THE CLIMB | CASE WALKER

We always like to find out more about those on our favorite shows! For fans of HBO Max's The Other Two, you know that this show is about siblings Cary Dubek (Drew Tarver) who is trying to obtain better auditions and Brooke (Heléne York) who is trying to get her life together in general! Their brother, Chase, known as Chase Dreams (Case Walker), becomes an internet senation overnight. The show illustrates how they navigate their realities!

In this month's issue, we sit down with Case to talk about his character who will be back for it's 3rd season on May 4th on the streaming platform. He shares similarities and differences between himself and this character, how he became attached to the show and how he has enjoyed the process. He also talks about Monster High which will be out this fall.

In addition to his love for acting, he is also an avid rock climber and talks about how he is just as passionate about doing this sport, taking on the challenges that come along with it as well as a bucket list of locales that he would like to go to in his travels to do this activity that he is so proud of.

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

CASE WALKER: I realized that I wanted to be an actor, probably when I was 8 years old and I realized that I could play characters and that that would entertain people. It got me hooked!

AM: How did The Other Two Come about? I’ve enjoyed watching this show, but for our readers that aren’t familiar, tell us about this.

CW: The Other Two was a project that I went out for I think 7 years ago now, maybe longer or earlier. I just went out for an audition, my dad took me out across LA and we went in like the usual kid actor would and it just really worked out! I connected with the casting director and I connected with Chris Kelly (Saturday Night Live, Crashing, Broad City) and Sarah Schneider (Saturday Night Live, Master of None, Goodnight, Sweet Prince) in the last audition. It worked out and it’s been amazing ever since.

AM: That’s amazing! You play Chase Dreams. Who is he and are there similarities and differences between yourself and the character that you play?

CW: Chase Dreams, well, he has grown a lot over the show. Early on, we were very similar in the 1st and the 2nd season. It paralleled a little bit to my life as a child actor in LA and going through the motions of the industry. This season, Chase gets to mature quite a bit. We jump a little bit into the future and Chase is older going through what I would say are adult challenges than he has ever gone through. Which is very similar to what I have gone through as well even in this season which is really fun!

AM: That’s great! The show obviously has an incredible cast with yourself, Molly Shannon (Saturday Night Live, White Lotus, Divorce), Ken Marino (Party Down, Black Monday, Veronica Mars), Wanda Sykes (Black-ish, Bad Moms, Curb Your Enthusiasm) along with former SNL writers Chris and Sarah. What is it like being on this show and what have you learned?

CW: Yeah, I’ve learned so much working on this show. All my co-stars have not only been friends and companions to me, but also talking to me so much about acting and especially how to operate on set and how to be on a television show to work together to produce art. I’ve also learned so much from them on the comedy side as well. They’ve just been amazing mentors, friends, and co-workers - all of the above.

AM: It’s always great when you have that dynamic in the chemistry. Are you able to tell us about the upcoming 3rd season and what we can expect?

CW: I can share a little bit. This season is a big jump from where we last were. It’s totally different and it’s bigger. I would say that it’s a lot bigger if you can believe it. Everyone, I would say this season – every character is kind of going through their own challenge. We’re a little bit more separate and individual this season and of course, as we always do, we end up back together as a family through all of our conflicts and challenges in the industry. It’s really fun to see how we all get through this season! There are some crazy things that happen and Chase goes through a lot of stuff! I personally felt that I was going through a lot of different sketches this season a little bit because you’ll see that Chase has a few things that are going on this season to solve his situations. It will be really fun to watch for sure.

AM: Looking forward to catch that! Are there other projects that we should keep an eye out for that you’re involved in?

CW: I worked on another project that’s a live action musical, the 2nd version of it called Monster High. It’s totally different than The Other Two which is going to be a blast and it will be out this fall!

AM: It’s always exciting to have something that’s ahead of you!

When you’re not on set, we know that you’re an avid rock climber. How did you get into this sport?

CW: Rock climbing, I got into it because my big brother was really into it. He had been doing it for a few years and as a little bro does, I kind of followed him into it. Then I stopped for a few years and then around COVID, I completely fell in love with it – especially outdoor bouldering. I’ve kind of run with it since then.

AM: You mentioned that your brother was a huge influence, but there are so many outdoor sports that you could have done, what is it about this specifically that you really love about it?

CW: I would describe bouldering and rock climbing as probably one of the most full value sports. While I’m in NY, I can train at the climbing gym nearby and find a community there and then when I’m home in Colorado, I can do a lot of outdoor bouldering. I can go to the Alpine or the Front Range. When I was in Canada filming, there was climbing everywhere. It’s a beautiful sport where you can do it a little bit, you could do it a lot, you can go outside and you can be inside and there's just this awesome community behind it. I find it to be one of the best sports in the world, it’s my favorite.

AM: Do you have a bucket list of locations that you would go to specifically around the world to continue to boulder or rock climb out there?

CW: Totally, yeah! There’s a bunch. There’s a place called Rocklands in South Africa that’s incredible, there’s a place called Fontainebleau in France which is amazing and it has a fun name – these are all just obviously legendary international bouldering spots. Where I’m at in Colorado, it’s a bucket list for a lot of people! So I just got to get a lot more boulders on my checklist here and I’ll definitely make my way to Spain and France and all of the above!

AM: When you’re climbing, how do you prepare? What are the things that you’re looking for to ensure that you’re having a good climb?

CW: To prepare for climbing, especially when you’re taking it to a whole other level, you really have to invest a lot more than you expected to it. So, it’s really mental, it’s emotional sometimes and obviously, it’s physical. A lot of people don’t grasp the mental aspect of it often times when you’ve spent a lot of time on a project which is what we call it. Like spending multiple days. It really does take a lot of mental focus and figuring out data. When I’m climbing, I just really try to be present because sometimes you can think about getting the route done or just overthinking it. At the end of the day, it’s really just about getting outside, climbing and having a great experience. When you do what we call a complete boulder or a complete climb, it’s a reward and it’s really fun. Really, climbing is just about climbing and being able to get out there and to challenge yourself.

AM: Have you ever done it competitively? Will we see you trying to go to the Olympics?

CW: You know, I have a friend who’s in the Olympics and he was one of our Olympians and I have a ton of friends in Colorado who obviously go to the National Team Trials. There’s actually a pretty big separation between outdoor bouldering and what we call comp style or competition style climbing. They kind of have a middle ground, but you end up training one or the other. I’ve been pretty focused on the outdoor stuff, but I also do a few competitions here and there! Just not maybe on the Olympic level!

IG @casewalker

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 92 -94 HBO Max/The Other Two | PG 97 Rocky Holloway | PG 98 Cooper Doe |

Read the APR ISSUE #88 of Athleisure Mag and see THE CLIMB | Case Walker in mag.

EXPLORATION THROUGH FOOD | KRISTEN KISH

We enjoy seeing Kristen Kish hosting, judging a number of culinary shows and taking us through her recent trip to Seoul. We took some time to catch up with her since talking earlier this year ahead of TRU TV's Fast Foodies 2nd season.

We talk about her co-hosting Netflix's Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, her new show on National Geographic - Restaurants at the End of the World and being on Selena + Chef on HBO Max.

We also talk about her latest partnership with Jongga Kimchi, a worldwide number one Korean brand. She also talked about their Generation Preservation campaign to preserve plant-forward foods, health and wellness through fermentation and environment to minimize food waste.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We enjoyed talking to you earlier this year prior to the 2nd season of Fast Foodies with you and you’re co-hosts Chef Justin Sutherland and Chef Jeremy Ford! It’s great to catch up as you’re always doing great things. We enjoyed seeing you over the summer on Netflix’s Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend! It was great to see the dynamic between you Alton Brown. We love the food fact that we learned about Korean Fried Chicken and how it came to be! Why did you want to be part of this show?

CHEF KRISTEN KISH: I mean, first and foremost, when they say that Iron Chef is coming back and that Iron Chef is coming back on Netflix – it means a lot of different things. Obviously, it’s so iconic in the Japanese form and then to see it evolve over time to hit the Food Network and then for me, Netflix, it just completely diversifies in a lot of different ways. You can hit so many different audiences, you can pull from different chefs and there is just so much more storytelling that can be had.

