Maddison Jaizani Has Some Secrets To Share: EXCLUSIVE

We’ve heard this story before–but we’ve never seen it quite like this. Nancy Drew is the whipsmart detective of our girlhoods. However, in The CW’s Nancy Drew–actress Maddison Jaizani and the rest of the cast are about to show us a much more menacing side to Nancy, Horseshoe Bay, Maine and the mysteries we all thought we knew.

On the series–Kennedy McMann stars as the red-headed teen detective. When her mother dies–Nancy’s dreams of attending the prestigious Columbia University fade into the background as well as her passion for detective work. Shoving her aspirations and her grief into the corners of her mind, Nancy works as a waitress at the Horseshoe Bay diner along with her former classmate and surly boss George Fan (Leah Lewis), the aloof Ace (Alex Saxon), and Bess Marvin (Jaizani)–a recent Horseshoe Bay transplant still clinging to the last remnants of her affluent past.

However, when the foursome, along with Nancy’s secret boyfriend Ned “Nick” Nickerson (Tunji Kasim) are implicated in the murder of a socialite –the red-headed detective must put on her mystery-solving hat again–unpacking her personal demons, and uncovering her friends’ secrets in the midst of it.

Ahead of the debut of Nancy Drew–-STYLECASTER sat down to chat with Jaizani about the surprisingly dark show, what exactly Bess is hiding and what we can expect during this debut season.

Continue reading at STYLECASTER.

Image: Instagram.

Meagan Tandy Is The Girl With The Guns: EXCLUSIVE

For the past two decades, popular culture has had a laser-sharp focus on the superhero genre. From Spider-Man to Iron Man–we’ve been enamored with various meta-humans from the Marvel and DC Universes. Unfortunately, only a handful of these superheroes have been women. Now, with The CW’s Batwoman, Meagan Tandy is proving that women hardly need superpowers to be badass.

Batwoman is set in Gotham–three years after Batman aka Bruce Wayne has vanished into thin air. In the caped crusader’s absence–Gotham is being protected by Jacob Kane and his military-grade Crows Private Security. However, the rise of the diabolical Alice (Rachel Skarsten) and the disappearance of Crows’ top security agent, Sophie Moore (Tandy) brings a new superhero to town.

Kate Kane (Ruby Rose)–Batman’s cousin and the daughter of Jacob Kane returns home to Gotham after a long absence. An out lesbian–Kate is still struggling with demons from her past and a heartwrenching end to her romantic relationship with Sophie. However, in her cousin’s absence and fearing for Sophie’s safety forces Kate to do the one thing her family is against–becoming the city’s new cloaked vigilante.

Ahead of Batwoman’s debut–STYLECASTER chatted with Tandy about the series, being a badass and why this is so much more than a “superhero” series.

Continue reading at STYLECASTER.

Image: Instagram.

'Legacies' Stars Peyton Alex Smith and Quincy Fouse Talk Magic And Mystique In The CW's New 'TVD' Spinoff Show

Nearly a decade after The CW first introduced us to Mystic Falls' bloodthirsty characters in The Vampire Diaries, and the New Orleans set-The Originals, executive producers Julie Plec and Brett Matthews are presenting the final installment of their supernatural saga, Legacies. Set in the distant future, Legacies follows a group of magical teens who all live in safe confines of the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted as they struggle to control both their magical and hormonal urges. 

Run by headmaster and TVD alum Alaric Saltzman (Matt Davis), the Salvatore student population also boasts a few familiar faces. The Originals alum, Danielle Rose Russell stars as Hope Mikaelson, the first ever vampire/werewolf/witch hybrid who witnessed her parents' destruction during the final season of The Originals. Fans of the original television dramas will also remember Josie (Kaylee Bryant) and Lizzie Saltzman (Jenny Boyd), Alaric’s twin daughters who have their own battles to face. 

While Mystic Falls is no stranger to supernatural events, vampires, werewolves and witches, Legacies is set to unveil something fans of The Vampire Diaries universe have never seen before. 

Ahead of the series premiere, Shadow and Act traveled to Atlanta where Legacies is filmed. We spoke with The Quad alum, Peyton Alex Smith, who stars as Rafael -- a troubled young man just uncovering his true nature as a werewolf and Quincy Fouse, who plays M.G., a cheeky vampire trying to find his footing in the world. 

For Smith, stepping into a world that was already 236 episodes deep with The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, wasn’t as intimidating as one would think. After all, before becoming Rafael, he wasn’t uber-familiar with the franchise. "I’d seen a couple of episodes, but I wasn't really familiar with the world at all," he explained. "It was an eye-opening experience for me because, on the back end, I've been able to catch up on everything. " 

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

The Women Of 'Black Lightning' On Being Badass, Embracing Their Powers In The 'High Stakes' Season 2

The second season of The CW’s impactful superhero series, Black Lightning is well underway. This season, the women who have stood behind, Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) as he reluctantly resumed his role as the vigilante, Black Lightning, are about to be front and center. During Season 1, the audience watched as Jefferson’s ex-wife Lynn (Christine Adams) voiced her concern and disdain about Jeff putting his superhero suit back on. Now, Lynn is ready to take matters into her own hands, using her own superpowers – her role as a doctor and scientist—to save the children of Freeland who have succumbed to the volatile Green Light drug. 

