breath as Bridgit’s hair stylist cuts a few stray hairs that have fallen out of place. She’s confident, walks with purpose and not only commands a room, but engages in it.

“When ‘Atlantis’ came out, I happened to be in Kenya. It was over the summer, and as you can imagine, I was having very limited access to Wi-Fi. I was in a tent, and I could look outside and see monkeys playing in the trees,” Bridgit recalls, “I managed to pull up the Hypem popular charts and could see the song just steadily creeping up, and that was the trippiest experience for me. To watch people actually listening to my song and observing that while I was an entire world away.” And listen to her song they did. With Atlantis reeling in over 5 million streams to date on Spotify, BridgNKDMAG.COM

49

it’s latest single “Do You Miss Me At All” is quickly gaining traction as a fan favorite from Nemesis, the four-song EP she released in November.

“Do You Miss Me At All” shares a sentiment most of us are familiar with. The lyrics read, ‘Do you miss me at all / do you wonder what I’m up to / without you.’ It’s the feeling we get when we pick up our phones at 2 A.M. to type out a text to an ex girlfriend or boyfriend, only to put our phones away because we have no idea if we ever even cross their minds. “The song is really personal, and it came out of a moment of vulnerability where I was just saying what I felt. I happened to be saying what I felt in an empty car driving around Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, but that feeling is the same when I sing on stage. I came up with that chorus while I was driving, and then I took the rest to the studio with Chillak and Bastian [the producers of the song] and we finished it up,” she says.

Where “Atlantis” errs more on the side of alternative, “Do You Miss Me At All” is a mixture of the pop land where Bridgit found her beginnings and the alternative edge she’s recently been playing with. The production is both strange and beautiful without overshadowing her obvious vocal chops. Inspired by one of Bridgit’s influences, Lauryn Hill, the single is perhaps the most relatable and fan friendly track on the EP. If the lyrics weren’t proof of this enough, all it took was a step inside the ballroom during Bridgit’s rendition of the song to see there wasn’t a fan in the audience that wasn’t mouthing the words along as she serenaded from her perch on stage.

With two other songs on the EP, Nemesis is a work that demonstrates Bridgit’s ability to play with her craft, varying between both genres and production styles.

“I think songs should be told as authentically as possible and not inhibited by wondering what someone’s going to think. For me 50

these songs were different snapshots of life. Life has a lot of different people that go through it that make an impression on you. These songs really stand separate from each other and are about different times in life, and different people and experiences. The muses are a lot less straightforward than someone might immediately think,” she explains, also confirming that luckily, none of the songs’ real life inspirations have reached out to her, and she’d like to keep it that way. “When writing music, there are certain sounds that I gravitate towards and that was something I needed to do a lot of research and discovery on. Kind of checking in with myself and what I really loved sound wise and what I want to say,” she says, “For me a huge part of this album was figuring out what I’ve wanted to say and until I found the right stories to tell, I wouldn’t have the conviction to sing them the way I wanted. So I spent a lot of time writing for this EP. Just writing obsessively.”

While some of the tracks were born in an empty car and others got their beginnings as a result of jam sessions with her producers, it’s safe to say that the album has done extraordinarily well in being able to resonate with fans. During our shoot, a group of girls wandered into the restroom as Bridgit changed between looks. From outside the walls we could hear the girls singing along to their celebrity idol’s tracks, unknowing that she was mere feet away from them. She snuck out before they noticed, but called them out on stage during the show. Naturally, they were ecstatic. For them, a favorite singer was acknowledging their presence, but for Bridgit, this meant that fans not only knew of her work but that they loved it and let the songs come to life. It meant that she wasn’t the only voice singing along and that as the songs have gained momentum, they’ve taken on new meanings for every voice singing them.

