HOLIDAYS, HEALTH, + HAPPINESS WITH LA LA ANTHONY

We always enjoy when we have the opportunity to catch up with STARZ’s BMF and Showtime’s The Chi star, La La Anthony! We love when we see her in a number of projects whether it’s in TV, film, as an entrepreneur and more! With the holiday season that’s known for a number of events as well as taking that time to think about how you are stepping into the New Year, we wanted to catch up with her to see about how she navigates this business season personally and professionally!

She partnered with Delsym because when a cough starts making its way around La La’s house, there are two things La La’s family needs to feel better together so they don’t miss out on any holiday festivities: Delsym, the #1 doctor recommended, 12-hour cough suppressant, and her favorite Puerto Rican Chicken Soup recipe, her go-to comfort meal when her family is feeling under the weather this cold and flu season.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s the holiday season. We can’t even believe that it’s the end of the year!

LA LA ANTHONY: Right? How did that happen?

AM: It’s like we blinked in April and here we are in Dec!

We’re enjoying tons of activities, but it’s also the time of year that we can get a bit under the weather. How do you navigate that during this time of year?

LLA: Well, that’s exactly why you know that I wanted to do this partnership with Delsym. It’s been a staple in my house so especially having a son for a very long time. So, you know when that cough is starting and we’re not feeling well, that is my go-to. So why not let the world know?

Delsym, you know is the #1 doctor recommended 12-hour cough suppressant. That along with this chicken soup that my mom taught me how to make when I was growing up, that’s the one thing that I learned in the kitchen, because I’m not that good in the kitchen. That combo right there, you’re good to go. So I definitely wanted to be part of Delsym’s, Bring Comfort Home Campaign. In this kit, you’ll also get all the ingredients to make my favorite chicken soup. It’s DelsymMealKit.com. You’re seeing it behind me right now and it’s just something that Kiyan, my son, and I have been rocking with for a very long time.

AM: When you’re under the weather, you have the things that you do. I have my favorite set of cashmere, my streamed shows, that oversized mug that I’m drinking out of. I love a good chicken soup recipe so what is it?

LLA: So, I grew up in a Hispanic household. Both of my parents are from Puerto Rico, so it has Spanish, Latin, Puerto Rican flavor in there. So, it’s however my mom taught me, what seasoning to use, how to mix it up – it has that kind of flavor to it, which is why I love it so much and it’s easy. Because if you follow the steps, I feel that anyone can do it, because if I can do it, anyone can do it, because I don’t know how to cook at all, so it’s literally like, if I follow it and she tells me what it is start to finish, the result is going to be good! It definitely has Latin flavors like Sazon to it. So you know it’s going to be good!  

AM: Definitely checking it out as the other night I enjoyed having Avgolemono (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup), which I thought was amazing and I had never had it before. So this, sounds like another winner to me even if I’m not sick because I do love Chicken Soup!

LLA: Oh no, that’s the same with me! It’s just my go-to for holiday seasons in general. I don’t know, there’s something about eating something that you had growing up that makes you feel nostalgic, like holiday, and home. So, it kind of for me, brings all of that out for me.

AM: There are a number of traditions that we enjoy as well as those that we make as we go along. What are some of your favorites during this holiday season?

LLA: So for me, I grew up and always had tons of people in my house. It was my whole family, that’s how it has always been. So I have continued that tradition so now in my home, Thanksgiving just passed, I had 30-35 family members – it might have been more now that I think about it. 35 family members in my house, which my house ain’t even big enough to fit 35 people! So we were all just cramped in there and we’ve always been like that. Just playing games, music, laughing, and fun. We just had a great time and the same thing with Christmas, it’s just continuing that family gathering and having everyone together and taking a break from their crazy lives, work, and everything that they have going on. So, it’s always been like that. It’s nice to be in a place where I can continue that same holiday tradition.

AM: Well, this season means that we do tons of different activities whether it’s with our colleagues at work, friends, and family. What’s the best way that we can keep it cute and fresh when we’re doing all of these different things?

LLA: Stay healthy! That’s how you keep it cute and fresh! The holidays are when people get sick, so stay healthy so that you can be outside and that you can enjoy these social events and gatherings. It’s fun being outside and doing the Christmas parties, the NYE parties, it’s fun. You get to be social, you get to meet people, and you don’t want to miss out on that stuff because you’re not feeling well. Stay on top of your health, stay on top of you’re A-game. Another reason why this partnership was important to me is because I want to be my best, and I want Kiyan to be his best so that he can be great at everything that he is doing.  

AM: What are you thinking of in terms of gifting friends and family this year? What are things that we should also be thinking about for our holiday lists?  

LLA: So candles to me are always great! Like, candles are easy, but they are so symbolic and they have so much meaning. You can get candles that are engraved, you can get candles that say a quote or a scripture on it, whatever your preference is. But, I think that that’s like a not too expensive gift that it’s intimate and it feels thoughtful. That’s always my go-to. Like, who doesn’t want a beautiful candle?

It’s not something that you’ll ever have enough of. You’re not going to be like, “oh, I’m at my candle limit!” There’s no such thing.

AM: Especially those that are in those big jars!

LLA: Oh yeah, I love! Those are really pretty.

AM: Well, you’re an amazing mom, a great actress, and you’re always putting your name and intention behind great things! It’s always great when I have the ability to be able to interview you and to see all the things that you continue to do. I know that with you, it’s always going to be excellence.

LLA: I really appreciate you saying that, thank you so much!

You can sign up to win a Delsym Comfort Meal Kit, featuring La La Anthony's Puerto Rican Chicken Soup recipe ingredients beginning today through Friday, January 5th by visiting DelsymMealKit.com. Winners will be selected and notified in early January. Terms and conditions apply. But we also want to give you the scoop on her recipe as well which you can read below!

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

STORING SEEDS | JB SMOOVE

We're all about big energy while keeping it real and J.B. Smoove is both of these! You know when you see him on the stage or on your screen that he's going to make you laugh, think and give you his philosphy on life and how to approach it - all while rocking great style. We've enjoyed seeing him in a number of films from Pootie Tang, Barbershop: The Next Cut, the Spider-Man franchise and more. He's also been in numerous TV series from The Last O.G., Woke and of course Curb Your Enthusiasm. He's someone that you see everywhere and yet he aligns perfectly with the projects that we see him in.

We had to check in with him to find out about his journey from being a standup comedian, SNL writer and performer, actor and more. He talked about how he honed his skills, how he navigates his career and what he has coming up.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the moment that you realized that you wanted to be an entertainer?

J.B. SMOOVE: You know, I’ve always been the one – some people have a high threshold for pain, I think that that’s what it is. In simple terms, I think that I have this thing and feel for people when I know that people need laughter and they need communication. They need all these fun things that make life easier.

I remember one time that I missed my flight because somebody stopped me and I could tell that this dude needed somebody to talk to about his dreams and I missed my damn flight! I felt like, damn I’ll get the next one. In that moment, it just felt like something was - like sometimes you just have to talk people off the ledge in some sense you know? It’s their life, it’s their everything, but sometimes what you provide for people is something that you can’t buy. I think that shows that you’re a real person and it shows you that you can reach out and touch that person. What I promote is real!

You know how fans get, sometimes they don’t believe that you are who you are or who they think you are, or who they perceive you to be by what you do on camera. You know how it is. Nowadays, the world is faster, people promote certain things, but that’s not who they are. They do things to be accepted, to be liked, to be all these things and it’s not real and it doesn’t come from a real place. I think for me and my upbringing from where I started from is something that I can appreciate more. I’m talking about the days from pulling over and having to make a phone call at the phone booth! Those days, it was more hands on – you know what I mean? There’s automatic transmission and then there’s manual – I’m a manual dude! I got to switch gears for myself. I need to know when to slow down and when to hit the brake! Sometimes I don’t brake at all! Most of the time, I’m just changing gears because brake means that I’m going to stop. When you’re changing gears, I’m just navigating through it! You know what I mean? It’s different!

AM: And it is different!

I think that you have such an authenticity about you and that’s why people love being able to see you. It’s great to see you popping on screen in your shows or starting up my Mon with your podcast. I know that when I hear you, I’m going to get you as an authentic full experience!

JBS: Yes indeed! And that, you know to answer the question – that is something that I do from the heart and for the love of what I do! For the love of being in the moment, for the love of something to hold onto that knowledge and to hold onto that laughter! Holding onto things that makes me happy – it’s the ability to benefit the world or the people who also want to do what I do or just want to be inspired. I do think that it applies to every walk of life no matter what your occupation is or what your dreams are, the same process applies. Come early, stay late, be courteous to people, respect their dreams and what they're trying to do – don’t waste their time, don’t waste your time. There are certain things that will apply always. I think that is the core of growth and the core of achieving your dreams. What I want to do is to be consistent. I want to give this laughter away whether you’re paying me or if you’re not paying for it. I don’t get paid if I stop and talk to someone for half an hour and miss my flight. I can’t say, “oh I got paid for that so it’s ok I missed the flight.” No, I’m doing that because I felt something for this person in that moment that they needed this quick little talk and it’s free.

AM: How did you hone your craft?

JBS: You know, being in real situations. Real situations are a comedian's food. That’s our food. Real situations, you can elaborate on real situations and make them funny. You can take pain and make it funny. You can take funny and make it funnier. So you know, it’s all in the construction of the joke, the construction of the situation, the construction of the scene – you know? That is where it comes from. I always say that anyone can tell a joke if I have to use what I do for a living. Anybody can tell a joke, but not everyone can sell a joke. Everybody can’t sell it – you can tell it – but everybody can’t sell it!