Jeff and Lynn’s daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) are also finding their footing as superheroes in their own right. During Black Lightning's inaugural season we watched the young women grapple with the knowledge of their father’s true identity, as well as the revelation of their own powers. While Anissa is keen to work alongside her father as the superhero Thunder, Jennifer is uncomfortable with her new abilities and her inability to control them. 

Reluctant as they may have been, as Salim Akil, Black Lightning's creator/showrunner, told Shadow and Act, the women of Black Lightning will spend season 2 following in Jeff's footsteps and coming into their own. 

Shadow and Act recently traveled to Decatur, Georgia, where Black Lightning is filmed to speak with Christine Adams, Nafessa Williams, and China Anne McClain about Season 2 and why their characters will be the focal points as we move forward. 

"I think I've been so lucky to play this kind of character in this kind of show," Adams said of Lynn, who is the only person in the Pierce household without superhuman abilities. "There was always the discussion of her not having superpowers --how that feels, and how she would navigate this chapter. Lynn has evolved. She's a protective mother, that's always first and foremost. But also at the end of season one, she killed someone. There's no going back from that," she said. "In season two, she goes on this unbelievable journey, which is not just about the family but it's about her as a doctor, as a mother, a woman, and a wife. Killing someone has tapped into something very primal to Lynn." 

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Cress Williams on 'Black Lightning,' Jefferson's Endgame and Why The Show Is Forever Changed

Black Lightning has returned full throttle for a second season, and the stakes are higher and grittier this go-round. Last season, Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), a man who had been turned his back on his superhero alter-ego Black Lightning, decided he could no longer sit back and watch his city, Freeland, descend into chaos. After a nine-year hiatus, he chose to slip back into his super suit and use his superhuman abilities to harness and control electricity to try and save his community. 

Jeff’s decision to step back into the masked vigilante’s shoes had quite the effect on his family. Namely, his scientist ex-wife, Lynn (Christine Adams) with whom he’d been working to rekindle a romance, and the couple’s daughters, Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) – strong-minded young women who are discovering their own superpowers. 

Despite his best efforts to help the people of Freeland, the season finale of Black Lightning ended with Jefferson at death's door. The menacing Tobias (Marvin Jones III), and his violent 100 gang nearly got the best of the high school principal. Just before the season premiere, Shadow and Act, headed to Decatur, Georgia to tour the Black Lightning set and speak to Williams about Season 2, how everything is about to change for the Pierce family, and why Jefferson will be juggling a lot more demons both in and out of his suit. 

"The first part of this season is Jefferson realizing all of the bad things that happened in season one," Williams says. "He's ready to take all the good and is kind of in denial about the bad. In the first three episodes, he's getting confronted with, 'This is the bad repercussion of what you did to the school, this is the bad repercussion of this and that — this is the bad repercussion of your daughter now having powers.' He’s also grappling with his family, Anissa's jumped in, and she's active as Thunder, Lynn's Green Light Babies, and Jennifer's wrestling with her powers." 

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Sam Adegoke talks 'Dynasty,' relatability and defining Jeff Colby for himself (EXCLUSIVE)

Thirty years after the world said goodbye, Dynasty has returned to television. The iconic ‘80s soap opera was a cultural phenomenon, and now The CW has reimagined it for the 21st century. Set in Atlanta, and following the rival Carrington and Colby families (this go-round, the Colbys are Black) the new series is giving the legendary soap some pretty insane twists. For relative newcomer, Sam Adegoke, whose credits include Murder in the First and Switched at Birth —  taking on Dynasty was about digging into the television archives. “To be perfectly honest, Dynasty was before my time,” Adegoke told me with an amused chuckle. “I had to do my homework. It skipped an entire generation.” Still, from the series' legacy alone – one that labels itself as “delicious, ambitious, and vicious,” Adegoke knew that he had to be a part of the reboot. "You want to do work that's impactful, and that can resonate with as many audiences as the original Dynasty did,“ he explained to me. “I started trying to find clips, which was harder than you'd think, of some of the original Dynasty shows and watching it, getting a taste for what it was. I thought, 'This could really, really be cool,' especially since The CW seemed so open to the idea of reprising and reimagining some of these iconic characters with a more inclusive and diverse cast. That was pretty much all I needed to hear. I was really excited about it.”

Despite its impact – the Dynasty of 30 years ago would be pretty problematic if it were to air today. Executive producer Josh Schwartz who is known for The O.C. and Gossip Girl knew that he had to create a show that would reflect how the world looks at this very moment. Making the Colbys a wealthy Black family was just one of the many changes that were made to the series. “As a human being, I think we watch and root for, and are drawn to people who share similar experiences to us,” Adegoke reflected. “ stories we can relate to. I think the more that we can kind of capture that on the screen through characters that portray and encompass a broad spectrum of beliefs, of appearances, ethnicities, morals — you cast a wider net for your audiences. I feel highly privileged to be a part of a show that is a champion of that."

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.