As far as music videos go, both NKDMAG.COM

51

52

NKDMAG.COM

53

videos for “Do You Miss Me At All” and “Atlantis” do an excellent job of creatively depicting a story. The former shows a double-bunned Bridgit dancing idly in front of windows, sipping coffee inside her home, and gazing outside through her screen door. The duality of the outside and inside could be taken as a metaphor for a barrier or the lack of communication that Bridgit and the object of her longing have. Of course, the desired one she misses isn’t shown in the video, quite an interesting choice on the director’s part and a realistic portrayal. Because as we dance along to songs in our own homes, missing relationships of the past, we’ll never know what they’re actually up to, and neither does Bridgit. The one-sided video is a perfect match for the feeling of solitude that “Do You Miss Me At All” is about.

Meanwhile, the video for “Atlantis” has a few more cast members: real life friends of Bridgit’s. And while the song features herself and friends dancing wildly around a sleepy love interest, the feeling of loneliness is quite similar. We see her beau sleeping through the dramatics of life, as Bridgit, draped in pastel colored garments and her friends dance merrily around him, snapping selfies and jumping on the bed. Just like the man in the video, her love is “asleep with the fishes down in Atlantis”. Physically present, she’s able to acknowledge that she knows love exists, although now it only seems to be a world away, another metaphor for feelings of loneliness in a relationship. “My favorite part of being a musician is the feeling, and I think that feeling emerges in a lot of different forms. When you’re in the creating process and you get struck by this feeling in the combination of words and chords and rhythms and then you create this beautiful thing that means a lot to you.

You take it on the road and add so many more elements to it and share it with people and they have an uncontrolled reaction to it,”

Bridgit says, “If you like a song it’s not because you’re telling yourself to like a song. It’s something that happens naturally, that you just feel and I love that about music because you just can’t lie, you have to feel something in your body.”

As we approach the end of 2016, it’s safe to say that Bridgit’s year has been one of enormous growth, but has also existed somewhat as a precursor to 2017. Between sold out shows from New York to California, touring was a massive part of her year. She’s working on a full length album for 2017 and is excited to put that into the world and share with fans. She’ll be heading out on the Nylon Music Tour with Powers this spring. “I’m really excited for 2017. We have a lot of ideas on how to do some fresh things with the music. I’ve actually been working on producing a song.

The next new song we release I will have produced myself along with my collaborator. That’s been a really empowering experience and I’m looking forward to doing that a lot more in the future,” she says.

Aside from working on an album, Bridgit has also landed a recurring role on the television drama Nashville, an experience she says has been unbelievably fun. Up until now she hasn’t spent much time in Nashville and is rather excited to explore both the music scene down there and the city in its entirety. She’s been cast as a YouTube pop singer whose content has taken off with a few million views. As she heads to Nashville to work on her music, it becomes apparent that she stumbles across creative differences quite quickly and is portrayed as somewhat of a diva, a characteristic that Bridgit doesn’t necessarily relate to although she can totally understand being passionate about your work and the format it’s put out in. “I have a lot of sympathy for people who are in that position and I respect that she has a strong perspective,” she says, “A lot of times people with strong perspectives are made to look like they’re rude or

inconsiderate but really, they just have something that they believe in and are passionate about and just have trouble articulating. This character, she’s a diva but I feel for her.”

As if being a musician, actor and maintaining a personal life weren’t enough credentials on her resume, Bridgit also makes sure to consistently be involved in philanthropy, something that she’s been passionate about for as long as she can remember. “Save The Children was something that I personally researched. I really wanted to find a charity to support on my first tour because I was going to get so much exposure to people and wanted to use that exposure for a good cause. I found a charity that was focused on children’s education in the United States, as well as abroad – something that’s always been in my heart,” Bridgit says, “Through that partnership, I’ve been able to visit a lot of their areas of activity and it’s been really wonderful.

Their initiatives are mainly with young mothers because they’ve done studies that show that if they get in and help children at their early stages of life, it can positively impact and get them on track. A lot of visits that I’ve done were to homes, sometimes just two hours outside of L.A., where there are families that are in real poverty and Save The Children are giving them access to books and toys and tips from members of community that are a part of Save The Children.”

Between working on new music, acting and helping others, Bridgit’s schedule is jam packed. She’s seemingly always on the go, but carries herself with an ease that makes it look like a piece of cake.