AM: I am the worst joke teller because I forget the parts, I have to stop and reset it – so I definitely can’t sell it.

JBS: Oh yeah, that’s true!

AM: I remember when I first saw you for Def Comedy Jam as a standup comedian and then you went onto SNL as a writer and a performer! What was that experience like?

JBS: To me it was great. But again, you gotta make decisions on your movement because when I started on Def Comedy Jam and I was on BET and did all of these TV shows, guest-starring, touring in colleges, those road gigs, tours and all of the things that I have done, making the decision to move to LA, doing all of that stuff and making the decision to go on Cedric the Entertainer Presents, getting on Lyricists Lounge Show – doing guest spots on TV shows, doing my first CBS deal – all those things I’ve done.

Then to sit there and say, “ok I have this audition for SNL.” My second time auditioning for SNL actually. I did it twice. I was going for cast member. For me, you sit there and you say, I’m going in for cast member and I didn’t make the show as a performer but I ended up making the show as a writer. Even when I got the offer for a writer, I was in the middle of a deal for a host of stuff of my own so I had to say do I put myself on hold to work on Saturday Night Live? So I sat and thought about it and decided that it would look great on my resume so I said, as more of a business move. I know that the percentage of shows that actually air are so small and back then it was REALLY hard! Back then we didn’t have streaming services. We didn’t have Netflix and Hulu and Amazon. We didn’t have any of this stuff. It was just regular TV, HBO and Showtime. We had the premium channels but those opportunities, we didn’t have as big of a chance to get someone to air. I had to sit there and say, “ok. If I put this to the side and do this, how can I make this work for me?” I said, I will do this and then figure it out later. But this is going to look great on my resume – SNL.

So I came to SNL and when I got here, I ended up doing sketches, I ended up being a writer on the show, I ended up doing monologues on the show and ended up doing all these amazing things for the show and doing warmups for my 3 seasons. So I ended up doing a lot of stuff and that was 4 different checks – that’s a NY hustle right there! But that’s also being someone who has different skills – who can be a utility person – 4 things at the same time. That helps me and shows how I can be versatile. I can do 4 jobs at once.

For me, it worked out perfect. I had the chance to be JB, I had a chance to be someone who's able to do all of these amazing things and at the same time, it allowed me to work and build my resume and network with these amazing guest stars of the show. So it was definitely a process. I can’t say that it was easy – it was hard work because you’re talking about someone going from being a standup comedian to being a writer. I wasn’t a traditional writer. I improvise a lot in my standup so for me it made more sense to take it, do all of my skills under one roof. I did 3 seasons over there and it looks great on my resume, so it served its purpose doing it that way.

None of those other opportunities went away, the opportunities for TV shows were still there, the opportunities for movies were still there and I was still able to leave there and do a bunch of movies – The Sitter, Hall Pass, Date Night all in a row. I got a chance to do all of that stuff and when I was working over at SNL, I did Conan O’Brien. Conan O’Brien’s show, he was still at NBC at that time and I did his show as a sketch artist 10 times. So I had a chance to get from behind the desk typing jokes, go downstairs on the elevator and do a sketch with Conan and then get back in the elevator upstairs to finish working. I got a chance to do so many things while I was over there. Again, it wasn’t easy and it was humbling in some sense. You’re in control on stage but you’re not in control on this show which is live TV. Everything is just fast. You have to sit there and write all night long for these sketches and it’s humbling because it’s like your trying out for the cheerleading team or the football team and you go in the hallway and they put the list up of who made the team. There was a piece of paper in the hallway that said whose sketch made it and you had to read that list on the wall and you’d say, "damn, I didn’t get it."

AM: Oh wow that happened every week!

JBS: It was an amazing experience and I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. I would have rather taken this process that I have already completed rather than this fast and quick process that these young people are doing now. I had more time to smell the roses.

AM: I’m a huge fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm, you joined it in the 6th season and I know that the 12th season is coming back, how did you get attached to the show and how involved are you in creating and evolving the character of Leon Black?

JBS: Oh man! My wife told me that I was going to be on the show. We would watch the show, we loved the show and even when I was on SNL, we would talk about the show on our writing days. One day I said, that I would love to be on the show and man I got the opportunity. I always say that one thing has to step out of the way in order for something else to come through. I didn’t get renewed for my 4th season of SNL and I literally went from coming to LA for a friend’s memorial – my friend Oji Pierce who composed and produced This is How We Do It and I was there for his memorial service. I make moves because I trust my process and I trust my talent. I know I always bounce back from things. I had actually fired my agent – I fired every damn body! I knew that once I fired them, I wasn’t going back to SNL.

The agents are the ones that fight for you and keep you hired. They are the ones that call and make it go. I said, well if I fire my agent who I am not happy with, I know for a fact, that I will not get spoken about and they’re not going to push to keep me on the show if they’re not getting paid to do what they do. So I said, “well, I’m going to see what happens.” I fired them and I knew I wasn’t going back and for a fact that with no one there to speak for me, there was no way that I was going to be able to stay at SNL.

So I took that chance, I rolled the dice and I took that chance. Low and behold, I didn’t get renewed. I was out on the road for a month doing standup. Oji passed away, my wife already told me that I was going to be on Curb Your Enthusiasm and I got a phone call of my friend passing and I went to LA for one day. I signed with a new agent before I went to LA, went to meet them when I got to LA and one of the agents said, “man, I have an audition for you – how long are you in town?” I told them that I had come into town for 1 day to pay respects to my buddy and I was going back tomorrow.

He said he had an audition for me and I asked him what it was for and he said, Curb Your Enthusiasm. I said, “get out of here, you have to be kidding me!” I went on the audition and you know, I did what I did well which is improvise which takes these scenes and make them my own. Let me do what I do because I’m going to do what I do! Me and Larry hit it off in the audition. We hit it off to the point where we were in there laughing our butts off and having a good time. We became friends that day. I left there and said to myself, if someone gets that job, God bless them, but me and that man had a great time! That leads to me being on the greatest improvised show to me in TV history.

So, my process is, I’m an improv guy. I have been improvising my entire life and I think that that’s a life choice too. Improvising gives you the ability to change your mind in the moment where no one will ever know that you changed your mind! Improvising will give you the ability to sway someone in a different direction. Improvising gives you a way of reading energy and reading their body language – all of these great things that you can do by knowing the process and being able to improvise. It pays off in life, it pays off in acting, it pays off in real estate sales if you’re a realtor. You can be anyone you want, but if you improvise just a little bit, it allows you to pick up little nuances about people that you can use to your advantage.

I think that that’s what helps me so much having to improvise in my standup career so much. It really allowed me to take that skill and to use that 1 little improv class that I took that summer before I started doing standup. I would tell anyone that they should take improv – I don’t care what you do. That allowed me to really hone in on my acting skills and to get in the moment which makes my standup shows so different. I’m literally listening to what this particular audience is laughing at which is what I apply to Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Whatever is working for my character and sometimes, I don’t know what I will do with my character. Sometimes I don’t know. Sometimes I just go with what the scene is and I take that. Sometimes what I do is, I will decide in the moment if I want to have Larry’s back or if I want to go against Larry. I decide right there, do I want to be on Larry’s side or will I go against him – what is the better argument here? I really decide in the moment and it gives me the upper hand and let’s me drive that. It also lets me give him something new that he doesn’t know about the character every time I work with him. That way, I create these forks in the road – these branches to the character. My character has never been defined. We still don’t know where the hell he came from – so for me to be able to make that up over the 6 seasons that I have been there is great! I can still tell people a little more that they need to know about Leon which makes it fun!

AM: You have been in so many series and films from Spider-Man movies, co-hosting – what do you look for when you’re sent projects and what goes into your decision on whether you’re going to participate in something?

JBS: I go by this, which works for me: I read the script of course. If they specifically call for me, I’m kind of past the audition process at this point because I am established all these years. I get offers for things and I can say yay or nay to the offer. Once in a while, I have to read for something – once in a while. It could be something very specific or something that is outside of my lane and it’s to show that I can do something if it’s a drama or something like that. If I meet a director or a producer and they ask for me specifically and they say that they want me to make my character my own, that is the most precious words that I can hear for an improv guy or a guy that they can trust to do that character. When they say, “make the character your own JB. We love your voice and your sensibilities and we love what you do and we want you to be that character and vice versa.” So I’m like cool, let me make it my own and I take that character and I make them my own. This happens in movies, in TV, in commercials, in animations – it doesn’t matter. They let me do me and if it’s animations, I say let me see the character so I can see who it is and then I can take that character and then I can make that character my own.

AM: You also have Four Courses with JB Smoove, why did you want to do this?

JBS: You know what. I love talk shows and I love talking to friends and I’m good at it. I love to sit there and kick it and have a convo with people and that is what makes interviewing people so fun. I’m curious of the process. I’m curious about your path and I’m really engaged. I love to laugh and I love the stories. I love to tell stories and I love to be interviewed while I’m interviewing – you know what I’m saying? I think that’s fun. I love to be interviewed while I’m interviewing.

AM: Last year when May I Elaborate? first came out, I knew I would be obsessed with it. I love hearing you and Miles Grose talking back and forth about various topics and it was a great way to start my day. Why did you want to create this podcast show?