So I think for me, obviously Iron Chef – yes! Then Iron Chef Netflix and then there’s Alton Brown coming back! So already for me, I was feeling relatively insecure going into that job – it would scare anybody I think to go onto that job and to feel like that I can hold my own and to have enough to say with those things being worth hearing and to being able to do that with the comfort of Alton being next to me. I think that that was a nice dynamic coming together. I mean, all of it scared me shitless, but honestly, how do you not say yes to that?

AM: You looked amazing and you were a perfect fit for it and it was so good to watch. We hope that there will be more episodes of it for future seasons.

CHEF KK: Well thank you, thank you!

AM: You’re also on the latest season of Selena + Chef which is out now on HBO Max. The format of the show is great. How was it for you to do it virtually, to tell someone how to to cook something and what drew you in to want to be part of it?

CHEF KK: Ohh I remember it! So, I requested to my manager that I wanted to go on Selena + Chef! It looked like a lot of fun and I thought, why wouldn’t I want to cook with Selena Gomez? She was like ok and so she does what she does and she was like, great they want you on the next season and I’m like, “perfect!”

Honestly, it was so much more than what I expected in various ways. So I was expecting that I was going to teach Selena how to cook a few things and that we were going to call it a day. But I remember all of the prep-production calls and they were like, “we want to do start to finish. Like we want to have her work, do it – there’s no fluff around it, there’s no swap outs on and off camera.” Everything that she’s doing, we filmed for over a good 6 hours getting this stuff done. Selena went for it! She just did it all! I think that that is just the most interesting thing and it is hard to teach over Zoom because you are missing a human connection in a lot of ways. But for what it was and what was being asked of her to be quite frank, the whole thing was just a really really phenomenal experience.

AM: OMG! You always have so much going on! You’re also hosting Restaurants at the End of the World on National Geographic tell me about this! You’re a traveling girl!

CHEF KK: Oh my goodness! It is! For a girl that didn’t think that she would travel in her life because I thought that I was just going to be working in kitchens and I just wouldn’t make a ton of money – I would just live my life and that was just going to be how it was – to say that I can travel for my job and not only for my job, but in pockets of the world where it’s very foreign to me and meeting chefs that have this resilience in how they run a restaurant and that can be several different definitions. How they can run their restaurants with limited resources and access to the luxuries that we have with our restaurants here especially in the States.

The whole project is really phenomenal. I think that the biggest thing is yes, food is always going to be the through line, but it’s about who these people are and how and why they do this. Like, it’s just mind-blowing to me and I’ve learned a tremendous amount about how to just relinquish control as this is the theme for those people. What will be, will be – and that’s it! Argh that’s such a hard concept because in my form of restaurants, anything that I can control, I’m going to! If I can control the outcome, you better believe that I am going to control the outcome because there are so many unknowns. But all of these people have been really phenomenal.

AM: Can’t wait to check that out as it sounds really exciting.

I love Kimchi, it’s one of my favorite things to eat. You’ve partnered with Jongga Kimchi. Why was this such a fit for you that you wanted to be part of it?

CHEF KK: You know, Korean culture for me, I’ve had a complicated relationship with being an adoptee. I think that a lot of adoptees can relate wherever you are adopted from. Having a connection to your culture when you are brought up in that kind of household or where you are brought up in an environment where people look like you. I think that for me, I always shied away from a lot of it because I thought, I’m not Korean enough. So, who am I to own Korean culture because it’s not mine. But it is mine and I’m allowed to redefine what it is and what it means to me.

So I recently took my first trip to Korea, I ate so much food – traditional and otherwise! For me, I think that it opened up my eyes to say that there’s not just one way to do this. I think that giving myself the permission to lean into partnering with Jongga Kimchi which it originated in Korea, it’s the number 1 world wide brand in Korea! So to say, hold on, they want me for a reason. That reason is because of my story and my interpretation of what being Korean means to me. So I think that just them giving me the permission and them giving me the permission for me to be able to create recipes that aren’t traditionally Korean and I think that that was like this whole moment like, “ahh ok, here we are. Now I understand what this means.” It’s been a really dream partnership for me personally and professionally.

AM: I remember watching your IG when you were going to Korea and it was so cool to see how you were connecting. I think that there is a sense of connection that everyone has even if you grew up in American and you grew up with a family that looks like you and as an African American you’re saying I see this, but where are the roots and what does that mean? I think being able to watch you on your journey and for you to share that with everyone was so impactful and beautiful.

CHEF KK: Thank you!

AM: I enjoy eating kimchi on its own or on a salad. But what recipes in terms of integrating it in a different way? I love this dish so much, what else should we be doing with it?

CHEF KK: Honestly, any place that you can impart acid, I say add kimchi and swap it out! Whether that be a burger or you chop it up and thread it through a beautiful carbonara – think about the little bits of acid and heat through something so rich. I created 2 recipes specifically with Jongga Kimchi.

One is a play off of my Midwestern love for potatoes -

AM: Yes! I live in NY but I’m from Indiana originally!

CHEF KK: Yeah! Ok, then you’re going to be right here with me! I love a tater tot!

AM: Oh yes!

CHEF KK: Give me a tater tot in any form! So now we can jazz it up and we can call it a croquette and now we’re in a little fancier background. Then, the love of Korean BBQ and the cheese corn that you get and then mix it up and putting it all together with this smoked mozzarella bechamel that I make and then thread it with corn, potatoes – thread it, fry it – it’s crunchy, cheesy and delicious.

Then the other one is my ode to little hot dogs wrapped in baked croissant dough! We can’t really call that by it’s brand name because it’s not a croissant, but it’s in dough. The love of pigs in a blanket and it’s just so yummy! And I make a kimchi honey mustard using the kimchi brine because we chop up the kimchi to put it inside of the roll and then we use the brine to make the honey mustard and it’s just so good!

AM: The last time that I talked to you, you turned me onto Kewpie which I loved that! Now you’ve turned me onto the fact that I need my tater tots with kimchi on it – check!

How is kimchi made and why is it so important to preserve plant biodiversity?

CHEF KK: I mean, food waste in general, a lot of times in restaurants, we’re always thinking about how we can preserve and how to make things last. How to use the undesirable pieces of different vegetables and meats. It’s something that I have always been very passionate about ever since I have been in the culinary industry and also learning about how to do it. Because a lot of times, you go to culinary school, but they don’t always teach you how to use the end cuts and how to use the things that are less desirable. So it’s important. I think kimchi is important to preserve the history and the culture of kimchi making! I’ve gone on a deep dive on YouTube watching sweet Korean ladies making kimchi and obviously it stems from a place of need and that’s why we do a lot of things and where it stems from when we do the things that we do. It’s out of necessity. Here’s a fact, there is a very high percentage of cabbage that is at risk or has gone extinct in terms of different varietals that are no longer in use or in production or being grown. So the Generation Preservation campaign that Jongga is doing is really focusing on the preserving of the history of the preservation and why we do the things that we do in order to keep sustaining the vegetables and to kind of keep moving things forward.

So, being able to use products like that is really important and of course how you make kimchi! Now there are various versions. There’s cabbage kimchi, there’s other kimchi’s there’s all this food and food has evolved and carries different stories from all of these different kinds of people. But traditional cabbage kimchi is this rice paste flour, Korean chili flakes, lots of aromatics – ginger, garlic all blended into a paste and then you layer it onto these leaves and I think that a lot of the rich tradition is in the process right? Watching how meticulous it is in order to make it and so I think that anyone at home can make kimchi, do I think that there are far better kimchi’s especially those that I can personally make – absolutely! So sometimes, it’s just best to buy it!

AM: My sister just came back from Seoul and I was watching all of her pictures and I was like, I want to eat it from there!

CHEF KK: I mean, I’ve eaten at a lot of Korean restaurants in LA and in NY and those Koreatowns of those specific cities and you know that you can find some really good stuff. But there is something to be said when you sit in a Korean restaurant with a bunch of Korean people and you don’t understand everything – there’s just something that brings it to a whole other level! I have to tell you that things taste different over there in a really beautiful way!

I will say that when you go, you should try and I don’t know if your sister has gone there – Temple Cuisine. I had a temple lunch in the middle of Seoul and it was just tucked away and the atmosphere was amazing. The food was just transformative in the fact that it is uncomplicated and you just know that it is coming from a place – I don’t even have words to describe it because it’s just a feeling and I highly recommend you hitting that up!

AM: Well, if you say it, that’s all I need to hear!

CHEF KK: It’s really really good!