As we wrapped up final statements, she made sure to reiterate that she’s unbelievably excited to tour and to meet the people who have supported her thus far and brought life into her work. Bridgit certainly commands a room, but much more importantly she engages with it and she fills it with added life. NKD NKDMAG.COM

55

56

kendall vertes Words by DIANA FIGUEROA Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Back in 2011, a new docu-series hit Lifetime that propelled a group of young girls onto the dance floor and into the spotlight. Fast forward five years later, with many of the young girls now becoming successful young women.

With the uncertainty of the show’s future also comes the uncertainty of being a 14-year-old teenage girl. That uncertainty, however, is handled rather well with the resilient and headstrong, Kendall Vertes.

“When I was 3-years-old, my mom would always take me to my sister’s dance classes. I would always be in the back dancing around,” Kendall says on her first experiences in the studio. “She was like, ‘Why don’t we try it out with Kendall?’ After dancing for a few years and mingling with sports, like softball, an unexpected call changed the way Kendall looked at and worked in dance. “[The producers] of Dance Moms asked me to audition for the show. So I went to an open call in Pittsburgh and made the show. I had to quit softball. There was just a lot happening,” she says. Of course, being nine years old and landing a role on a television show sounds like a dream, but Kendall shares that her family wasn’t sure of what they would expect, especially after the show moved from Pennsylvania all the way out to Los Angeles in

2015.

“I started out in Season 2 and we filmed seasons in Pittsburgh until the show migrated and Abby [Lee Miller] built a studio out there,” Kendall recalls.

“We really just had to pick up all our stuff and move to California. And my mom didn’t really know what we were getting into because we had never experienced anything like this before.” Moving to the West Coast meant more changes in Kendall’s life, especially as she started gaining momentum and popularity within the show’s fan base and online community.

She says she never expected for her and her mom to be on the show that long, let alone begin to be recognized by people on the street on a daily basis. “It’s crazy.

When I first aired, fans would come up to me and ask me for my number and I was stupid and was like, ‘Yeah, sure!’ I never thought [my information] would be passed around by everyone. Things just grew so fast for me in L.A.,” Kendall says.

Growing up with two older sisters who went off to high school and college, Kendall says the adaption to life in another city, far from her sisters and her dad were difficult and unexpected, just as unexpected as how far she has come along with the show. She remembers never thinking that the show would

even pass a few seasons, surprisingly as it now works its way toward its seventh.

That’s where Abby, the show’s creator and infamous dance instructor comes in.

“It’s nice that Abby care for us and that she wants us to do our best to be the best dancers that we can be,” Kendall says.

With the help of her instructor, her mom and the friends she’s made on the show, Kendall has shown that she’s able to handle anything. At 14, one of the most important aspects of growing up is the difficult transition that is made easier with having friends and the support system of formal education. For Kendall, leaving school behind was just another part of the new life that she had to get accustomed to.

“Even though I’m used to being homeschooled, it’s hard when you’re traveling because you have to teach yourself.

I obviously have to work a little harder, especially because I’ll be going into high school soon,” Kendall says. “At first, I was a little upset, I missed my friends and learning from an actual teacher instead of a tutor.” But like everything in her life, Kendall has proved she is able to ride along with the changes of what being a young, successful public figure means in 2016.

As the future of the show remains unclear, Kendall assures everyone that NKDMAG.COM

57

58

she won’t be going anywhere any time soon. “I’ve basically been doing the show my entire childhood. The only thing I’ve experienced is Dance Moms. I don’t know where life is going to take me but if college becomes an option, I’ll totally go,” she says. Though her plans are always changing, if one thing is for sure, is that Kendall will never stop moving, doing or dreaming. The star has already been in talks to release music at the beginning of 2017, and has considered delving into the world of acting now that she is working and living in L.A. “My first single was more trial and error. I moved producers and my next single is called, ‘Where Would I Be Without You.’ It’s about my best friends and what I’ve been through; basically my life on the show,” she reveals. As for acting, though, she has not experienced it so much, having yet to be offered a role on a scripted film or television show, separate from Dance Moms, Kendall is certain that that is the goal following the New Year.