JBS: You know what? It was one of those things where everybody was doing podcasts. I knew that if everyone was doing podcasts, I had to do something that was funny, insightful and I like to give what I call, broken wisdom sometimes! I feel like there’s more than 1 way for you to be able to get it. For some people, you have to shake it out of their ass and then you have to shake it into them and then shake whatever the issue is out of them at the same time. I think of that tough hard love in a funny way and in a way that makes sense to people. I’m giving it to you in a way that is like a friend. I’m not a doctor, I don’t know it all, I know a lot about everything and a little bit about nothing. You need that balance! You have to tell people sometimes that, “I’m not sure but God damn, I know you got to give it to them like that and here’s what I would do.” I can’t say it’s going to work, but this is what I would do and this is how to get the process started. You sometimes have to get out of your own fucking head. If I can get you out of your own head, I’m halfway there! That’s the block right there. You’re like a controlled schizophrenic – you are battling yourself in your own head. Different versions of you don’t know how to handle certain things. So you’re stuck in a certain place and you just need to find some kind of way to talk to the right person in your head to get it moving in the right direction.

AM: With the 2nd season dropping last month, what can we expect for the season going forward? Last season was really long as it was everyday which was great. This season, the format is a little different with it being on Mon and you guys have more personalities that are joining you each week like Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Nealon and Randall Park. What can we look forward to?

JBS: In the 1st season, we did almost 190 episodes! Which is crazy! So, we will more than likely maybe transition this amazing podcast into possibly an animated version – we’re not sure yet. We think that the wisdom is funny enough and the visuals that I give Miles and that Miles gives me, you always want to see it and I think that there is a funny way to present this show.

It’s so funny, we got nominated for a podcast award but guess what? We didn’t get nominated in the comedy category. We got nominated in the inspirational and religious category which is crazy! We got nominated with all the gurus and people who are speaking real shit. We’re taking real things and just elaborating on them in a funny way and we get put in that category instead of a comedy one which is nutso! It’s a little bit flattering in some ways to be nominated with all of these amazing people who are really speaking truth to the world. But it’s also like, damn, is what we’re saying not funny or are we ambidextrous - we’re left and right-handed? Can we do both? We have found a way to do both!

Without Miles, Miles is the glue. He is the voice of reason. He is the funniest dude ever. He does the research, I elaborate and he pulls me back. So, we have something that works well and yes, we’re not sure what we’re going to do with the show yet. We have so many ideas on our slate that it’s unlimited amount of ideas that we have that we can do and we haven't locked in what we’re going to do with May I Elaborate?, but we’re not locked out of it either. So, we’ve done a lot of episodes. For this type of show, we’re not just turning it on and talking. You have to do a little research and it takes a lot of time and looking at the perfect quote and affirmation and using it to our advantage.

AM: For last season, it was just the perfect show especially in the midst of the pandemic. To be able to have those lighter moments that would come in and to start the day off with that, it allowed us to have some laughs before we delved into the work here at Athleisure Mag whether it was booking, virtual shoots, meetings etc and it created a part of the day that we looked forward to. That was definitely special but in general. I’m always excited to hear what you will elaborate on?

JBS: Yes and we’re looking forward to doing in some capacity – anything that we can do to help people and to keep things fresh and fun. As little work as possible, but as much of a reward as possible.

AM: You have also had amazing partnerships whether it’s with Crown Royale, Caesars or JUST Egg to name a few. What do you look for when it comes to brand alignment that wants to connect with you? How do you decide what you want to lend your brand to?

JBS: I kind of go with the notion of to talk about what I know about – that way I’m not ever in a weird position. I’m a vegan so I love the JUST Egg relationship that we have. I entertain a lot so I did love my Crown Royale campaign. Every campaign I have ever done, I have always found a way to make it something that I love and that I can put a lot of energy into it and I use it. We were doing this branded entertainment with these companies for years before anybody was really doing it. I did a Mountain Dew campaign years ago – Mountain Dew White Out campaign – you name it. This Caesars one is just another one that I love. I love taking on characters. I like characters. I grew up in the age where commercials were about the characters – the “Where’s the Beef” lady, I love commercials man –

AM: The “Time to Make the Donuts” man.

JBS: Oh yes – time to make the donuts! I love that stuff! I always loved characters and reoccurring cool characters.

AM: We love your Caesars Sportsbook one. Like you said the fact that it’s characters, but also – we love football. We’re in NY, but also – I love football. We’re in NY, but I’m originally from Indiana so when you had the Mannings – that was exciting and then of course, Halle Berry in the commercial! How did this come back with you partnering with them and what will you do with them in terms of ongoing work?

JBS: Well, I actually did a commercial years ago a with a director. The commercial never made it to air, but what happened was, the director remembered me and he loved the commercial even though it never aired and he reached out. He said he was doing a campaign with Caesars and he didn’t see anyone else being Caesar but me! He liked my voice, my delivery and he knew it would be fun. He said he couldn’t imagine anyone else embodying this emperor than me. He said that he thought that it would be amazing and wanted to know if I wanted to do it and I thought it sounded hilarious. He said if we were going to do it, we were going to start the campaign and he had already sold me to Caesars and let them know that they would be blown away by me and that I was his guy. He told them that no one would be able to do this better than JB.

Now that goes back to what we were talking about – coming early, staying late, being courteous, not being a diva – all those things. I’m a seed planter. This is another version of planting seeds for later. I’m the squirrel who has those acorns and buries them for winter. That’s why my phone rings constantly. I’m always planting seeds and I have tons of seeds still planted. My phone rings and it keeps going and that’s why it keeps ringing because I have already planted these seeds and relationships that I have built already. That’s how I keep busy. People say all the time, “man, you’re everywhere – but you don't see everything at one time.” Everything is spread out over time because I have planted seeds and projects and it’s going to come out at this time and then this project over here will come out after this project at this time. My visibility is always up there and that’s the fun part.

AM: You’re an Emmy award winner, author, comedian, actor, producer, podcast host - you do so many things. What else do you want to add to your portfolio that you have yet to do?

JBS: I know at some point, I will get behind the camera and direct something. We started a brand new company called Alternate Side Productions, we’re going to build an amazing brand, an amazing company which will be off the hook. We’re going to do some amazing projects under the JB Smoove banner with brand and style and the things that we love to do. We’re going to build that and I’m going to put a lot of people to work. I think that that’s what needs to be done to build a production company. I want to drop some amazing products in the vegan lane. I’m a vegan. That’s going to be another thing. I have been doing the vegan thing for a long time. A lot of people are just jumping on the bandwagon, but you know, I let them do what they do. I’ve been vegan for awhile and I have been harping on this for awhile now and linking myself with other vegan products. A lot of people are just getting onto it and you know, it’s all good. I’m already established in this lane so it’s another thing and extension of what I do. It’s also another extension of caring about people’s health and my own health.

AM: What led you to want to become a vegan?

JBS: Well my wife has been a vegan for forever. My wife is a musical artist and has been a vegan forever and hasn’t had meat in something like 27 years. So, she was a vegetarian for awhile, then a vegan and now she is a raw vegan which is a whole other level. She’s doing that now, but I’m a straight vegan. I’ve been part-time/full-time for a long time. I was part-time vegan and full-time carnivore for awhile. Now, for the past 4 years, I have been a straight vegan and it’s been great.

AM: As you say, you’re always planting seeds. Do you have upcoming projects that you are able to share that we should keep an eye out for?

JBS: Not right now. The main thing I’m working on right now is of course, you know that Curbed got greenlit for season 12, I have a bunch of animated shows coming out, I have the new season of Woke out right now and I’m recording something right now for a video game. I’m also recording 2 other animated shows at the same time. I’m also building this company. I’m resuming my standup tour and I’m also doing a special and hoping that I can get it done by the top of the year. There’s a bunch of cool things that I am working on and I’m very happy with my process. I like to be the steady tortoise sometimes – I don’t need everything at one time, I still love my private time so that I can RV. I still love to do all the fun things that I love to do. As I said, my wife is also out there doing her thing with her new studio. We’re doing so many cool things and also we’re building some companies outside of entertainment. Yeah we’re just doing cool stuff and things that are off our interest list.

AM: You have great style that's well accessorized. As a stylist in addition to my role as a Co-Founder and Style Director at Athleisure Mag, how do you define your style and would you ever create your own clothing/accessory line?

JBS: I love style! I grew up in an era where you build your outfits from the shoes up. You get a nice pair of reliable comfortable shoes because the first thing people do is look down at your feet and then they work their way up to your eyes.

I do have some amazing things coming out. I’m working on a watch, I’m working on a hat line and some amazing bracelets. I’m working on a few amazing things. Yes, all of these things I plan on dropping before the new year and this is going to be some amazing accessories. Apparel is a little hard, but accessories are something that I love and I love things that I consider conversation pieces. A conversation piece will get you in the door and you can meet your new boss. It just takes the interview and this changes the meeting and the relationship and takes it to something different. It gets you in differently.

I tell young people all the time, create a conversation piece whether it's a rose or a flower in your lapel – something that people look at and think, “wow, I like his style. I like what he represents.” That is the #1 thing – a shiny pair of shoes, a pocket square – something amazing on you to create and allow people to keep their eyes on you. It creates that question of, what kind of rose is that, what kind of pocket square – who made that tie? All these things are things that people look at and allows them to reaffirm who you are!

AM: I couldn’t agree more – statement pieces are so essential!

With everything that you have done, what do you want your legacy to be?

JBS: I just want to be known as a chance taker. I believe in getting as many at bats as possible. Get as many swings at the ball as possible. I have always been one where I have had some stumbles, but I have a bad memory of those stumbles. I tell people all the time that life keeps going – it keeps moving. To be free of mind and to be free to take as many swings as possible and to know that you can change your mind. Take as many swings of the things that you want to do in this life as possible. The more swings you get, the more hits you get. If you’re sitting on your hands, you can’t get the swings! I always say, get those swings in, figure out your progress, figure out what you want to do and keep swinging at it. I want to be known as chance taker, a guy that always walks on a tightrope with no net. I always feel like I got good balance. With good balance, you never worry about falling - you know what I mean? If you worry about falling, you worry about standing up.