AM: You’re always on the go and you have so many things going on and I have never been to your restaurant in Austin, Arlo Grey but we have plans to be there next Spring so that we can check it out for ourselves. Are there projects that you’re working on that you’re able to share that we can keep an eye out for?

CHEF KK: Yes! Obviously, we have Restaurants at the End of the World which is coming out and is huge and amazing. And the restaurant – please, please come visit! Parallel to kimchi I have a line of Soju coming out, which is Korean alcohol. I love your reaction, that's a great reaction! A lot of Soju is like ahahah harsh so I’m doing a line of 4 aperitifs with lots of great storytelling and a lot of good stuff and good flavor in it. Keep an eye out for that so grab some Jongga Kimchi and get my new Soju and have a grand old time!

AM: We enjoyed talking with Chef Kristen Kish about her recipes and as we enjoy a great tater tot or croquette, here is how you can make your own with Jongga Kimchi!

JONGGA KIMCHI CREAMED CORN CROQUETTE

PRODUCT | Jongga Napa Cabbage Kimchi

SERVES | 30 - 40 2oz croquettes

PREP TIME | 60 minutes

TOTAL TIME | 1 hour, 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CROQUETTE

• 2 pounds russet potatoes

• 3 cups of fresh corn kernels (approx. 3 small ears)

• Smoked mozzarella Mornay (see recipe below)

• 2 cups Jongga Kimchi – squeezed dry and finely chopped, reserve 3 tablespoons of Jongga Kimchi juice

• Salt to taste

• Vegetable oil or frying oil as needed

• 1 large Black Truffle as desired/needed

• Celery leaves, lemon, Maldon Salt and chives to garnish

FOR THE SMOKED MOZZARELLA MORNAY

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour

• 3 sprigs thyme

• 2 large cloves garlic – peeled and gently smashed

• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

• 1 small shallot – peeled and small diced

• 1¼ cup whole milk

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 6 ounces smoked mozzarella – cut into small cubes/pieces small cubes/pieces

BREADING STATION

• 2 - 4 cups panko – crushed with your hands and mixed with ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 4 eggs – beaten and mixed with ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, mixed with 1 teaspoon gochutgaru, ½ teaspoon dried thyme and ½ teaspoon kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR THE SMOKED MOZZARELLA MORNAY

1. In a medium saucepan add the butter, flour, thyme, garlic, peppercorns, and shallot.

2. Turn on heat to medium and allow the butter and flour to come together, forming a blond roux.

3. Slowly whisk in the whole milk and allow mixture to come to a simmer, scraping down the sides and stirring frequently. Mixture will thicken.

4. Add in the cheese 1/3 at a time, stirring to incorporate.

5. Once cheese is fully melted, turn off heat and transfer into a wide shallow container, placing plastic wrap directly over the sauce.

6. Refrigerate until the sauce is room temp or chilled to the touch.

FOR THE CROQUETTE

1. Bake potatoes at 400°F for about an hour or until tender.

2. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.

3. Remove the skin and gently fork mash the potatoes while still hot, set aside to cool.

4. Mix together the room temperature or cooled cheese sauce with the corn kernels.

5. Add the kimchi, potatoes, and kimchi juice.

6. Mix until incorporated and season with salt to taste.

7. Form into 2 oz discs, larger or smaller depending on preference.

8. Freeze until firm (optional but makes it easier)

9. Working in batches, dredge each croquette in the flour mixture (be sure to tap off excess before moving on) then in the egg mixture, then in the panko mixture.

10. Deep fry in 350 – 370°F vegetable oil.

11. Garnish with celery leaves tossed in lemon juice, chives, Maldon Salt and lots of shaved black truffles.

12. Serve immediately.

IG @kristenlkish

@jongga_global

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Kristen Kish

Read the OCT ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see EXPLORATION THROUGH FOOD | Kristen Kish in mag.

S2. E9. | ATHLEISURE KITCHEN CHEF KRISTEN KISH

On today's episode of Athleisure Kitchen, we catch up with Chef Kristen Kish who we enjoy seeing her hosting, judging a number of culinary shows and taking us through her recent trip to Seoul. We took some time to catch up with her since talking earlier this year ahead of TRU TV's Fast Foodies 2nd season. 

We talk about her co-hosting Netflix's Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend alongside Alton Brown, her new show on National Geographic - Restaurants at the End of the World and being on Selena + Chef on HBO Max. 

We also talk about her latest partnership with Jongga Kimchi, a worldwide number-one Korean brand. She also talked about their Generation Preservation campaign to preserve plant-forward foods, health and wellness through fermentation and the environment to minimize food waste.

You can stay in the loop on who future guests are by visiting us at AthleisureStudio.com/AthleisureKitchen and on Instagram at @AthleisureKitchen and @AthleisureStudio. Athleisure Kitchen is hosted by Kimmie Smith and is Executive Produced by Paul Farkas and Kimmie Smith. It is mixed by the team at Athleisure Studio. Our theme music is "This Boy" performed by Ilya Truhanov.

BINGELY STREAMING

SELLING THE OC

Netflix Original

Netflix

We have enjoyed Selling Sunset which follows the Oppenheim Group as they make major sales, peek into their lives and more. In this series, we've known that there would be an expansion which takes us to Selling the OC with their new office in Orange County. We continue to follow Jason and his brother/partner Brett Oppenheim as they have a new realtors that will be part of this office. We know that this month, we'll be bingeing this episode to get to know the new cast as well as to see if there will be an overlap with the LA cast!

THE REHEARSAL

HBO Max

HBO

We've all had an experience where there is a conversation that we need to have and we run a few scenarios in our head to see how we will do it. In The Rehearsal, Nathan Fielder takes anything that you may have done to the next level by rehearsing every interaction that one may have to approach a certain event from creating exact replicas of the space that the encounter will take place, documenting and creating conversation maps so that the person can anticipate what will happen and doing copious run throughs. Although we can question Nathan's episode, we see how committed he is to this school of thought as we see that he does the same thing in preparing to talk to those that he is about to help!

The lengths that he goes through to become his subjects in order to understand them and the environment that they live in is next level! You can binge the entire season as in this case, seeing is believing! WIth Season 2 already greenlit, we wonder what he will tackle next and what boundaries he will push, how many actors he will swap in and out in order to rehearse a situation so that the subject can carry out what they need to do!

CHAT SH!T

Max Original

Spotify

We're still bummed that HBO's Insecure is over, but we were excited to hear that Issa Rae had another show on deck that releases weekly on HBO Max called RAP SH!T! We leave LA and head to Miami where we enjoy hearing Miami area artists, see how our two main characters evolve into a rap duo, we have mirror girl rap moments and enjoy watching them navigate their lives as well as the music industry!

CHAT SH!T is the companion podcast hosted by Zach Campbell and Jessie Woo who give clarity to each episode, give us insight into Miami, the Haitian community and provides hot takes on what takes place in the episodes.

Read the AUG ISSUE #80 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

THE BRIDGE

Max Original

HBO Max

We got hooked on Max Original's The Bridge and quickly binged Season 1 and 2. We never thought that watching people come together to make a bridge from their island to a location that's at a designated spot. Along the way, they have mini challenges, have to deal with team dynamics and a set period of time to complete the build. The 1st season dropped last year and the current season dropped earlier this summer.

You'll never look at teamwork in the same way! Who knew that the power of building alliances, listening to others and keeping the course would be a reality show that we would want to know more about!

X MARKS THE SPOT: THE LEGEND OF FORREST FENN

Cavalry Audio

Spotify

Throughout the pandemic, we enjoyed listening to podcasts that talked about wealthy individuals who decided to create treasure hunts around the world. Inevitably, there are clues, it creates havoc as people go to the extreme to find them, and the results can be less than expected.

In X Marks the Spot: The Legend of Forrest Fenn, we get to hear about Forrest Fenn's backstory, a wealthy man who believes he will die soon and decides to create a treasure hunt. We get to hear about his process in creating the clues and eventually finding that he in fact is not dying as soon as thought - but he continues to allow the game to be played.

Although he doesn't give hints to those who are playing, from time to time he does clarify certain points. Although Forrest is dead now, we get a breakdown on what the clues mean, those who felt that they had found or almost found the treasure as well as hearing about those who begged for the game to stop due to safety issues! This true story is one that is a great listen and allows you to interpret what it woudl mean if you had the opportunity to go on this quest.