“If I were to have an album or go on tour, I definitely would dance because that’s what I’m known for,” she says about her future in dance. “That’s how it all started, but I think it’d be cool if I were known for something else. Like, “that girl from Dance Moms” and “that girl from the movie!”

Whatever direction she goes in, the love and praise of her fans will undoubtedly remain strong. “My fans are so loyal.

They protect me,” regarding her life on social media. “It can be crazy sometimes,” she says. But she makes clear that with her life naturally comes vulnerability and openness, a strong, inner feeling that she has nothing to hide. She reveals that she’ll always be a dancer, but if that changes, her fans will be the first to know.

“A lot of people ask me if I want to be a professional dancer. I’m definitely going to keep dancing until I find what I want to do next,” she says. The majority of her year will focus on music, acting, and of course, the show, “which is still hanging in there,” she laughs. And when she knows, we’ll know.

Until then, Kendall seems comfortable in living in the time in-between; being in the state of not knowing, and continuing to do what she does best: dance. NKD NKDMAG.COM

59

tonight alive Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Since their first U.S. tour in 2011, Australian rock band Tonight Alive have become a staple in the pop-punk scene. But their 2016 release, Limitless, defied the traditional sounds of the genre – and upset some fans in the process. But now, nearly a year since the release, the band feel they’ve reopened the door to the scene that originally embraced them, and are eager for their next set of challenges.

The earliest inception of Tonight Alive formed in 2005, but current frontwoman Jenna McDougall didn’t join until 2008 – somewhat as a fluke. She was a friend of bassist Cam Adler’s and lent her vocals to some demos when the band found themselves short a singer. “I had never heard my voice over rock music before, so it was new for all of us,” Jenna says. At the time, the band wasn’t looking for a female singer, but Jenna was the only singer they knew.

The vibe between Jenna and the guys – Cam, guitarists Whakaio Taahi and Jake Hardy, and drum60

mer Matt Best – was instant. “They were the first friends that ever empowered me, and urged me to take action and make choices that were going to create happiness for me,” Jenna reflects. Only 15 at the time, this world was completely new to her. “Having older, male friends really grounded me,” Jenna says. The guys took care of her, and she looked up to them. “We had one band practice and that was it,” Whakaio says, “As soon as Jenna sang on the song, it never crossed our minds to get anyone else.”

Jenna, Whakaio and Cam began writing together immediately and uploaded a few demos to MySpace before officially releasing their first EP, All Shapes & Disguises, in 2010.

They built a solid reputation in Australia early on, and at the time, were the only female-fronted band in their scene. “We had a lot to prove, but we also stood out so we had that advantage,” Jenna says. They started opening for international acts like 3OH!3 in Australia, before hopping over to North America for the first

time in 2011.

As a group, Tonight Alive has always been very goal oriented.

They knew from the early days that they wanted to be an international touring act, and for their first few tours outside of Australia, they were paying out of pocket to get to different countries. “The first few tours here sucked,” Whakaio admits, “They were really hard for us.” They weren’t making much money, sleeping in their van every night and eating gas station food. But after paying their dues, things started to snowball. The band toured extensively around the globe for years before taking an extended few months off of touring for the majority of 2015 – aside from a six-week North American run with All Time Low. Tonight Alive’s 2013 release, The Other Side, was written entirely on the road and recorded in three different blocks in between tours.

When it came time to start working on their follow-up, they actively decided that they wanted to fully immerse themselves in the record

NKDMAG.COM

61

making process and take some time off from traveling. In March 2015, the band entered the studio with producer David Bendeth (Paramore, Mayday Parade), began their recording process, hopped on tour for a quick run, and then went back into the studio to finish the record.

While the break was unplanned, looking back they’re grateful for it.

“For how intense the work we were doing with David was… we needed that,” Jenna reflects.

Going into the studio with David, the band knew how they wanted the record to make them feel, but not necessarily what they wanted it to sound like. “Especially genre wise, we just sort of surrendered to that and said ‘no more labels’,” Jenna says, “It was more, what do we stand for and what do we want people to take away from our music?” The foundation of Limitless is empowerment, but getting to that was a two-year process of Jenna reaching a point where she felt free and felt she could make music that sounded like freedom.