IG @ohsnapjbsmoove

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 30 - 31 Harrison O'Brien | PG 33 + 43 Noemad | PG 34, 50 + PG 73 - 75 9DRIP Storm Santo | PG 36 - 40 Curb Your Enthusiasm HBO/John P Johnson | PG 44 - 47 Luis Ruiz | PG 49 The Last O.G. TBS/Cara Howe |

Read the MAY ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see STORING SEEDS | JB Smoove in mag.

ON THE SCENE | BRIAN MICHAEL SMITH

Over the last few years, Brian Michael Smith has been a man that has had clutch characters in shows that are part of major cultural moments. We love the way he embraces the shows that he's in as well as really being into the process of movie making magic behind the camera. We catch up with Brian to find out how he gained the love he has for the entertainment industry, we chat about his process to approaching playing his roles, we talk about him being one of our faves in FOX's 9-1-1: Lone Star and his advocacy in the trans community.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?

BRIAN MICHAEL SMITH: I’ve always had an inclination towards acting. My family was pretty close knit and full of people who couldn’t tell a story without acting it out, and I learned at a very young age that I liked to entertain. I truly fell in love with acting when I was in fifth grade and our class put together a play where we made up the plot and characters. I remember how powerful it felt to step out there and have everyone respond to and believe in my character without question. It felt like anything was possible and I loved it. I stayed involved with acting a bit throughout school, but it wasn’t until I was in my 20s living in New York that I decided to really commit to acting professionally. In fact, I remember it was a day I was working background in one of the battle scenes of the Dark Knight Rises. It was something I started doing to learn more about working on set and earning some side money. It was a Saturday, and Wall St. was shut down, there were like 600 people dressed as cops or warriors, IMAX cranes, Batmobiles, fake snow blowing around. Christopher Nolan (Tenet, Justice League, Interstellar), Tom Hardy (Inception, Legend, Venom) and Christian Bale (Vice, The Big Short, American Hustle) were a foot away hammering out the scene. I’m standing there with my partner, and they call action and all these guys start yelling and doing their fight choreography and it's FUN! They yell cut after what felt like 15 minutes and we're all standing there panting and I just remember looking around thinking this is exactly how it felt when I was a kid at my happiest, outside playing with my friends on Saturday mornings and I love this and would do it for free. Then I’m looking around at all the people involved to make this, the hundreds of different jobs, and it hit me that yes this is a real industry, a profession, a day-to-day and this is all I want to do.

AM: You have been in a number of phenomenal shows including Toine Wilkins in Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar on OWN, Pierce Williams in Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q and currently, you play Paul Strickland in 9-1-1: Lone Star just to name a few. When you’re selecting projects that you want to be part of, what is your process and what are you looking for?

BMS: My process has depended on the project or what my career or creative goal has been at the time. At first, it was about getting experience and learning the craft and industry. And then as I started to earn more credits and get my career going, I shifted my focus to developing a body of work that spoke to what was important to me as a person and defined who I am as an artist. Around 2016, when looking for work, I started asking my myself, “What story do I want to tell right now? And what part of myself or being a person do I want to explore in my work?”

And then right before I booked Queen Sugar, I was asking myself, “as an artist what do I want to say?" What can I do with a character, a scenario that no one else can do?” And these are the questions I still use when seeking out work.

AM: I have been a fan of 9-1-1: Lone Star from the beginning and have enjoyed Paul and seeing his contributions to his team as well as sharing his life as a trans man on the show. Can you tell me about him and what drew you to wanting to play him?

BMS: I love Paul, he is a great aspirational character. He possesses a lot of qualities I admire like bravery, tenacity, aptitude, and a great sense of humor. He’s definitely a guy you want on your team. You know he will have your back. He has a fierce love for people in his family including his chosen family and the community that he serves. He is an enigma in a way, and it has been really interesting for me to discover more about him as the seasons develop.

What drew me to him originally was that he was a character I pretty much manifested for myself. At the time the audition notice came out, I was working on the L Word and really enjoying playing Pierce who was very different from me in a lot of ways that I enjoyed exploring. He was reserved, he was methodical and very corporate. And while I enjoyed that, I was in a space where I really wanted to play someone more physical.

I was at an event in the summer of 2019 and a friend had asked me, “If you could be playing character right now what would you want to be playing?” And I had literally just wrote in my vision board/ goal sheet: “Be cast as a series regular in an ensemble action-oriented procedural TV show that keeps me working in LA, increases my footprint.” As I was sharing that with him, I got the email for the audition for Paul in Lone Star.

In the casting breakdown, Paul was described originally as ‘a Midwest roughneck’ and I loved that and also the note about his powers of observation, so I like this idea of this very physical tough guy who is also really smart and a bit of a brainiac.

AM: You play a firefighter – what is it like to prepare to play Paul physically, emotionally and mentally?

BMS: Physically, it has been a journey to figure out how to best play Paul. When I first started to get ready, my goal was to just get in shape. I’d been playing a character with a very different style than Paul on the L Word and knowing how physical and athletic Paul was going to be, I wanted to look like a firefighter so my training for the weeks leading up to Lone Star was focused on that goal. I found myself hitting the gym 5 days a week, doing weightlifting workouts I used to do when I was a thrower in college and then adding circuit training to trim down. But when we actually started visiting fire stations and working with actual firefighters, I saw that the build I had developed was cute for TV but didn’t really match the real-world physique of most of these guys, I could barely work the equipment for anything longer than a minute and was pretty easily gassed out when doing the job-based activities. So, I went back to the drawing board with my physical training and came up with a program that focused on functional strength and muscle endurance. I looked up training programs and exercises that actual firefighters do, I added a weighted vest to my circuit workouts and added functional mobility work to my warms up.

This physical work actually helped me connect emotionally to Paul, because I felt like one of the survival mechanisms he developed in Chicago to counter discrimination was to put all his energy into what he could control and to be the best firefighter he could be. I understood more about the amount of work he put in to do that what it would have meant for him to have that work overlooked for years in Chicago, then to have it recognized and celebrated by Owen and the 126 in Austin. Mentally and emotionally, it has been exciting and enjoyable to prepare to play Paul because he gets to do things that I’ve dreamed about doing, you know? He’s a lifesaver, he gets involved in these crazy rescues, and every day is different. He also gets the chance to live fully as his authentic self with people who love him.

AM: It’s an incredible cast and crew from having Ryan Murphy (Glee, Pose, American Horror Story) as the co-creator to working with Rob Lowe (West Wing, Code Black, Californication), Jim Parrack (True Blood, The Deuce, Suicide Squad) and Gina Torres (Suits, Westworld, The Catch) to name a few. What’s it like being able to work on this show and to be able to tell a series of stories that are so timely for us to watch as viewers?

BMS: It’s genuinely a dream come true for me to work with such incredible, talented, and giving people. It’s very rare that you get involved in a project and everyone is excited to be working on it. And with a production of this scale and the fast turnover of episodes, you need people who are at the top of their game, know how to roll with the punches and care about the people they’re working with and the stories we are telling. It’s an honor to be able to be a part of this kind of storytelling because I know our shows reach people in communities that may not include many people like the characters on our show. I think empathy and understanding come from watching these characters and learning who they are. I think the audience finds that they have much more in common with people they think are different from them and that can change hearts and minds.

AM: What have been your 3 favorite moments in playing Paul?

BMS: There have been so many! He’s such an enjoyable character and we get so many crazy calls. I personally love all the little 126 family moments in the firehouse and there were a lot of moments in season 1 where we were all still getting to know each other and our characters and would just crack up playing off each other. But let’s see off the top of my head:

Season 1 Episode 2 with the racist lady in the backyard - This was one of those days where we were still getting to know each other and had so much fun and the scene is just hilarious.

Season 2 Episode 11 - The truck rescue on the bridge – It was one of my first really big stunts and as an action movie buff, I felt like I was shooting a scene from Cliffhanger or something and then throughout the episode we got to see more of Paul and Marjan’s friendship and how they support each other. So, it was a good balance of action and character development scenes.

Season 3 Ice Storm gym collapse - One of the strengths of our show is that it’s an ensemble show, and we work often as a team, but every few episodes, you get a storyline that focuses on your character so what was cool for me about the ice storm was that Paul got to go on a bit of a hero’s journey after he is separated from the group.

We shot episodes 1-4 pretty much at the same time and so much of Paul’s storyline was shot in sequence so it truly felt like I was making a movie within a movie, which was new and exciting for me as an actor, to have the responsibility of carrying an episode arc and exploring some new aspects of my character. We hadn’t seen Paul face this level of challenge before, him being isolated from his team, and having to save a life while putting his life directly on the line.

AM: For next season, what would you like to explore for Paul as we continue to get to know more about him?

BMS: I’m interested in what career advancement would look like for Paul. I wonder if he wants more responsibility or some new professional challenges. I love rescues and action so I’d like to see what other dangerous situations he can get into. I want to explore his relationship with Austin and what his community there outside of the 126 family is. We know Paul has strong observational skills, so I’d love to see him put that to work more, maybe even solve some crime with Carlos.

AM: You have used your platform to advocate for trans rights and representation on the screen. You have done this through panels and other projects – how important is this for you to continue to do?