UNCOUPLED

Netflix Originals

Netflix

From the creators of Netflix's Emily in Paris, we meet Michael (Neil Patrick Harris), a real estate broker whose life seems like it's perfect. His longtime boyfriend moves out and breaks up with him. Now he is left to start all over again as a man in his 40s as he goes back into the dating scene. We also see how he leans on his friends and work as he navigates his life.

Read the JUL ISSUE #79 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

COLLABORATION IS KEY | MARK INDELICATO

When Ugly Betty first came out, it was definitely a must that you were watching this show. The cast had breakout stars, iconic actors, of the moment topics and the series delved into the world of Mode Magazine. One of the characters that was a fan favorite was Justin played by Mark Indelicato. As a young actor, we watched him in this show. After 4 seasons, this show ended and Mark decided that he would go to college to experience life.

After taking time for himself, he continued with acting and played in a number of TV shows and films. We caught up with him recently to talk about 2 series that are both back for their second season and are having major moments from HBO Max's Hacks and Amazon Originals' With Love.

He talks about what draws him to projects, the importance of collaboration and using his platform.

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

MARK INDELICATO: I realized I wanted to be an actor when I was quite young. I can’t recall a specific moment where the lightbulb went off, I just remember how much fun I had. And 20 years later I’m still having fun.

AM: What are you looking for when new projects come up or are offered to you?

MI: Of course, first and foremost it’s the words that are on the page. Is this character well-rounded and multidimensional? And if not, does this character have an important function in the overall narrative of the piece. I'm not interested in projects where the character is "checking off a certain box” (i.e. “the gay friend” and things of the like).

AM: Our readers have enjoyed you in several roles from Ugly Betty, Dead of Summer etc. What is your process when you begin to work through playing your character?

MI: I really rely heavily on the writers, show runners and directors if I’m honest. With certain roles I find myself able to slip into them pretty easily and intuitively, but I definitely always have myriad questions throughout the entirety of a shoot. Even if I feel like I have a firm grasp on the character and their motivations etc, I always find it to be helpful to ask questions. Collaboration is key.

AM: Your character Justin in Ugly Betty was such a breakout role at the time; did you think at the time that that role would be so impactful?

MI: Of course not. I was so young I really didn’t understand what it was that we were actually doing, let alone how the show and the role were going effect viewers. I was too busy having fun and pinching myself that I was able to go to work every day. It’s only in retrospect that I can really appreciate what the show and Justin, in particular, represented and still represents to people.

AM: After the success of Ugly Betty, you took time away from acting to go to college. Why was it important for you to step away and what brought you back to the industry?

MI: In short, I needed a break. The entertainment industry is famously - or infamously - difficult to navigate and I was simultaneously navigating adolescence, so I think I just felt burnt out at a certain point. I also wanted to have a sort of anonymous life experience and going to NYU definitely gave me that. I’m so happy that I took that break because it also reminded me how much I love acting and allowed me to recenter myself regarding what I wanted to pursue as an adult.

AM: We enjoyed watching Hacks as it's a great cast. What was it about this series that attracted you to it and tell us about Damien?

MI: Like I said before its all about writing. When I read the sides of Damien I called my agent right after screaming: “I NEED TO BE ON THIS SHOW!” Although Damien has a pretty peripheral part in the first season and doesn’t necessarily speak that much, I was certain of his function in the larger narrative of the show, namely that he is a member of “Team Deborah.”

On top of that, I was very familiar with the creators of the show, Paul W. Downs (The Mindy Project, Broad City, At Home with Amy Sedaris), Lucia Aniello (Broad City, The Baby-Sitters Club, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens) and Jen Statsky’s (Hello Ladies, Parks and Recreation, The Good Place) prior work and was in awe of the incredible people attached to the series as well, both in front and behind the camera.

AM: The second season drops this month, where did we leave him and what can you tell us about the upcoming season?

MI: This season we go on the road! Team Deborah goes on tour, so we spent a lot of time together this season in quite close quarters. Damien picks up exactly where we leave him in season 1. He’s still snarky, still manic, and we get to see a lot more of him this season.

AM: You're also coming back for the second season of With Love. Tell us about this show which also has a great cast as well as Jorge?

MI: Yes! What I love so much about playing Jorge is just how different the world of With Love is from that of Hacks. It’s always intriguing to step into other worlds and contexts as an actor, so I’m very blessed to be able to do that for now two consecutive years with Hacks and With Love. Gloria Calderón Kellett (Devious Maids, Jane the Virgin, One Day at a Time) approached me with this character, and I just felt like I knew him. I related to him so much that it truly felt like she had written it for me. (She didn’t) But once we started filming the first season, I was so pleased to learn how collaborative she is and how much she really wants us - the actors - to have a seat at the table. And with that being said, she really handed me the reins when it came to what Jorge looked like, how he dressed etc, which is extremely rare. I really have to say that I’ve lucked out over the course of my career in working with people that value and respect my opinions.

AM: What can we expect from the 2nd season?

MI: You can expect that same uplifting vibe that you got last year, but this year one of the three couples gets engaged. There might even be a wedding.

AM: Over the past few years, being an activist allows people to find ways to use their platform to drive awareness. What do you use your platform for?

MI: I think that my activism comes from simply being an out and proud queer person on television. So, I would hope that my platform is such that it gives young queer viewers the ability to see themselves on television. I think I’m so passionate about representation in this context because of what I learned and saw from playing Justin on Ugly Betty. As ignorant as it might sound, I didn’t really know how powerful television and film were in uplifting those that feel alone or disenfranchised up until I really examined how much Justin has meant to people, so I hope to continue down that road.

AM: When you're not on set what can we find you doing to take time for yourself?

MI: If you can believe it, I’m such homebody! When I’m not on set you can catch me in the kitchen making a plethora of things or on the couch with a glass of wine bingeing any franchise of the Real Housewives.

IG @markindelicato

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | PG 64 - 67 Hacks/HBO | PG 68 With Love Amazon |

Read the MAY ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see COLLABORATION IS KEY | Mark Indelicato in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

BETTER CALL SAUL

The Final Season

AMC/AMC+

We can't believe that it's the final season of Better Call Saul. The last few seasons we have watched the transformation of Jimmy McGill to who we will know as Saul Goodman man, played by Bob Odenkirk (Fargo, Breaking Bad, Nobody).

This final season has brought a number of our favorite characters together as well as other glimpses of those that we have not seen in awhile. In this timeline, we're still ahead of the events that will take place in Breaking Bad. As we wonder whether we will see Walter White (Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad, Your Honor, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul - Big Love, Westworld, The Path)

With 13 episodes in the final season and a mid-season break as well, it's the perfect time to make sure that you catch up with the cartel, legal maneuvers and more.

THE STAIRCASE

Max Original

HBO Max

True crime is always our go-to genre when we're listening to our podcasts. There are a number of cases that we have heard told on various shows and The Staircase happens to be one of them. It's also a story that has been covered via documentaries as well as films. HBO Max's limited series of The Staircase shares the incidents that led to the death of Michael Peterson's (Colin Firth - Kingsman: The Secret Service, Bridget Jones's Baby, Kingsman: The Golden Circle) wife, Kathleen (Toni Collette - Pieces of Her, Knives Out, Nightmare Alley).

We're introduced to the family, their life prior to the murder as well as seeing the possible ways that she could have died. We also see how the family dynamics changed as Michael is charged with her death.

We also find out about other suspiscious activity that he has been associated with and how this could shine a light on her death of this true story.

JOURNEY TO 100

WZRD Media

Youtube

In Journey to 100, Jason Hardrath a PE teacher, has a car accident which turns his world around. Even though his doctors think that he will never run again, 7 years later he has the most FKTs (Fastest Known Times - established route at least 5 miles long with 500+ ft of climbing) of anyone on earth and is looking to be the first person ever to set 100 FKT records. This documentary shares his story.

To complete his challenge he wanted to climb Washington's Bulger List, the highest 100 peaks in the state, a lifetime challenge for most that attempt it but Jason, being a teacher, only has 50 days in the summer to complete it.

Read the MAY ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

BACK AT THE PYNK

In 2020, the first season of P-Valley, an adaptation of Olivier Award, Pulitzer Prize winning and 2X TONY nominated playwright Katori Hall's (The Mountaintop, Tina: Tina Turner Musical, The Hot Wing King) play Pussy Valley, premiered on STARZ. Katori serves as the Executive Producer and showrunner for this series. This series takes us to the Mississippi Delta where local politics, a strip club and the need to elevate in society come to a head.