For Whakaio, entering the studio was very difficult for him because he didn’t know what it was going to sound like. Luckily, David had an end goal and while neither him nor the band knew how to get there at first, they figured it out together. “I just had an anchor – like, someone fucking knows what they’re doing,” he says of David, “Because normally I do, but I didn’t this time.”

David pushed him to do things he had never done before, and write in ways he never had before. “It kind of made me realize that… who cares?” he says, “I was really caught up in, ‘I don’t want to sound like this, and I don’t want to be in a pop-punk genre anymore’.” When he abandoned that mindset of what he didn’t want the record to sound like, he was fully able to push himself to create the sound that exists on Limitless. The clear sonic change on the record was a result of everyone in the band making an effort to not do thing they had done before. “We grew, and then we figured out what the growth was,” he says.

62

After wrapping production for Limitless in July 2015, Tonight Alive took the rest of the year off to focus on the other elements that go into a record – the artwork, the photos, the music videos, etc. “Setting up the record was as stressful and painful as putting it together,” Jenna says, “I got really sick at the end of last year just from the immense amount of - not pressure – actually, there was heaps of pressure on me.” She admits she was juggling her mental stability and her vision for what the band was going to be.

Limitless was a bit of a reevaluation of who Tonight Alive was as a band, and it was very important to Jenna that every element of the album reflected that.

While the band did think about what current fans were going to think of the new album, they didn’t let that influence what they were creating. During the recording process Jenna felt very comfortable with how the new songs were sounding because she knew she was being true to herself. “I was never worried that we were going to lose fans, but I knew that we were going to lose fans and that people were going to have a lot of shit to say,” Jenna says. But it wasn’t just the music that fans were commenting on. Jenna was trying out different looks – that felt natural to her – and people had a lot of negative things to say about her appearance during this time of experimentation. “It was actually quite abusive, and at that point I felt really disconnected from our fans,” she admits. To cope, she took a huge step back and forced herself to realize that there will always be a grey area between artist and fans. “People will see what I let them see, or what I invite them to see, and there’s always going to be a grey area that people have to fill in the blanks with,” she says, “People have an idea of who you are, 50% of that is what you’ve chosen to show, and the other 50% is what they make up from their observations.”

Once she accepted that people weren’t ever going to know the full truth – and realized she wasn’t

NKDMAG.COM

63

64

comfortable showing everyone the full truth – she became comfortable with her own perception of herself, which is ultimately what matters the most.

Whakaio found the experience of watching Jenna go through this to be a “true lesson on compassion”. He recognized that many of the fans that the band has known and interacted with for years, were some of the kids who were saying the worst things. While his initial reaction was anger, he recognizes now that anger was the easiest reaction, and has made an effort to take a breath and let it go. “The worst thing to do would be to stop doing what we’re doing,” he says, “Now a year through, those kids are coming back.”

As the year anniversary of Limitless approaches (March 4th), the dust has mostly settled. “This record scared the shit out of people, and it scared us, but I think the biggest thing was that people had to face themselves and who they were,” Whakaio says. Now, fans are experiencing the record for exactly what Tonight Alive wanted it to be – empowering and freeing. While they “got a lot of shit thrown” at them over the past year, Whakaio believes they are on a much better path than they would be if they hadn’t challenged themselves and made a predictable record.

Tonight Alive’s next record “has to be an ‘I Don’t Give a Fuck’ record”, as Jenna puts it. She wanted to make that record with Limitless, but recognized that she wasn’t ready at the time. Now, she feels like she is in a position where she feels like anything is possible, and believes that mentality will translate into the band’s new music. They very recently began writing for their next record, and have not fully honed in on the exact direction it’s going, but they anticipate some songs will sound like those on The Other Side, and others will sound like absolutely nothing they’ve done before.