BMS: It’s very important to me to continue to advocate for equality for trans people. Right now, there are about 300 pieces of anti-trans legislation being proposed and passed in statehouses throughout the country. Bills that bar people from accessing healthcare, prosecuting family members, doctors or educators who refuse to out children, or block trans youth from participating in sports. Many of these bills are being advanced based on lies and misinformation. So, in addition to my advocacy through my art, I feel it’s just as important to use my platforms to combat this misinformation and make allies aware of these attacks on basic human rights.

AM: Do you have any upcoming projects that you can share with us?

BMS: I’m cooking up some things for the hiatus, but I can’t share yet.

AM: Will we see you take on other roles in the industry whether it’s writing, producing or directing?

BMS: Yes, during the hiatus from the show I’m going to spend time developing some projects I’d like to produce soon.

AM: In watching the show, we know you’re in great shape. On your IG, we see you boxing and going at it in the gym. What is a typical workout like for you as we’re always looking to add to our routines!

BMS: Thank you! After season 2 and the Quarantine 15 I put on, I found myself needing to adjust my workouts again. During the last month of the hiatus, I shifted from strength and powerlifting to aesthetics and conditioning. So, in the gym, I started lifting like a bodybuilder, and to push myself in the cardio department, I started boxing. The results have been incredible. I feel like I found the right combination for my lifestyle and fitness goals.

I try to hit the weights at least 3 times a week and do boxing 4 times a week. In the weight room, I’m doing bodybuilding workouts, following the progressive overload principle, and lifting a high volume of moderate weight and really focusing on fully contracting the specific muscle I’m targeting. So, within 90 minutes, I’ll try to do 3-4 exercises for a specific muscle group doing 3 sets of 12-20 reps.

Boxing has been a game-changer for sure. I work with my trainer, Adel Altamimi, 4 days a week and a typical session with him involves, mobility warm up, shadow boxing, mitts, or drills, bag work and then some boxing strength training or HIIT cardio.

It’s intense but I’ve been able to improve my level of fitness at a faster rate than I imagined possible because of it. I’ll also share that recovery is also a critical part of my training. I make sure to hit the sauna, hot tub, or ice bath daily, and try to get sports massages at least once a week.

AM: When you’re not on set or being an advocate, how do you take time for yourself for a bit of a reset?

BMS: Hanging with my wife and my pup T’Challa. We’re still relatively new to LA, and now that things are opening back up, we like to go out and explore the city or just kick it at home. I also got my first motorcycle this year so learning to ride and work on that is my new jam.

IG @the_brianmichael

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 74 - 79 Jack Zeman/FOX | PG 81, 82 + 158 9LIST STORI3S Storm Santos; STYLING Toye Adedipe; GROOMING Grace Phillips |

Read the latest issue of MAR ISSUE #75 of Athleisure Mag and see ON THE SCENE | Brian Michael Smith in mag.

ACTING CHOSE ME WITH CURTISS COOK

This month, our DEC ISSUE #72 is covered by Curtiss Cook who has appeared in a number of films that we enjoy including Shutter Island, Netflix's Roxanne Roxanne, and West Side Story to name a few. In addition to commanding the big screen and his work on stage, he has been in countless TV shows as well. He brings a dynamic force to his characters in Netflix's House of Cards and Manifest, NBC's Chicago Med, FX Mayans M.C. and Showtime's The Chi.

We talk with Curtiss about how he got into acting and how he approaches his characters. We also talk about the recent film West Side Story and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we will continue to see him as Douda in the critically acclaimed series The Chi and what led him to this role. We also talk about work behind the camera as well as his work in the upcoming QCODE podcast, The Burned Photo.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the moment when you realized that you wanted to be an actor?

CURTISS COOK: You know I don’t know if I can put an exact time on it, but what I can tell you is—I don’t feel like I chose acting, I feel as if it chose me. NO one in my family acted or performed for a living or even casually, so I didn’t have any direct role models, but once I found it, that freedom of being another person and being able to say things I wanted to but couldn’t, learning things about myself and the world… I never looked back!

AM: You have been in so many TV series from The Sopranos, The Bold Type, House of Cards, Mayans M.C., The Chi, as well as movies such as Shutter Island and been on Broadway for The Lion King and Miss Saigon. What are you looking for when you’re reading a character or the script overall in terms of deciding whether you want to be in it?

CC: Hmmm good question… It changes from project to project. Sometimes it may be, “Have I done this kind of role before?” and if I had, “Is there something I can improve upon?” Sometimes it’s, “Does this person move the story forward? If not, is there space for me to make that happen? Or, is this something I NEVER THOUGHT I could pull off?” Yes! So, let’s go for it. And then, it could be as simple as, “Do I like this person (character)? No? Why not? Let’s see if I can have empathy for him.”

AM: Is your approach to the work different depending on whether it’s on TV, a movie or on the stage?

CC: No, it’s pretty much the same. It’s just the time I get to prep for the character and how long I get to live with him that differs.

AM: We’ve seen you in a number of roles and always enjoy when we see you are attached to the project as there is a poise and bold quality that you bring to your work. What is the process that you go into when it comes to becoming the character that you will play?

CC: Well, thank you for the compliment! That really means a lot to me. I take what I do seriously knowing that it’s not serious… Finding the joy in what I do is important to me. This is not just what I do, it’s who I am. It’s a part of me—a HUGE part of me—So, I go all in and the devil is in the details.

AM: Do you find that when you’re finished playing a character that there’s a process in releasing him and is it harder when you’re in a series since you will have to pick him back up again?

CC: The short answer is yes. I definitely have to decompress when work is done. I’m getting better on the time it takes, but I make sure I take it.

AM: West Side Story is an iconic musical and this musical film adaption directed by Steven Spielberg has been very anticipated. You play Abe, a new character – which was created by Steven specifically for you – how did this come about and what did you draw from to bring him to life?

CC: Well, the character was created for someone like me, an addition to a classic that was needed and necessary. So, Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Kushner did that. I just so happen to be the one who got the gift of breathing life into Abe and hearing one of the greats say, “If Curtiss wants it, he can have it.” It means and meant the world to me.

AM: What was it like being part of this production?

CC: Nothing short of amazing!!!

AM: Being from the Midwest originally, I’m always intrigued about shows that focus on Chicago so when The Chi came out, I was hooked from the first show and I love how they showcase the lives of those that live in the community that spans a number of economical, aspirational and inspirational layers. When you came on as Douda, you bring such a dichotomy to the show. How did you get connected with this series and how would you describe your character?

CC: Once again, thank you! I auditioned—I self-taped actually. At the time, I was doing two other series and I thought there’s no way I’ll get three series at the same time and low in behold!!!

Douda is a complicated man like most of us are, that’s one of the beauties of this character. Just when you think you have him figured out, you don’t… and not because he's fooling you, but because he has so much to offer, so many layers, and he has a plan for himself and his community. Nothing is going to stop him from seeing that plan come to fruition.

AM: It feels like Douda continues to share new layers to him which we saw in Season 4 - how much influence do you have in shaping him and giving insights into how he will be portrayed?

CC: None really. I wait for the pages and try my damnedest not to mess it up. I just stay open, willing and adventurous. I get to act for a living... how glorious is that...

Mannnnn, this is all I’ve ever wanted to do and I get to do it on this level with this character on this show on this network and with these people. I HIT THE LOTTO!!!

AM: The Chi was renewed for a 5th season, are you getting ready to film and is there anything you can tell us about the upcoming season or are looking forward to?

CC: Well, I just hope Douda comes back. You saw what happened at the end of the season right? I just hope we get to see him again.

AM: You have worked with phenomenal people from Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Lena Waithe to name a few. You were the Executive Producer of Counselor and A Black Man Acting. Do you see yourself doing more projects behind the camera?

CC: Yes, I will and there’s something happening now. So, yes keep a look out for it.

AM: We love that in the past few months there have been phenomenal immersive podcasts that have top talent telling scripted stories. I think that QCODE does this in such an amazing way and am a fan of their shows regardless of the topic. You lent your talents to The Burned Photo which was a podcast that I enjoyed listening to and I can’t wait until the second season. Why did you want to be apart of this and what was it like creating it?

CC: Wow yeah, I had never done that before and I was curious to see if I could and how it would work. And let me tell you… it was WORK. Wait until you hear the second season! Boy-oh-boy, get ready.

AM: Do you have any upcoming projects that you can share with us that we should keep an eye out for?

CC: A great movie written and directed by Charles Murray with an amazing cast. Hopefully you’ll hear about a release date soon!

AM: When you’re not on set, it seems like you spend a fair amount of time at the gym. What are 3 things that you like to do when you’re working out?

CC: Yea, health is pretty important to me. My favorite work out is boxing, then I’ll do a little free weights, then end everything with core.

AM: How do you take personal time for yourself?

CC: I don’t know if I do… I need to get better at that.

IG @CurtissCook

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | FRONT + BACK COVER, PG 16 -19 James Washington | PG 20 - 25 Evgeny Milkovich | PG 26 - 29 SHOWTIME/Parrish Lewis | PG 30 - 31 SHOWTIME/Elizabeth Sisson |

Read the DEC ISSUE #72 of Athleisure Mag and see Acting Chose Me with Curtiss Cook in mag.

BINGELY BOOKS

THE GOOD LORD BIRD

Riverhead Books

James McBride

If you enjoyed watching Showtime's limited series, The Good Lord Bird starring Ethan Hawke (Training Day and The Purge) as John Brown and Daveed Diggs (Hamilton and Snowpiercer TV series) as Frederick Douglass, you will enjoy the novel that it is adapted from.