The sophomore season of P-Valley begins June 3rd and we caught up with some of our faves of The Pynk in Chucalissa, Mississippi. In our roundtable, we talked with Elarica Johnson (Eastenders, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, A Discovery of Witches) who plays Autumn that we meet in the first season after running from her problems to the town of Chucalissa and becomes a dancer at The Pynk; Parker Sawyers (Succession, Snowden, A Discovery of Witches) who plays Andre Watkins who is an an associate at a commercial investment company trying to secure land for The Promised Land Casino and Resort. We also talk with Shannon Thornton (POWER, Dynasty, Inventing Anna) who plays Keyshawn a dancer at The Pynk who is also making her debut as an artist and J. Alphonse Nicholson (Mr. Robot, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madame C.J. Walker, Just Mercy) who plays the up and coming rapper, Lil' Murda.

We find out how they came to this series, why this show is powerful and what can we expect as we head into season 2.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so great to talk to you guys and we've been a fan of your work in this series as well as other projects that you have been attached to. Before we delve into P-Valley and the upcoming season, what led you to want to be an actor?

ELARICA JOHNSON: Ohh I like this question! I was that performing artist kid – the annoying one that has to do performances at the age of 4 or 5. Then I watched Annie in the theater and saw this little girl doing this performance and I was like, oh my God, I want to do that. And then I think that the biggest part is the storytelling. I loved reading stories when I was younger and the fact that I can dress up and be whoever is handed to me and to be who I want to be, that’s the most incredible thing.

PARKER SAWYERS: What’s the expression? Nothing is as queer as folk – nothing is as queer as people? I just love exploring humans man! We’re just a strange animal! So far, my degrees are in philosophy and psychology. I like thinking and reading about people and then I didn’t start acting until I was 27. I’ve always been a keen observer of human behavior and just like – what? Why is that? I’ll give you an example. I was surprised by Katori, I think she had been out of her hometown for awhile like a decade! She had been in NY like Columbia, Harvard and this kind of stuff. And then, her accent is still quite strong! I love thinking about how she loves her hometown and she’s seeing all the stars, her place, the dialect – she loves it so much! That accent isn’t going anywhere! Whereas some other people, they move and they want to assimilate – I live in London and some Americans, they want to feel part of the culture and it’s not on purpose but their accent will start to go British. I love thinking about stuff like that and then putting it on screen whenever I get the chance.

SHANNON THORNTON: I wanted to be an actor since I was a kid. I have always just been a creative person. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a lefty as we’re always creatively and artistically inclined. I don’t know if that has something to do with it as well! I’ve always had a passion for drawing, I was involved in everything band, choir, drama club, African dance, ballet – anything that just involved being on the stage and performing. I was just a part of it and ever since I was a kid from my first play in middle school, I’ve always wanted to create and to express myself artistically. I really couldn’t see myself doing anything but what I am doing right now.

J. ALPHONSE NICHOLSON: For me, it came later in life. I’m a musician first, I’ve been a percussionist my entire life, but I will say that I have had a lot of artistic influences growing up from my mom writing church plays to being on a step team in high school to being in a marching band – so the showmanship was always there. Once I got to college, I was 18 at North Carolina Central University thinking that I was going to be a band teacher, I had a wonderful teacher come up to me and said that I should pursue this theater course and to audition for this play because I had a great personality. I did it and I fell in love with it. Here we are now at 32, 12 years later and I found a lot of success through storytelling and it just grew on me and I knew it was something that I was going to do for the rest of my life outside of any of my other endeavors. Storytelling is important to me and once you realize that you have a gift for it, it doesn’t feel like work – it’s something that you want to keep going after.

AM: I love that. What drew you guys to wanting to be part of P-Valley? I remember hearing about it before the 1st season dropped and I was excited. It sounded like it was going to be really good and when it came on, I was obsessed with this show and the characters! It was everything that I could have imagined and more.

EJ: I mean, I read this script and I fell in love very early on! I was like, this one’s for me – yes! The writing is amazing and Katori does an incredible job with the characters and the space and even the language – I had never seen it before. I knew that it had to be mine. You don’t see scripts like that very often.

PS: The same, the same! Elarica already said it, but as actors, I don’t know how many scripts we get and especially during busy months of the year, it can be 5 or 6 a week. I mean a lot of them look the same and I get confused! I’m like, did you already send me this one? But when I got P-Valley, it was so new and fresh – I got it and I understood it! Oftentimes, I don’t understand some of the humor written down or something in the script. But this one I was like – oh that’s funny, I got this, that’s cool. Reading it I was like, that’s interesting and I know that and I know that world – a little bit. So that’s just something that just leapt out.

ST: The writing is what pulled me in for sure. As soon as you read the script, I remember going into my manager’s office one day to put myself on tape for another project that I was auditioning for and they were like, “listen, this came across our desk and I know you don’t do nudity and that you don’t play this type of character, but it’s definitely worth a read.” I read it on the train ride home as I was living in NY at the time and I cried. It was so beautiful and I hadn’t come across anything like that in my entire career up until that point. The characters are just so beautifully fleshed out and complicated and this world is just so real and familiar to me. I absolutely, despite my reservations, absolutely had to at least throw my hat into the ring and see.

JAN: Same! Katori Hall! The writing! I knew of her genius as a writer prior to coming to P-Valley. We both come from the theater world in NY. So I was very fond of her work and when the opportunity came to work with her and to have an opportunity to audition, we went for it and when you add in the complexity of playing Lil’ Murda right? Him being a closeted rapper so as a heterosexual man, you get a little apprehensive and say, “hey is this a story that I feel comfortable in telling” and then you do it and it's so rewarding! For me, I feel like I have played a part in being an ally in a really dope community and that’s what drew me to it. 1. being an ally through storytelling and then 2. just this incredible writing by Pulitzer prize winning Katori Hall.

AM: That's great. One of the things that we love about this show is that everyone is haunted by something in this series and they are trying to escape to other things in their life. Where did we leave your characters last season and where do we pick up with them again going into the 2nd season which launches next month?

EJ: I mean, when we left my character Autumn, she was at the auction house and I know that there are a lot of questions from fans on where is that situation now and does she really own this space now and what is her relationship like with Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan – Snowfall, This is Us, Claws)? I can tell you that it’s very bumpy! She does own the majority of The Pynk and is in partnership with Uncle Clifford and she is the boss now. This is a huge difference from her 1st season but the space belonged to Uncle Clifford for so long and has been in her life for so long that this battle has been going on for a very long time.

PS: With Andre, we’ve seen him where we left off with him failing at a mission again. We open up with him out of a job and sort of lost. And in my mind, a bit of a bum, overgrown and he’s stopped grooming himself and maybe stopped showering and maybe stopped washing his legs – I don’t know! He’s a bit lost, but then there’s something that happens that gets him out of it. Not immediately but it starts him on his path to getting back to himself. But he does it quickly and it’s pretty impressive.

ST: Season 1 as far as Keyshawn, you last see her at The Pynk, she had at this point, pulled a gun on Diamond (Tyler Lepley - 90210, The Haves and the Have Nots, Harlem) to protect her abusive boyfriend Derrick (Jordan Cox - TURN: Washington's Spies, Dynasty, The Outsider). We pick up where we left off, maybe a few months later where we are now in the throws of a pandemic and Keyshawn is dealing with the consequences of her actions. We see in season 2 whether or not she’s forgiven by Diamond or forgiven by her co-workers at The Pynk and where the relationship stands or goes with Derrick.

JAN: We find Lil’ Murda in a similar place at the end where he’s trying to figure him self out and to find himself. We absolutely find him in the same place that we’re at right now, dealing with a pandemic and dealing with how to cope with that. By the time we get to the end of season 2, we see him in a much more clearer space with himself but still complicated and complex none the less. We see him go through this incredible journey as a musician, a lover, a friend as a big brother to Keyshawn and how he moves through that space. So we find them in a multitude of different levels and a lot of different levels and then we find out how they even that playing field for themselves.

AM: The cast is really great and as you're watching the story unfold, there are interesting dynamics between them. In terms of Autumn and Andre, there is a tension between them will we continue to see that as we continue into the next season?

For Keyshawn and Lil' Murda, there is a great vibe into your characters in their relationship as friends and business partners. How will that evolve into the next season?