“Beyond trying is just being,” Jenna says, “And that’s probably going to be the next mantra.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

65

jack griffo Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Growing up, Jack Griffo watched Nickelodeon hits like Drake & Josh, Zoey 101 and iCarly. He currently stars as Max Thunderman on The Thundermans – one of the network’s longest-running live action series. At 20-years-old, Jack has his sights set on exploring even more facets of the entertainment industry.

Jack was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. As the youngest of five children, he naturally followed in the footsteps of his older siblings, who were actively involved in theater productions. “It was always kind of an interest of mine since I was a little kid,” Jack says. “I started doing productions at my school – just plays – and by the time I was 12, I started doing community theater.”

At 12 years old, Jack played Schwartz in A Christmas Story. “That was a professional play where I had to leave school and I got a little bit of pay,” he recalls. “I remember getting that role was really exciting for me because it was a professional thing. It was a professional play, it was downtown and it was a repertory theatre. That was really cool, and I had seen shows there before.”

To gain further experience, Jack took 66

camera, film and television classes in his neighborhood. Encouraged by the people he worked with, Jack soon became determined to pursue acting as a serious profession.

By the time Jack was 13 and in the eighth grade, he was intent on moving to Los Angeles – he just needed to convince his parents. “That was around the time that I knew that I could do it, that I could be really happy doing that for a career,” Jack says. In 2010, Jack and his mom moved to L.A., with his father joining three years later.

Despite moving from the East Coast to the West Coast, he found the transition relatively simple thanks to his family and friends. “It was easy for me because I kept in touch with my friends back home a lot,” Jack says. “I still do, and I credit a lot of my normalcy to that – keeping in touch with your friends and where you came from.”

Upon moving to California, Jack spent approximately two years doing nonunion acting jobs before solid prospects materialized. “I see people come and go to L.A. all the time,” Jack says. “Kids come out from wherever they’re from

and try it out, and everyone doesn’t realize that it doesn’t just happen. It takes a lot of work, for most people.”

During those years, Jack spent his days training and attending classes several times a week. “Around 16, I started testing and getting closer to these roles, and sure enough, one of them landed.”

Jack is referring to his starring role as superhero-in-training Max Thunderman on The Thundermans, which is currently in its fourth season.

Initially, the show creators shot a pilot where Max was a few years older than his sister, Phoebe. After revising the plot, it was decided that Max and Phoebe should be twins. With an aged down Max, a new actor was needed to play the role.

Once Jack heard about the recasting, he jumped at the opportunity to audition – especially after finding out that his good friend Kira Kosarin landed the role of Phoebe. “I was already kind of part of the Nickelodeon family,” Jack explains. “I had done a pilot a year before that didn’t go, so they brought me right in for the chemistry reads because they knew me, they knew what I could do and what I brought to the table.” Since he and Kira

NKDMAG.COM

67

already knew each from attending the same school and acting class, the chemistry came easy for them. “I always thought of her as a little sister, because she is a little bit younger than me. And back then, it was much more dramatic – the age difference. Now, we’re really peers,” he says.

One of Jack’s favorite parts about playing Max is the fact that he’s been able to watch his character grow throughout the series. Similar to Max, Jack was a mischievous child. “When I was a kid, I was in detention a lot,” Jack admits. “I liked to bend the rules and play pranks.”

Playfulness aside, Jack and his character both value their families. “He really cares about his family, and I think that is shown through Season 3 of the show,” he says. “The fact that Max has really gotten to change – that he really has changed throughout the series – has been cool to be a part of.

In Season 1of The Thundermans, Max was primarily interested in becoming evil, rather than following in the superhero ways of his family. “With Season 3, the writers really started to give Max other things. Each episode by episode they would chip away at his evil character to teach him that maybe there’s other important things in life. His bandmates, his best friends and his girlfriend, Allison, became important to him,” Jack says.

The gradual evolution of his character led to Max choosing to abandon his evil aspirations and become good, saving the day and helping his family in the Season 3 finale.

With the fourth season currently airing, viewers are guaranteed to see a much different side of Max than the one given in the first season. “Now, Max is good and at a completely different place than he was years ago, and training to be in the Z Force,” Jack says.