We meet Henry Shackleford who lives in the Kansas Territory in 1856 - a battleground between those that are pro and anti-slavery. Henry is a slave and meets the infamous abolitionist, John Brown, and ends up joining him in his vision of freeing slaves - doing so as a girl. Their exploits result in working with one another leading up to the events of the historic raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859 which is a catalyst in the start of the Civil War.

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MODERN CIDER

Ten Speed Press

Emma Christensen

The concept of drinking and creating cider has had a renewed interest over the past couple of years. Back in the 1700's cider was considered a medicinal beverage that people consumed. Today, there are restaurants that are creating menus around this and a big growing movement to even make these at home as opposed to buying subscriptions to have them on hand.

Homebrew guru Emma Christensen created this book to talk about this movement, sourcing the fruits and juices as well as instructing us on bottling these beverages.

This book includes an array of recipes along with pictures. In addition, she looks at the world of cider by also sharing the cousins which include perry. In addition, she shares techniques that beer brewers use that are perfect for those working with cider.

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PIE FOR EVERYONE

Harry N. Abrams

Petra "Petee" Paredez

If you have yet to enjoy pies from Petee's Pie Company and/or Petee's Café, then her new cookbook, Pie For Everyone has 80+ recipes that you can enjoy learning to make. She breaks down how to make her sweet treats and focuses on her prime goal - creating the perfect crust that's tender and flaky. Once you have the crust down, it's about making the perfect balance of filling so that each bite has the intended textures together.

She creates an easy to follow cookbook with a focus on using locally sourced ingredients. In addition, her step-by-step instructions take the stress out of making her creations. Recipes include pies that are made from fruit, custard and cream. She even has savory pies which is perfect as we continue to go through the upcoming winter season.

Read the Nov Issue #59 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Books in mag.

AND SCENE WITH ELLEN ADAIR

There are shows that give us the chills because it draws you in, you're trying to figure out how it all comes together and when they're limited edition series, you hope it comes back again. That's  how we feel about USA Network's The Sinner which is back for its second season to show us a crime that you couldn't believe that took place and then retraces its steps to tell you why it went down and how people and experiences are a lot more connected than you can imagine.

The cult following of the show comes through based on actors who play characters that don't have clear lines on being either good or bad. Ellen Adair who you have seen on HBO's Veep, NBC's The Slap, Showtime's Homeland and Billions, and currently plays Bess McTeer in The Sinner. She sat down with us to talk about her process as an actor, the scene that had everyone shocked within the first 10 minutes of the first episode (the second scene if you haven't seen it spoilers - you've been warned), character island and the Phillies!

ATHLEISURE MAG: So excited to talk to you. I was obsessed with The Slap. When that came out -

ELLEN ADAIR: Oh wow! You’re the only person in America!

AM: Truly loved it. That show was just riveting and then, I’m just going to say it, the scene from The Sinner, was beyond!

EA: Oh thanks!

AM: Everyone who has watched that has been left with – what? So we’ll delve into that. There are scenes that are in cinema and TV and you think of the horse’s head in The Godfather, but you’re 10 minute situation was like that kind of scene in my opinion.

EA: Oh my goodness, thanks – I mean like, move over dead horse's head.

AM: I mean, you were still going.

EA: What a great compliment – thanks!

AM: Can you tell us about your background and how you got into acting. You’ve been in a lot of things, like Homeland.

EA: So I wanted to be an actress since I was like a tiny child which belies some type of personal development I guess. But it was just like children’s theater that I did. I wasn’t a professional child actor and I think that really my love was the theater and I think that that was partly because both of my parents were college professors and are staunchly (less so now, particularly my mom) anti-TV. So I didn’t have a TV growing up. So we would go out to see movies, but I think that my parents had this real thought about it being in the house as a source of a constant distraction. I read a lot and we went to theater and I saw TV at friends’ houses. When I was 10 years old, I said I wanted to be a stage actor and it wasn’t until I got into the professional world that I started working on camera a little bit and I was like, “oh I love this, I love this SO much.”

For me, I actually did Shakespeare at an early age. I did my first Shakespeare at the age of 12. My first professional/semi-professional thing when I was 15. That was also Shakespeare. What I love so much about Shakespeare is that there is so much that is technical about it that it allows my artist brain to just free up because there is this great sense of being like on a train, I don’t have to get on a boat, I just get on the train and take it to the end of the play. I just kind of say, ooo what I ride!

I feel kind of similarly about on camera stuff. In that there is so much stuff that is technical about it that part of my brain is able to be free and spontaneous about it. That way, I can be completely real about it.

AM: What is your process when you are looking at a character that you want to play? Once again, I loved you in Billions (Showtime) – especially when these characters are so different. You have played a number of characters across shows and although I know it’s you – you bring such a different approach to each one. Some people when they portray roles, still bring a lot of themselves into each one – do you get what we’re trying to say?

EA: Yes I do know what you are trying to say and I’m really touched that you say that because I think that is – it’s not a part of my mindful process so much as I guess, I don’t know coming from my sort of life reading a lot, and I was an English and Theater major in college and so I really love text. I love textual analysis so for me I guess, it all just comes from me really looking at the script and looking at what the writer is doing and then just imagining if I was that person in that place. So I don’t think about, “oh this is – I don’t judge my character in any sort of way" and I really feel that I am just playing myself, but if it were me and my entire life was different and my development was different and I did this thing and these were the words that I say or at least that is 100% of my process for on camera stuff.

For theater, it’s a little different. Sometimes I will mostly think about how would this character sort of hold themselves physically different or how their voice would be physically different then mine. So it’s also sort of like, technical things that show up. But, then there’s – I don’t know – why I do the thing as there is some kind of magical thing that happens and if I just put myself in the situation then I am just suddenly this totally different person. So on my – I remember on The Slap, one of the producers, because it was like the first big thing that I did for TV. I had done a couple of small reoccurring things before. But a producer came up
to me and we were in the middle of filming and really quickly he said, “I love your performance on this” and I thought, “I have a performance?” I mean I was just so focused on the thought of, what if I was a lawyer, a D.A. and got some wonderful thoughts from Ken Olin (Dir/Exec Producer - This is Us) – one of my favorite directors that I have ever worked with – I adore him. I incorporated those into thinking about what would be my life goals and what I would want to be. But I didn’t think of it as a performance and similarly, when I came in on my first day, I thought that I was just going to say the words and everybody was like, “oh I really love what you’re doing,” and I thought, “I’m doing something? Great, I’ll keep doing it.”

Working on The Sinner was just incredible – it was one of the greatest blessings on my life so far and part of what was so much fun about that was just that – the circumstance that Bess is in – it’s so extreme and different than the circumstance of other people that I have played. It was just that a whole new person just came out.

AM: Tell us about the process of getting on the show, what it was like working with Bill Pullman and the idea that The Sinner tells you what happens, but why did it happen and what are the circumstances around it that made it happen. Which reminds me of elements of The Slap.

EA: There’s so many wonderful things to unpack in what you just said! For me, a real comparison between the works The Sinner and The Slap is that we’re always talking in both cases, that there are sets of characters that have some sense of redeeming qualities and some less attractive qualities to put it politically. That’s my favorite kind of story, favorite kind of TV, favorite kind of movie, book whatever. I think that some people, it’s not their favorite.

They want it to be where this is the good guy and this is the bad guy. But I really enjoy digging into that kind of stuff. In terms of my experience with The Sinner, I had watched it because actually, a lot of the crew is the same from Billions – the genius Director of Photography Radium Cheung – some of the A.D.s that I knew from Billions said they were working on this and I watched it. But then I rewatched it when I was going in to audition for it, and having just done Homeland for 5 months, what I was struck with so much was how much everyone and all the characters take their time. How much space for human life is allowed versus the kind of person that I normally play that is very talky, journalists, lawyers, political animals – just be kind to Janet because she is so wonderful.

That was a conversation that I had with Bill at the very first Table Read. When I just sort of fangirled him and talked to him about how amazing his performance was in the first season.

What I loved about the show was that it is really populated with humans that are always saying something but not speaking. There is so much clearer speech that is not articulated in this show and it’s something a little more like indie film and Antonio Campos (Director + Executive Producer) one of the really big geniuses behind the first and second season has a background in indie film and he just brought that sensibility to the show. I found that also working on it that I am so hard wired to just pick up the pace and even though I knew that from watching the show not to do it - but ke kept reminding me that, no no - you can take it as long as it wants to take - if you want to say something else, just throw it in” and I thought, “oh this is a new fun thing to work on.”

AM: How long did you film this and are there any snippets that you may be able
to share with us for our readers at Athleisure Mag.

EA: We started filming in May.

AM: WOW!

EA: Yeah and we wrapped … my last day on set was a week before production wrapped. So the first 2 episodes were filmed in tandem which is the right phrase. Which sometimes there were tandem crews, 2 things filming at the same time, because the aesthetic of the show is to film a certain amount of coverage, but they also had to do it within a TV schedule. It was cross-boarded which is the phrase I was looking for because there were so many locations that were the same. That motel room was built on the stage so all of those shots were not on location, there were just a few things that we shot as the motel which includes the scene with the motel manager and things like that. So what can I tell you – I mean I can say I guess, that you will see more of Bess and that what’s really fun is that the flashbacks go back pretty far back. That was certainly fun to remember what human being I was in 2004 and what that meant. The mystery is really the whole thing so I can’t really …

AM: I know but we had to try! So the whole death scene with Bess – how many takes did it take. How much of it came from what the script stated and what part was what you added into it. It just seemed so raw and so much – but so good.

EA: There were many takes and we worked on that scene for a whole filming day.