EJ: They do! They naturally have this thing. They’re like magnets and they’re drawn to each other regardless of what they’re going through as there’s always going to be something. I think that that is definitely a strong factor in their relationship. Yeah, we see that in this season coming.

JAN: For sure, you see it grow immensely. You see them become very fond of each other and what they are able to offer each other. Not only as business partners but as friends too right and as entertainers. I think that Lil’ Murda knows that he has to admit it to himself and his manager on the show that they can’t do that tour without Keyshawn. So we have to make that happen and then at the end of the day, I think that she knows and I don’t want to speak for her, but I feel like Lil’ Murda knows that Keyshawn knows that I am valuable to her. She feels like, “hey, he’s going to help me get out of these trenches – let’s go on tour and make that happen!”

I am valuable to her. She feels like, "hey, he’s going to help me get out of these trenches – let’s go on tour and make that happen!”

AM: Do you think that Keyshawn feels that way?

ST: Absolutely. Yes! We’re helping each other here. I think that being on tour is a kind of escapism and we were able to just escape reality for a little bit. It’s in the middle of the pandemic, but at the same time, we get to take that breather because we’re going on tour. You’ll see little texts and phone calls that bring us back to reality, but yeah absolutely.

AM: Looking past P-Valley, do you have any upcoming projects that you’re able to share that we can keep an eye out for?

PS: Oh man! The Lost Girls, that’s a movie that’s coming out. Look on my IMDB. Next week, I go off to Europe for a few months to do a couple of shows. I’m doing one for HBO Max and it’s set in the 1970s and it’s a spy thriller. Then I am also revisiting a character from a BBC show that I did in 2018 but because of the pandemic, we’re just getting around to being able to do the 2nd season! It’ll be cool, summer in Europe.

EJ: There’s nothing that I can talk about at the moment but I’m so thrilled to hear about what everyone is doing!

JAN: For sure, so I had an opportunity to work on a really cool project with John Boyega (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker), Jamie Foxx (Horrible Bosses 2, Baby Driver, Spider-Man: No Way Home) and Teyonah Parris (If Beale Streets Could Talk, Wandavision, Candyman) called They Cloned Tyrone coming to Netflix this year. I have 2 other projects that are in production right now and they are producer projects as well called Shadowbox with Hill Harper (Homeland, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, The Good Doctor) and Joslyn Rose Lyons (Looking Glass, Waging Change, Truth to Power) she’s a writer and director of that project. So it’s in the festival circuit right now. The other 2 projects that I am doing right now haven’t had my characters be announced yet so I can’t wait for the audience and my fan base to get a hold of that!

ST: There are a couple of things that are in play right now, that I don’t want to jinx – they’re under wraps for the moment but I am very very excited and I don’t think that anyone will see me in quite this light before.

IG @pvalleystarz

@elarica

@parkersawyers

@shannonthornt_n

@j_fonz

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 100 - 111 STARZ/P-Valley

Read the MAY ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see BACK AT THE PYNK in mag.

IT'S ALL JUST STORY | RODNEY BARNES

This year when the NBA unveiled their 75th Anniversary Team of retired and active players, it included 17 members who played for the Lakers which includes the Showtime era of the 70/80s with players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. To understand the importance of this era and what it did to how we enjoy the game, and how it moved the game forward in terms of commerce and making players brand, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty illustrates the dynamics at play.

We talked with Rodney Barnes, who has written for STARZ Heels, STARZ American Gods, Everybody Hates Chris and more. He shares how he got into the industry, the positions he has held, his approach to his work, being the Executive Producer and writer for Winning Time, Zombie Love Studios and his passion for comic books and graphic novels.

ATHLEISURE MAG: You’ve worked in various positions in the entertainment industry as a Production Assistant, showrunner, Executive Producer and an award-winning screenwriter. With all of these roles, what was the moment that you realized that you wanted to work in this industry?

RODNEY BARNES: I was going to Howard University and I was in the School of C (Howard University Cathy Hughs School of Communication) and I was working at Georgetown Law Center as a campus cop at night and I found out that the movie The Pelican Brief was coming to my job to film some scenes. So I was really excited because it’s one thing to go to school for this and it’s another thing to actually be able to see it up close. So I signed up for all of the overtime details and I got them all. I started watching the movie being put together and it was so exciting! So I met a guy and he was the PA, he was a Key Set PA. So I asked him how I could get a job doing what he did. He said that that weekend, they had some big scenes that were taking place at the Washington Monument and that if I wanted to come and do it for a day, they'd be happy to have me.

So I did it and it was the most exciting, fun and best $100 that I ever made in my entire life! It was something about it that felt right. I felt more purpose in doing that and being close to this thing that I wanted to be close to then I did doing anything else that paid a lot better. I quit my job at Georgetown and started working as a PA full time.

AM: What a story, we always tell people that we embrace the multi-hyphenate. As someone who has worked in a number of roles and continues to do so from writing and producing, when did you know that you wanted to take on these areas and what the specific area was that you wanted to start in first? Or was there just a confluence that took place to make all of this come together?

RB: I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I knew what I didn’t know. I knew that I didn’t understand how any of this worked and I had a very fundamental understanding of what writing was and telling stories. Quite frankly, emotionally and psychologically, I wasn’t mature enough or evolved enough to be able to take on the big job. So, working as a PA, I look at it as being an apprentice. I had an opportunity to meet people, to sort of find my tribe, to figure out the psychology of how it would work and to just get my legs under me which was a bit like bootcamp. It was always writing, but I had to build up to the idea of being able to take my shot at it because it just felt too big.

AM: What do you think was the biggest thing that you learned from being a PA that has helped you with your career or was it just being able to see all the parts that were moving and to be able to understand how they connect?

RB: There was that. I think that the thing for me was that I always had this idea that everybody in Hollywood must be a genius and I haven’t met a genius yet. But, what I have met are some folks that have worked really really hard at their craft. It sort of demystified the entire process for me in being able to see it up close and to be able to observe. I wouldn’t say that I was a vital part although I know that some people would disagree. It was sort of the type of thing where getting to know people as friends and mentors even though that’s a problematic word as no one put their arm around me and said, “son this is what you do.” But they allowed me to be in their circle and to be able to see how the sausage is made. I got an opportunity to be able to just see things up close and to decide whether or not I could do it, if I wanted to do it and the closer I got to the thing that I wanted, the better that things got for me, but I wouldn’t have been able to do any of it if I hadn’t been a PA.

AM: From a screenwriting aspect, you have written a number of things. I loved your work in American Gods which I loved that show and obviously Winning Time and then you look at shows like Everybody Hates Chris. How do you get inspiration to write and then where do you start from when you’re trying to put words to paper to create these worlds for us?

RB: I never looked at it from a place of inspiration because if I need the emotional investment to do it, then I’m not going to be inspired some of those days and I’m still going to have to do it. For me, the difference was, approaching every day like I’m at work which was no different then when I was at Walmart or Target or any of those places that I worked at along the way. I had to get up, I had to work, I didn’t feel like it and then somewhere midday or so, it got a little bit better and then a little bit better. I sort of approach writing in the same way. I have a lot of resistance on the days that I don’t feel like doing it, but it needs to be done because I have a deadline. 78% of the time, I’m able to be disciplined and I’m able to get it done and the other times, I might go to the movies, sit and watch a game or do something else when I’m supposed to be writing. But I think it’s more of a discipline of doing the thing than an emotional component to it. There are days where I feel it and if I'm writing something like a horror driven thing like in my graphic novels, I'm enjoying it a great deal so it’s easier to do, but whether I feel it or I don’t feel it or am some place in between, I still do it.

AM: Just to circle back to American Gods, one of my minors in college was Classical Civilization so it covered mythologies of the world in addition to Greece and Rome and included African and Asian nations. So when I watched it, I loved seeing all of these stories that came to life. What was it like writing for that?

RB: It was great! The best thing that came out of it was my relationship with Orlando Jones (Sleepy Hollow, American Gods, The Good Lord Bird) who played Anansi/Mr. Nancy on our show. I had a similar thing as you, I didn’t do it in college but I studied a lot of different types of mythology and some of these characters like Anansi and Bilquis and others, you don’t really get to hear a lot about them. Because of comic books, you get Thor and Zeus, Odin and Hercules and those guys but oftentimes, Gods of color don’t get a lot of love. Even when they do, it’s in secondary roles. Working for American Gods and I’m a huge Neil Gaiman fan. So to be able to play in that sort of world and get some genre credits under my name was great as I have a comic book company and I also tell a lot of genre driven stories so being able to legitimize that beyond wanting to do it was always something that I wanted to do.