Since airing on October 14, 2013, The Thundermans has become one of Nickelodeon’s most successful live-action shows. “We’re going to have 97 [episodes] at the end of our season four, and we might get a fifth. That’ll put us at the longest-running Nickelodeon show ever – if we get a Season 5.” Earlier this year, The Thundermans even took the title for Favorite TV Show at the Kids’ Choice Awards. Jack keeps his award close, as a constant reminder of the dedication and

effort he’s put into his career.

“The orange blimp is in my apartment in the Valley,” Jack says. “It’s right there.

We actually have a wall of mementos and cool experiences that we can look to and have a story about, so we have this wall of stuff and put the blimp right front and center, because it’s a cool thing. It was an important thing.”

Although he’s leading a new generation of Nickelodeon shows, Jack doesn’t take his position for granted. “To know that I auditioned for so many Nick and Disney shows as a kid, shows that you’ve seen come and go and I’ve seen come and go on air – and I’d be bummed when I didn’t get it when I was a kid – but now looking at it all in retrospect and hindsight’s 20/20, now I’m so grateful to know that my show, out of all of them, was the one where Max really grew, and I got to play him,” she says.

Despite the common belief that young actors who work for child-geared networks become type-casted, Jack is confident that such a scenario won’t be the case for him. “It happens all the time to these kids who come to L.A., get on a Nick or Disney show and then don’t work after that because they get type-casted,” he says. “But I think I have a really great team behind me of agents and PR and everyone encouraging me, pushing me to stretch my muscles and maybe go out and make myself uncomfortable and learn things that I might not be able to practice on Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon is great, it’s just a specific type of acting and so I credit a lot of it to my team, pushing me to go out, to study, to go to classes and get those experiences.”

Aside from acting, Jack spends his days experimenting with music. “I was always into music,” he says. “When I was a kid – my parents tell me now – I was always singing and doing stuff.” Similar to how he got started with acting, Jack became interested with learning to play the guitar after observing his older brothers. Around age 12, he took formal lessons for over a year. Once mastering the basics, he taught himself songs – with the help of some of his favorite artists.

“My favorite concert I ever went to was Dashboard Confessional and they had great guitar playing,” Jack recalls. “Chris Carrabba is one of my favorite songwriters and I learned a lot of my playing from

that.

Eventually, singing while playing the guitar became second-nature to Jack.

In the years before The Thundermans, he launched a YouTube page, where he uploaded his own covers of popular songs. “It was a chapter. It was definitely a process and a journey and that was definitely part of it – doing YouTube and doing covers – and I think music is definitely in my future, for sure. But right now, I’m exploring. Some days I want to be the front man in a band. Other days I want to do Broadway. So, I need to focus and prioritize.”

When the time and place are right, Jack plans on releasing music. For now, he settles with posting the occasional, short cover on Instagram. “It’s an important thing and I don’t want it to be forced,” he explains. “I’ve experienced that before.

I’ve experienced the being pushed to do that kind of thing before, and it’s too important to let that happen.”

Jack’s career thus far recently came full circle when he participated in a staged reading as part of Wesley Taylor’s Proud of Us and Other Short Plays event in New York City. For Jack, the night of play readings brought him back to his theater roots. “That was a cool thing because I was pretty keen to reading lines because we have table reads every week [for The Thundermans]. Obviously there wasn’t a table, but we were reading,” Jack says.

Reading alongside other household actors was admittedly “a little intimidating,” but he considers the event to be a positive one. “It was a cool experience for me to get to do that, be in front of an audience and feel the energy.”

Whether it’s acting, singing, theater productions, or another venture on Jack’s radar for the future, he’s prepared to put in the necessary time and effort.

“The work is always going to come first.

Nothing can come before that, and everything follows after you do the work.

You have to like the work. A lot of kids come thinking it’s going to be a walk in the park and when they realize that it’s not and that there’s a lot that goes into it, that’s when they leave,” Jack says, “I think the most important thing deciding that you want to be in the entertainment industry is knowing ahead of time that it’s not easy. It takes work and it takes diligence.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

69

NKDMAG.COM