AM: Woah

EA: Yes just the death scene. Not really much in terms of dialogue. Now that includes the stuff that Adam who plays Adam had to do, which includes the stunt stuff that he did which has the incredible shot of him falling out of the shower. That element will add more, but getting the shots from all the different angles and the special effects things – that still to me seemed fairly early in the process was indicative to me of the level of artistry in the production. So normally, an average filming day and you probably know this is 6-8 pages. So as a script page, the death scene is maybe a page or ¾ of a page but we spent a whole day working on it and we also actually had a day of rehearsal before we had even started filming so we could figure out basically what it was going to be and I talked with Antonio and I said, "you know, I have been watching everything that I can find of videos of film scenes where people are poisoned. Is there anything you can think of where this seems more of the thing and not this." I watched some ridiculous thing where a woman was throwing herself around to every piece of furniture in the room and I thought, “that doesn’t seem like something I should do.” He was like, “no, nothing really comes to mind,” but he said, “you might want to look at videos of people having seizures,” and I’m always dutiful about my homework and I went home and looked at a lot of people on YouTube who were having seizures at home – not film of this. It exists and it’s strange what people will put up on YouTube. In my life an as actor, my YouTube searches are so weird that whatever the computer thinks about me … “I don’t know what they should market to her” – I see a lot of weird ads.

I watched a lot of videos and I was interested in what people’s hands did and that violent convulsion thing is where we ultimately decided to take it. Then the rest of it, we sort of in rehearsal just old school rehearsed it to see what if I would fall to the bed and then the door of the bathroom and then try to save Adam – so it was basically being specific to what was happening in my body every single moment. Now I’m trying to save Adam and now I’m going to vomit and turn away and here’s the moment where I realize that Julian must have had something to do with this. It was a tough day of filming because 3 days before, for the first time in my life, I had developed Vertigo. So actually, it’s just Benign Positional Vertigo – it’s still with me when I lay down to go to sleep. Whenever I would change positions or elevations, I’d get really dizzy. So I thought on that day, I was lucky that it wasn’t a fight scene where I have to do this and look like I'm in control - I feel awful and I am dying so I guess I'll #useit which is what we said all day. And even by the end I would just lie down on the floor really quickly and then I would stand up to feel really awful.

AM: That is dedication!

EA: Well you know it’s just like, this is not a great situation and I wish I had felt well so that I could be in control of my body. As long as it was happening, I may as well take the roses along with the thorns or make lemons out of lemonade – whatever cliché term you’d like to use. It was a trying day, but at the end of the day I felt like I had died and come back to life.

AM: Is it easy for you when you’re done filming to come back to you the person? Some people are so into their characters that it takes them 2-3 months to leave that character. How is that for you and how do you keep that separation?

EA: Hmm it’s a really great question. I think it’s been more challenging for me in my life with theater where you're working on something every single day that’s probably also more of a challenge for people who are doing say a film that they are doing every single day. Whereas, I think that the most days in a week that I worked on the show was like 3 days in a week. So it wasn't every single day and then I wouldn't be working at all the following week. That said, I feel like I always miss my characters when they are not around anymore. Like a Quixotic small victimless tragedy for me as there is nothing that I can hug, there is no person that I can embrace. I really feel like there is this other person that I am in communication with when I am acting and it shows up for me the most very organically and this happened – where my characters have different gestures and little things that they do that that is a residue that will stick around. I’ll do that thing that that character did and I’m like, “oh” it feels like finding a loved one who has passed and seeing their shirt. It’s not that sad as I don’t want to compare it like that –

AM: Totally understand, as a fashion stylist, when I am working on clients or moodboards that it’s in your head so much much that when it’s done, I’ll see something and then have to remind myself that I don’t need it because it’s done and the project is done.

EA: I feel that as soon as I get a character, it’s the little piece of sand in like the oyster of my heart that I am always adding layers to that pearl that everything I see in the world is part of that person. When I don’t need it anymore, I still kind of keep adding to that pearl.
To a certain extent, one way in which characters will revisit is I will play a new one and I sort of feel – and this is a metaphor – that the angelic spirit of the other character will say, “let me lend you these things that were helpful for me” so that I can use them again. I am such a nerd. I have a book of poetry which will be published this fall and most of the poems I wrote are from awhile ago, but they’re about being an actor and a life in the theater and it is mostly about characters. Very much so about this thing that we’re talking about. The relationship between the actor and the character that are like this friend and what I have really come to love and have a relationship with them although we are sort of the same. And in one of them, I sort of create this metaphor where I am an island where all of my past characters live and that when a new character comes and sort of materializes, on the island and asks what this place is – all the other characters are like, “here you can use this” and that’s a poetic metaphor, but in a sense that’s all the people still living on that island.

AM: When is this book coming out and what is the name of it?

EA: The name of the book is Curtain Speech. I was trying to come up with a name that is actually sort of private – being backstage and that is where the conversation between the character and the actor takes place. Or it’s in your trailer or the moments before the take. When you step on stage or when filming starts, you’re one person and you can’t have that conversation again. Curtain Speech is actually the thing that someone will come out and say, “please turn off your cellphones, here are the exits and thank you for coming.” It’s the title I came up with and I don’t have an exact date when it will be coming out, but it might be available for pre-order on Amazon now – I can check with my publisher.

AM: What other projects do you have coming out that you can tell us about?

EA: Well, I will be in Season 7 of Chicago Fire! Other than that, I am working on writing a series like many an actor is. In terms of the little people of sand, it’s always around that series and that character and I developed the idea with a friend of mine, Chris Carfizzi from Billions who plays Rudy and so we wanted to work on something together. But he has a small baby and I sort of took the lead on writing it. We also want to – when our lives are sane enough – probably think about filming a scene so we can shop it around.

AM: So you’re based in NY, where do you love to eat, shop here, workout etc?

EA: So I love Vietnamese food and I can eat it everyday! Probably one of my favorite restaurants is probably OBAO in Hell’s Kitchen. Whenever anyone wants to get lunch, I’m like, “Oh do you like Vietnamese food?” I also really Asian food in general – I’m a big lover of sushi and a friend of mine have had a date for 3 months that we have kept moving to go to Nakazawa, but you have to make a reservation way in advance. Everytime we have made one, I always end up working on a show. I mean in this week, this is the one day that I am filming so that hasn't happened yet. I really love Koreatown because it's right in the middle of the city so it’s not like you have to go all the way down to Chinatown. I also live in Queens and I live in Jackson Heights and I love the Indian food there and Tibetan food, so good! There’s this place Faul. It’s impossible to find as there is no storefront and you go up a random staircase, but it is very close to the Jackson Heights stop. Lassa Fast Food is behind a cellphone store - if you didn't know it was there, you’d never see it. I love living so close to Flushing because my husband and I will just hop on a train and feel like we’re going to another country and that’s really how Flushing feels.

I tend to workout at my local gym and I can’t run outside anymore. I can run on a treadmill and that’s about it.

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“... my characters have different gestures and little things that they do that is a residue that will stick around. I’ll do that thing that that character did...”

— Ellen Adair

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AM: We know that you’re a huge Phillies fan as we have seen your Instagram - so are you from Philadelphia originally?

EA: Yes nobody chooses the Phillies. But I’m from there originally and neither of my parents are from Philadelphia actually, my mom’s from Virginia and my dad’s from Oregon – they were like, we’ll adopt the Phillies. I went to games in utero and then as a babe in arms. Someone asked me if I remembered my first baseball game and I was like, “no, I’ve been going for as long as I can remember.” They’re my life partner as I like to say.

AM: Do you have season tickets or do you go when they’re always here?

EA: I make sure I see them pretty much when I am here. Season tickets are not super practical living in NY, but I do try to see a couple of games in Philly every season. Last season I didn’t because I was doing an Off Broadway show that was basically all of baseball season and that was tough for me emotionally. There are a few Mon games I went to. So in 2016, I saw 16 games and so I knew that that would be my goal. And what I like about this is that I can move the goal post in a good way every year. This year, I have already seen 18 games and there is still a bit of the baseball season left and I am going to a Phillies game next week.

AM: Are you an Eagles fan too?

EA: Um, sure, is the most accurate answer and I was not raised on the religion of football at all. So definitely supported the Eagles this season and not in any sort of a bandwagon way. Did I want them to defeat the Patriots as they are the Yankees of football, absolutely I do. Actually, I watched the Super Bowl with Dylan Baker in Virginia as we were there shooting Homeland and he’s a big football fan. I know the marquee names of football – I definitely enjoy watching it with friends, it’s not something that I would sit down myself and do. I will sit down and watch baseball because it’s unhealthy but I really loved sitting down and watching it with Dylan. Everybody except for one table in this hotel bar was clearly rooting for the Eagles and that made it more delightful. I was wearing an Aaron Nola shirt because I was like, this is how I know how to support – just wear a Phillies shirt.

AM: So how do you give back in a philanthropic/charitable way?

EA: It’s more monetary than it is time. I would love to figure out how my time would be valuable to a particular organization but there are a lot of charities that I care about. One that I have supported for years is City Harvest – I’d like to give my time to them as well. But in the world that we’re living in right now, it feels like there are so many things to keep tabs on there is more then the hours in the day! But, I feel like if I am a monthly contributor to a cause it helps. I care a lot about the environment so I support the Natural Resources Defense Council. I traveled a lot as a child so I think I have a real appreciation for other countries and other cultures. If I had to say the most right now in terms of America, one thing that sticks out there, it’s protecting immigrants and Muslims. I spent a lot of time in Turkey and so like I grew up being like, these are some of the nicest people in the world – I support the Council For American Islamic Relations and National Immigration Forum and United We Dream – I got connected to them because they send text messages where if someone in your area is going to get deported, you can come and help. It’s a service that I guess I signed up for and I was like, I like what they do. The Center for Popular Democracy is also important to me. It’s 10 – 12 that I am monthly donors to and obviously the big ones, ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP – I’m forgetting somebody I’m sure.

