Shining a Spotlight on Annie Live! Star Celina Smith
Shining a Spotlight on Annie Live! Star Celina Smith Celina Smith may only be 12 years old, but she’s had an extensive singing and acting career as Young Nala in the National Tour of Disney’s The Lion King, appears on the mega-hit series, Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan and is set to reprise the role of Annie on Annie Live! We sat down with the Atlanta-born star to chat about growing up on stage. By Rachel Naud You're only 12 years old and have already had such an impressive career, how old were you when you started performing? My parents would say I was born performing but I was probably around 7 years old. I was doing gymnastics, but my parents decided my cartwheels weren’t getting any better and they enrolled my in a performing arts camp, AGI, … and the rest is history! When did you know you wanted to be a performer? I knew I liked performing but I knew I wanted to do it for a living after I booked The Lion King. I think that’s when I realized I could do it professionally. How do you deal with the tough aspects of the business, like rejection? Sometimes it’s hard to deal with rejection, especially when it comes to auditioning because if it’s something I really wanted, it’s a bummer. But I try not to take it personal. What’s meant for me, is meant for me, so maybe that part just wasn’t meant for me. Tell us about what it's like performing on the esteemed Broadway stage? It’s fun and cool to see the lights and the audience’s reaction to the performances. You're starring in Annie Live! What do you love about being Annie? What I love most about being Annie is that she’s so full of hope. I love spreading that kind of message especially after the past year or so. You are working with some of the greats in the biz like Harry Connick Jr. and Nicole Scherzinger. What are they like to work with? Did they give you any advice? I am so excited about the cast of this show. I haven’t met everyone yet but the amount of talent and experience I am going to get to work with is amazing! I cannot wait. How have your parents helped you in your career? My mom and my dad have helped my career by giving up so much so that I can do what I love. My mom toured with me for over
Parker Bates from This is Us: His Pandemic and Pearson Life
Parker Bates from This is Us on His Pandemic and Pearson Life Parker Bates plays young Kevin Pearson in the hit show This Is Us. We caught up with the teen actor to chat about the show, his advice to other teens about coping with pandemic life, and the very Pearson-esque advice he got from his on-screen dad, Milo Ventimiglia. By Julyanna Trickey You have played the character of young Kevin on NBC’s This Is Us for about six years now. What has been your favourite part of working on this show? It’s always fun when I get to work with Milo, just me and him. It’s always super fun because I get to learn a lot from him. Before Covid, I learned a lot about the directing side of things and more of the camera operating stuff so that has been pretty cool. But mostly my favourite has been just being on set and hanging out with my friends. Since I’ve known them for six years now, they’re like my family. Whenever I’m on set I just have so much fun with them. Do you keep in contact with your castmates a lot outside of work? Yes. Me and my siblings on the show have a little group chat called “The Mini Big Three” that we keep in touch with. I see Milo sometimes too just to hang out and chat. What have you noticed is different about your job since the pandemic started? Every other day you have to get tested or sometimes it’s every day. So, it’s been kind of weird going to the city just to get tested. On set, there are these boxes that we get to take our masks off in to eat something. They look a bit like a hockey penalty box so that’s kind of fun. But we have still been working a lot so at least that has been normal. How are you coping with the Covid-19 pandemic? It’s been a rough year! I’ve just been trying to stay busy and get outside as much as I can. I’ll go exercise and I’ll go play golf a lot. It’s been one of my main hobbies that I can do with my dad. I usually play soccer, but I haven't been able to do that because of the pandemic. We’ve also been cooking and baking a lot! I have made A LOT of cookies. So yeah, just trying to stay busy! What is