AM: It was such a phenomenal series. I remember seeing the episodes and being able to see some of these characters that I had read about being brought to life so fully, it kept me glued and it was truly incredible.

So as a screenwriter, what is that process like in terms of getting attached to a project and how does one pitch themselves to get into this work?

RB: Well my agents do a lot of my pitching. They typically open doors, but I’d say that about 75% of the work that I get, outside of the things that I create, really comes from via word of mouth. Right now it’s a good time because of Winning Time and people seemingly are enjoying it and you get a lot of offers to do things because they like it which I am grateful for and it is a blessing. More often than not, it’s about putting yourself in the right position you know? People know that I write graphic books and comic books so whenever a project like that comes around and it seems like they can use a writer like me, oftentimes, they’ll call or not so much now because I have been doing it for awhile but maybe 7 or 8 years ago, if it was something that I had heard about that was coming down the pike, I would tell my agents to keep an eye out on it and then see if maybe they could get me up there to be considered.

AM: Is it a different flow for you when you’re writing for the BET Awards or the Oscars – is there a different approach because it’s a live audience or a different format then just a show or even the comic books?

RB: Not really, I look at all of it like it’s story whether it’s writing a joke, Chris Rock or one of his specials or whoever I’m working for for the Oscars or an awards show. Even a joke is a story. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. Whether I’m telling a funny story or a horrifying story or a dramatic story, at the end of the day, it’s all a story. So, I approach it all the same way. The biggest thing for me is really understanding who’s going to be interpreting the words. Like, I work a lot with Chris Rock, and I know him really, really well so if I’m going to pitch something to him, I incorporate that knowledge into the pitch. Like, I can sort of filter myself and know that he wouldn’t like this or he would really like that part. In writing the shows, I have built a great relationship with a lot of our cast and so, I try to write to their strengths as well as to the story that I am trying to tell. When I am saying that I’m writing to their strengths, I'm talking dialogue. There is a cadence to how people talk and if you can make it easier for them to interpret the words, I think that they become more comfortable with it so it's really more so about having familiarity with it for the task at hand.

AM: Also in your body of work, you have been a co-producer and a producer in shows like Heels, Winning Time and Wu-Tang: An American Saga. We’ve had a number of WWE wrestlers as our cover and shared their stories so seeing Heels was another show that we enjoyed. When did you realize that you wanted to add these roles into your body of work and how does that change your perspective especially when you're also writing the show as well?

RB: Well it’s funny, those titles of producing can mean a lot of different things. Earlier in my career, say on My Wife and Kids, when I was a producer, it wasn’t really a lot more to do than sitting in a room and writing. It’s sort of like the government, government jobs they have G-1, G-2 as you work up and it’s sort of like that in television in writing as well. If you do it long enough, you start out as a staff writer and then you move up to a story editor and then an executive story editor and then you go up through the WGA (Writers Guild of America) classifications that go with moving up. But then, in certain gigs like in Everybody Hates Chris, I was in the writer’s room and wrote a number of episodes, but I also produced the voiceover that you would hear in every show. So I would write the lines and go with Chris Rock and go record the lines together and then I would place them in the show in editing. So, to me that was actually the beginning of actually producing and so on different shows, that idea of what a producer means is something different.

On Winning Time, I actually work with the actors whether it’s working on set with their lines, working with the director to see whether or not a shot is sort of lining up with how we saw it when we were writing the show – it can mean a lot of different things. There are some shows where I have been an EP and it didn't mean anything more than just writing a show and putting it together or on some shows I'm actually tangibly doing something different. On American Gods, I wrote and also worked on the set with the actors and the director as well and putting it all together. On Heels, not so much. Marvel's Runaways – not so much. But it’s different with each one, so it’s a classification that comes with being a TV writer and as the responsibilities go, it has more to do with what that show requires.

AM: When I first heard about Winning Time last fall, I knew I was going to love it, I remember as a kid in 1986 loving this team even though I grew up in Indiana and it continues even though I live in NY now. So seeing this story, hearing about this story and getting this inside scoop of what was going on has made it really enjoyable to watch. How did you get attached to this project and what made you want to be involved?

RB: Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island, Worth, Godzilla vs Kong) who is our showrunner and the other Executive Producer as well, he and I have been writing together for about 10 years and when Jim Hecht (Fairly OddParents, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild) first optioned the book, he got the book to Adam McKay (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Vice, Don’t Look Up), and he got it to HBO and they said they would do a pilot I believe, I don’t know if the project was picked up then. They hired Max, Max called me and I said yes that I would want to be a part of it. That’s how it started.

AM: It’s an incredible cast and I love McKay films and the people that are in it. In terms of writing this where you had Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, how much source material did you have as I know players of that time as well as the franchise didn’t reach out to you on this. How did you coalesce these things all together to create this story and to provide that insider feel?

RB: Well we were really fortunate that book. So we studied a lot of books and Rick Fox, former Laker was our technical advisor, we talked to a lot of folks who were around the team at that time who worked for the organization, YouTube – we did a lot of research everywhere – articles anything that we could find. We sort of incorporated into the narrative and some stuff we had to tie in together for dramatization purposes.

AM: Obviously with the people that were involved, John C Reilly (Gangs of New York, The Aviator, Anchorman II: The Legend Continues), Jason Clarke (Brotherhood, Chappaquiddick, Silk Road), Rob Morgan (Stranger Things, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Don’t Look Up), Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Dispatches from Elsewhere, Hotel Artemis) and Adrien Brody (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Peaky Blinders, Succession) etc, there are actors in there where there is a lot of secret sauce. You have actors who were athletic but didn’t play basketball and having to do so for this role, having Quincy Isaiah play such a key and iconic person who was new to this platform, how did all of this come together to get that energy, to make an audience believe that these people who be playing this game even though they didn’t necessarily have this background?

RB: Francine Maisler (Uncut Gems, Being the Ricardos, Dune) is our casting director and she did a great job finding folks. Sometimes you get lucky like in the case of Quincy who is from Michigan and was an athlete – a football player. He had to lose 80lbs or so to come down to being able to have a Magic Johnson-like look. Solomon Hughes who plays, Kareem Adbul-Jabbar is an educator, is 7-feet tall, plays jazz and he played basketball on a professional level before. You just get lucky sometimes. I think that that’s across the board in finding people that not only have the talent but also the emotional stuff.

If you think about our players, they have to learn how to play the game because some had never played the game before, they had to be convincing to learn how to play a particular way that their character played, they had to go through physical training everyday and then they had to learn their lines and then they had to act. So there would be times when they would have to come from training, be on set, leave their work, leave set and go and play basketball everyday for however long – for a year or so. Then there is the training that went into it before hand and always having a good attitude about it as they were going. We got really really fortunate to find the folks that we found.

AM: When did you realize that you were going to be Maurice?

RB: I’ll tell you when I was working, Max was working on a movie called Worth in NY that’s on Netflix now. I was working on the first season of Wu-Tang: An American Saga. I was in Staten Island, he was in Manhattan. We would meet on the weekends and we would go over it with Jim Hecht and Rebecca Bertuch (Worth) and we would work on putting the show together. Every now and then, this name would pop up, Maurice, Maurice, Maurice – like who the hell is Maurice? Oh, you’re going to see and it was like an inside joke. They knew that I didn’t know. When we were officially on board and we started in the writer’s room in LA, we had all the pictures up of the actors on the wall and then there was a picture of me. I was like, “why is my picture on the wall?” They said, you’re going to play Maurice and I was like, “oh, ok – haha Maurice.” So Max actually wrote Maurice’s lines and the only scene that I had at one time was the scene with Pat Reily where I don’t let him in The Forum. I thought, “ok, I can do that, I’ve been a security guard my whole damn life!” I know how to say you can’t come in. You don’t even need to even write out the lines just let me stand there and I know how to not let you in some place. Then, all of a sudden, I started seeing Maurice pop up in other scripts! He's like a leprechaun where he sort of shows up in different places and I'm like, "why am I popping up?” and then I had a walk and talk which is very difficult as an actor because you have to walk, you have to think and you have to move which was in episode 5 where I had that scene. I was nervous about that scene. Actually, I messed up the scene that is on. I messed up a line but Gabby Hoffman (High Maintenance, Girls, Transparent) who plays Claire Rothman is so great, you would never know because she kept going and I kept going and so that was it and they cut and we went on with the day – but I messed up.