Journalism is important. I have a subscription to the NY Times, Washington Post and I support NPR. Also that’s a service and for a little while, there was a grassroots organization of women that I was working for a friend who had founded it and she was trying to get it to expand across the country and she decided to start something different called Candidates and Coffee. So she interviews people for local elections because the information isn’t always there as it’s not in the national stream. You’re not going to see people in your local elections talking on CNN about stuff. There should be a way that millennials can connect so I was just meeting with her last night and I might end up and hope to help her work on that a little bit as well. Voting is super important! The 2016 election certainly taught us that.

I have been thinking about and I haven’t done this before – kind of getting on a bus from NY to PA a swing state close to the election to get out the vote. It’s close and I was registered to vote in PA for a long time.

AM: Is there a director or a role that you’d like to work with or be with?

EA: Such a great question wow. It’s easier for theater because the roles exist already. That's the great thing about TV/film - you don’t know who that person will be until you go off and really create what that is definitively. So, that’s hard to say on camera. I’ve done in theater, a lot of period stuff like old time timey people. It would be really fun to be able to get to do that on camera. I played Marie Antoinette in a play about Marie Antoinette and that was really fun to get to play a historical figure like that. In terms of a play that I read and really fell in love with and knew that that was what I wanted to do, there is this play called the Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence, by Madeleine George. It’s great. A dream role is the one that I am writing for myself.

AM: That’s what I was thinking!

EA: I know I’m sorry Erin for forgetting about you for a second! In terms of a director, I don’t think I have an answer because there are so many that I really admire their work. Sometimes your favorite ones are the ones that were unexpected, because it’s the chemistry between the two of you as people is really great. That’s hard to know, but I’d love to discover that. Note that if Paul Thomas Anderson wants me to – I mean we’d have great chemistry that would be awesome. Also, Antonio was one of my favorite directors to work with and part of the reason for that is that I felt like his eye is so meticulous that when he sees something he is willing to comm unicate that to the actor. So, I felt that absolutely my performance was 100 times better because I was working with him and it’s always going to be better when you work with the director then just doing it in a vac um. He so often had a thought for me like – this time try this or this is so small but I remember it so clearly that in the first episode there is a shot where I get up from the bed and I realize that Julian is missing and he’s at the breakfast bar and I go to the window. That was of course in the studio and when I was looking out the window, I wasn't looking at anything, it was just black. The first few times that we did the take, I said to myself, imagine what you’re seeing as we had not shot in the motel yet so I didn’t know what I was looking at. I had to just make it up and imagine I was seeing cars, whether I was seeing the kid – but I wasn’t, but then we did it so many times that I was doing the movement without doing anything. A couple of times after doing it, Antonio said, “oh it doesn’t look like you’re seeing anything.” I was like thank you because most directors would not give you a note that was that detailed and it has to do with your own internal process. I have a hard time remembering exactly what he said to me that day when we were filming the death scene, because I was going through it physically but I know that he was coaching me and saying we need a little of this and that or that I had this ball in the air, but I was also dealing with this. But he’s the greatest!

AM: I think what makes that scene so impactful is like in sex scenes you know that there are various movements that they do to create the illusion of the act which can come off as very technical looking. The arm is here and then there, 1-2-3. But when watching your scene it doesn’t look like Twister and technical, it falls seamlessly and makes you think it happened in one take when it in fact wasn't. It doesn't look like you're thinking, it's just a flawless flow. Which is why it has really stunned everyone.

EA: What you’re talking about is the whole deal. That the difference is just inhabiting it than just doing the things. I think that there were physical marks I had to hit but the freedom within the technicality I could experience “oh my gosh I’m losing control – I can’t talk, I’m feeling nauseated, where does that live in my body?" I feel it is very similar when you have dialogue and in my transition of doing more on camera stuff and not just theater, is that I learn text in a completely different way. In theater, I know that this is the text and then I have a rehearsal process and I want to spare myself the personalization so I can discover it in a room with other people so that it’s not totally stale when I get to performance. But the way I memorize things for on camera is I do the thought verse and then the words. If you look at someone and it looks like they are saying words not about anticipating – but if they are thinking words and not thoughts, you can see it. You can have very good competent acting where it’s obvious that the person is thinking of words and not a person’s thoughts but my goal is to just be thinking of the person’s thoughts rather than the technical thing whether that be my hand goes here, I stumble over here or I have this political or legal gobbly gook. I’m always like, what’s the thought behind this? That’s what makes it fun.

IG @ EllenAdairG

PHOTO COURTESY | PG 86 + 90 Peter Kramer/USA Network | PG 82, 85, 88, 93, 94 Ambi Williams |

Listen to our conversation with The Sinners, Ellen Adair on an upcoming episode of #TribeGoals on Athleisure Studio, our multimedia podcast network.

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Read more the Aug Issue of Athleisure Mag and see And Scene with Ellen Adair in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

HIP HOP SAVED MY LIFE ROMESH RANGANATHAM

Spotify

We became obsessed with Romesh Ranganatham when we binged his Showtime TV Show, 'Just Another Immigrant' which covers this UK based comic who comes to America to do a show at the famed Greek Theater. Throughout the season (which you can watch On Demand), we see Romesh trying to promote his show with his family and various comedic luminaries. In one of the episodes, he actually records his podcast Hip Hop Saved My Life (which focuses on hip hop) and in another he has Lupe Fiasco in the TV show which is the inspiration for the name of his podcast. We highly suggest watching the show as well as checking out his star studded podcast!

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
Season 6; July 27th
Netflix Originals

It's season 6 of one of our favorite Netflix shows, Orange is the New Black! Avid readers know that we have had 2 actresses - Vicky Jeudy and Alysia Reiner on our covers. We continue the journey of the female inmates of the Litchfield crew as the season ended with the 3 day riot that took place at the prison.

Season 6 begins with our favorites in a new environment in maximum security. Although there will be a few new faces to be sure, we will also see how a number of characters post the riot are continuing on. Will they continue to be connected with one another, will there be new alliances or will this be a new beginning in a completely different direction?

ESPN 30 FOR 30 | BIKRAM
Spotify

In the third season of 30 For 30, ESPN's podcast focuses on Bikram yoga for five episodes available now. The show focuses on the intricate world of Bikram yoga, its rise and fall debuts and how the community is dealing with it since the sexual assault allegations that were made against its founder, Bikram Choudhury.

The series shares how a young Indian yogi used his relationships with celebrities to launch a hot yoga empire that changed this sector in America forever. As Choudhury made money in the fitness industry, the Speedo and Rolex-wearing guru utilized healing powers of his yoga revolution and hid other activities that included allegedly bilking business partners, verbally
harassing students, and ultimately sexually assaulting several followers. Curently, there is a warrant for Choudhury’s arrest and he has filed for bankruptcy and left the country.

Read more from the July Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

SENSE8
May 5th; Season 2
Netflix

It feels like it was such a long time ago since the end of season 1 of Sense8 and the release of the new season! The intersectionality of characters who are different in every way from race, age, geographic location and economically - they find that they are all bound by the way they are able to step in and out of one another's lives while being able to truly have an understanding of "walking a mile" in one another's shoes!

We're looking forward to being transported along with each one of them in their world's, seeing where there interaction takes them and to learn more about how they are able to stay connected to navigate their elevated sense of being.

HOUSE OF CARDS
May 30th; Season 5
Netflix

Yet again, Netflix has another series that makes us check our calendars to see when a series
comes back. House of Cards is always focused on the calculated chaos that the Underwoods work within as they continue to climb a never ending ladder.

As always, we suggest that you catch up with a proper binge to see how this wild and twisty road came to where season 5 begins. We know that it's a bit of a bleak and dark America since our favorite duo has taken the nation's helm. We do know that at the conclusion of last season, the Underwoods decided that ruling by fear as opposed to trying to get people to love them may be more effective for their longterm goals.

TWIN PEAKS
Limited Series Event
Showtime

Everything old is new again! Twin Peaks was a cult classic when it launched over 20 years ago and kept viewers gripped to a plot that had a lot going on. When it went off the air, fans continued to wonder about a number of plot lines and whether they would be able to see this issue come back!

Thankfully, the show is back on Showtime! In addition, many were able to binge the previous episodes for the past few months and are finally being rewarded with this Limited Series Event which picks up with a number of your favorite characters. We can't wait to see what everyone
thinks about this new series as we're sure that there is going to be plenty of feedback on this!

Read more from the May Issue and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

FASHION INSPIRES YOUR WORKOUT

Coming off of NYFW, it's easy to think about just taking a break after all of the activities that center around one of the most dizzying weeks of fashion.

This summer, we happened to hang out with Malin Akerman of Showtime's Billions (can Feb 19th get here any quicker for the second season), to workout (we cycled along with her and Cyc Fitness Founder, Keoni Hudoba) and hear how she continues to stay motivated in the midst of being a mom, acting, and so much more. We think "The Post Holiday Slump" affect is applicable to any portion of life when you get a little tired after so many things going on. In addition, as we continue to add to our ever growing workout looks, it's good to know that we can protect them through using the LG SideKick which allows you to do smaller loads when you don't have enough for the main compartment OR when you simply don't want to disrupt what you have in the main washer.