Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“I wasn’t told about the violent scenes with the doll [in ‘Squid Game’], so all I was imagining was a friendly doll that was staying calm but was getting more excited to play,” said Reagan To, 10. “I was thinking back to when I was playing with my friends back in school, and that helped me to create a young and innocent voice. I think that made the character even more scary and creepy.”
Charles Brice portrays a CIA hacker in the new Netflix spy series, “In From the Cold.” The actor shares stories about catching COVID-19 in Spain, being forced to pay off armed gunmen in Mexico, and feeling as if he were in a spy novel in Hungary.
“I am your classic over-packer, so you can always count on me to bring everything I need and everything I don’t need,” said Emma Malouff, one of the stars of “Impeachment: American Crime Story.”
“We’ve had to cancel eight trips for ‘Wild Travels’ due to COVID-19,” said host Will Clinger. “The ones I really hated to lose were to San Francisco for St. Stupid’s Day and to Beaver, Oklahoma, for the World Cow Chip Throwing Championship.”
“With being Asian, there has always been a thing about being skinny and lighter skin,” said model Catie Li. “But since I’m half, there is definitely a pressure of not being Asian enough.”
“I am not one of those people that must have an itinerary and visit the must-sees when I travel,” said “The Housewives of the North Pole” actress Tetona Jackson. “I like to obviously research different areas and the best places to stay and the best places to eat, but I kind of just go with the flow.”
“I am a Disney fanatic,” said Lynn Chen, who portrays Dr. Michelle Lin on the ABC medical series, “Grey’s Anatomy.” “(My dream trip would be) visiting all the Disneylands outside of the United States with my entire family – the nieces, nephews, in-laws, everyone.”
“When I shot ‘The Last Son’ in Montana, I actually chose to drive there all the way from Nashville instead of flying in for filming,” said Emily Marie Palmer. “I’ll take any excuse to get out on the open road!”
“My family traveled every year to the great American West, as my mom called it,” said Kate Siegel, who’s currently filming the HBO series “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” “We explored Moab, Utah, Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and many more. I remember it fondly now, but as a child I was very grumpy about all the hiking and driving.”
“We were going to go to Mexico to see Phish, but that got postponed (due to the pandemic),” said Katie Rich, the co-creator of the Netflix animated series “Chicago Party Aunt.” “I actually think we ended up traveling more than ever just in the Midwest, tooling around in our little Honda Fit.”
“Having diverse characters leads to endless possibilities for storytelling. And there are infinite ways to tell an adoptee’s story…”
“When I was a kid, my family would take me to Isla Margarita,” said “Ayar” actress Ariana Ron Pedrique. “We would go to all these beautiful beaches and eat empanadas for breakfast down at the seashore. This is by far one of the best memories I have of growing up in Venezuela.”
“’Five More Minutes’ is a movie about hope and faith in the face of loss and grief,” said Nikki DeLoach, who stars in the Hallmark movie inspired by Scotty McCreery’s hit song of the same name. “I lost my dad three months ago, so while this movie was emotionally hard for me, it was very healing and a way to honor my dad.”
“I always follow the food, because if you go to an interesting restaurant or street vendor, you will find yourself in an interesting square, and that square could be a palace, or a store or an art gallery,” said soprano Sarah Brightman.
“I walked in one park every day and watched it change with the seasons,” said singer-songwriter Dar Williams. “I’m a big walker but watching one place go through all these changes was very meaningful to me. Also, the wildlife really came out in force. I felt like we were all sharing the world.”
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in San Pedro, California, Misty Copeland understands her role as a trailblazer in the classical dance world. She is the first Black female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.
“Being a part of a Disney blockbuster wasn’t anything I thought I could ever dream of,” said “Jungle Cruise” actor Philipp Maximilian. “Jean-Vincent Puzos built the most incredible sets for us, so filming this movie was like being a kid in a candy store for a Disneyland nerd like me. Jesse Plemons (Prince Joachim) and I had so much fun playing around with my character, Axel, and coming up with a lot of silly stuff.”
NPR asked me to share my thoughts about the Korean series, “Squid Game,” for their Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. We discussed the controversy about the subtitles, whether the Western actors in Episodes 7 lended anything to the series and whether a Season 2 would be a good thing or not.
“I think I’d like to go camping with Agatha – maybe Yosemite,” said Laurie Fortier, the actress who plays the character on “The Walking Dead.” “I imagine she’d know how to pitch a tent, fish and make a fire.”
Trial attorney by day and content creator by night, Joanne Lee Molinaro is known to her millions of social media followers as the Korean Vegan. In her social media posts, she delivers beautifully crafted videos showing her cook, while she shares personal stories about her life and that of her parents, who had escaped North Korea as children before immigrating to the United States as adults.