It's cool, the network likes it, everyone likes him and I think that Maurice is going to come back and probably say more words.

AM: We always like when he pops up!

RB: Well, thank you! As long as I stay big and relatively menacing and intimidating, Maurice will probably be around.

AM: What has been your biggest takeaway of being part of this particular project, seeing it come together and the reception of people loving this?

RB: Anytime you work hard at a thing for a long time that is intended to entertain people, you always want that to land the way it is intended so that people are entertained. I think that we’ve got a great reception and that people really seem to like it and it’s sort of gratifying because I and a lot of people give a lot when you do these sort of things and it’s not easily assembled. For me certainly being able to talk about African American culture as it pertains to sports in a way that is sort of elevated is always an honor. It’s a good thing.

AM: Well, you guys have been greenlit for a second season. What does that look like, what do you want to tackle – will it continue with these same players or will it be another part of Laker history or even another time in NBA history for a Winning Time situation?

RB: As of the moment, the plan is to continue on in the same narrative and to just keep telling the story as we have been. Even now, when we first started the process before, we were going in the third or fourth iteration of what you see on screen now – we were going to go a lot faster. Then, the decision was made during COVID to slow down the process of storytelling and we had to go back to the drawing board a couple of times to slow it down. I say all of that to say that you never know. We could speed up a couple of seasons, we can keep going the way that it is, but I think that the plan for now is to continue going in the direction that it is.

AM: One of the things that I enjoy especially with a lot of the HBO shows is that there is a companion podcast and literally, I can’t wait until Mon to listen to the show which drops right after the episode airs on Sun. I listen to JB Smoove and then I listen to your podcast. It’s great to get your insights, what’s going on – the Rob Morgan episode was really great to hear. Every episode is great as there are so many tidbits that can be enjoyed. How did you get attached to hosting this podcast and how much input do you have over who ends up being on the episode with you?

RB: Very similar to how I became Maurice. Somebody thought that it would be a good idea to have me do it and my first reaction was, I have never done a podcast before and they were like, “oh you can do it.” I think that I tried to back out a couple of times and they were like no just give it a shot. I think that I got better as time went on which is sort of the course of life, the more you do it, the better you get at the thing that you do. But, it also helps that I know everybody. Everybody that I have had on so far whether it was Snoop Dogg, Rob Morgan or Quincy, or Max or whoever, I know them. It’s like having a conversation with someone who is a friend and not so much like talking to someone who is a stranger.

They always ask me who I would like to have on and I try to spread it around between the cast members, but also the people behind the scenes. I had Todd Banhazl (Janelle Monae: Dirty Computer, They Call Me Magic, Hustlers), I had Max, I had Jim Hecht, Rebecca, I had Sarah Scott (Pam & Tommy, The Offer, The Flight Attendant) our intimacy coordinator. I had Idan Ravin whose the basketball coordinator. I had our director Salli Richardson (The Chi, Altered Carbon, The Wheel of Time) and Tanya Hamilton (Big Sky, The Deuce, Snowfall). I try to mix it up where you have one of the cast members and then someone who is a technical part of the team so that for people who are interested in being part of the business as one time I was, you can actually hear some of what they do and realize that there are a number of jobs besides the big 4 or 5 at producer, director, writer. There are a lot of other things to be done and some things may spark to someone and hopefully that podcast can help a little bit.

AM: We love seeing the birth of the NBA as we know it today as this entertainment platform with next level dancers, club lounges and had this came together with Dr. Buss. This has become the standard for what it means to go to a NBA game. Being able to hear more about Jack McKinney and his time with the Lakers. I knew he was a coach for the Pacers, but I didn’t know about his backstory. What is it that you want audiences to walk away with after watching this season or subsequent seasons?

RB: Always with our show, we have what you know and the thing that you can Google and find out. Who won the game, who lost the game and those types of things. But there’s also those things that you didn’t know. Like in the case of Jack McKinney, a lot of people had forgotten not just him, but the accident that he was in – the basketball accident and how that changed the course of the Lakers coaching dynamic. So, being able to tell some of those stories and show the Shakespearean dynamic of the coaching system with Paul West head and Pat Riley, most people know Pat Riley being the Lakers coach and they sort of identify with just him, but there were other guys too.

I think that the other side of that coin is Spencer Haywood who was a big part of NBA free agency and a lot of how we look at basketball today in the fact that we can look at James Harden and see him go from team to team to team or LeBron just being able to go to the Heat and all of that – a lot of that has to do with Spencer Haywood and going to court to battle for free agency rights for players. When I was growing up watching the NBA, I’m from Maryland so we had the Bullets, now the Wizards. Usually if a player got drafted, he played with one team for his entire career. It was big news when a player would move from one team to another.

Now, when you look at the change and the evolution both in the style of play when you look at the Showtime offense of Jack McKinney that evolved and to Spencer Haywood’s contribution, that you see in these 2 gentleman, it has a lot to do with the way that the game is played and it’s rarely recognized over the course of history. Anytime we can incorporate things that folks don’t know, it’s always a treat!

AM: Usually, when an episode concludes, we’re usually Googling about 4 things! It becomes a great way to understand how far the game has come in really such a short period of time and how things are so different and the shoulders that people stood on to get to where we are now.

RB: Exactly.

AM: Where did your love for comic books come from. You have Killadelphia that you’re writing, Marvel, Star Wars universes and Lucas Film Studios – where did this come from?

RB: The only inciting influence that I can find in my mind and my heart was that my mother was a school teacher. Before computers and all of that stuff, she would go to the public library to do her lesson plans and she would bring me. There was always this area where you would have kids like in a pen, your Cat in the Hat, Curious George books etc. I had no interest in any of those books because under those books was a box and in that box was comic books. I knew exactly where it was and I don’t think that they ever changed them in all the years that I went. I would just sit in the corner and read them for hours. It sort of became a thing where it was infectious you know? The moral throughline and some of the stories were more evolved than what my 5 or 6 year old mind could handle but I was intrigued by that idea. Then later, people would give them to me and my grandfather would call them funny books back then. They would give me a stack of them and it was a way to keep me quiet. Later on, when I would have odd jobs, I would buy them. This was during a period of time where you could get comic books anywhere – the convenience store, liquor store, virtually any place that had a spinner rack full of comics. Now, you have to go to a comic shop on Wed to get them. But back then, they were readily available and they were only 20 cents or a quarter. Now they’re $4 if not more.

It was just a love that just evolved along with my life. In the beginning, it was mostly about the art and the story. Then in my teen and later years, there were guys like Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing) and Grant Morrison (Doom Patrol, New X-Men, Fantastic Four 1234) and Frank Miller (Daredevil, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City), they sort of made it like literature and evolved into something that was more serious and that kept me involved and then later television and film like most people. So there has always been this relationship.

When I was younger, I tried to write comics professionally, but couldn’t find a way in. Like a lot of things that I’m sure people feel with television and film, it’s a tough nut to crack. But even more so back then, there weren’t a whole lot of African American characters and there wasn’t a big indie space when I was coming up. It was just Marvel and DC and every once in a while there’d be a new company that would pop in. They didn’t have the same distribution chain as DC so you were relegated to those 10 characters maybe if there were 10. I think that a lot of times, companies back then felt like unless you were writing for a character of color, what’s the point of hiring this person? So for me, I wanted to take a shot at writing a comic so when I was on the show Runaways which was a Marvel show, they liked my work and I sort of leveraged the appreciation of my work to say, “hey if you guys have any relationship with Marvel Publishing, I’d love to write a comic book.” They gave me Falcon. I quickly realized that I had no idea what the hell I was doing or how to write a comic book. I just took my shot. It was received ok-ish. Then again like the podcast, I kept doing it again and again and again and I got better and better and better at it and then I had the idea for Killadelphia and started a whole new thing. Now I write 10 books a month and I have my own company and it’s taken on a life all of it’s own.

AM: Which is amazing and I know in looking at your IG, you were talking about The Mandalorian which I’m a fan of. You have a project coming out in June – can you tell us more?

RB: Yes, it’s June the 22nd, The Mandalorian adaptation of the TV show and it’s the first adaptation that Marvel and Lucas Film have done with a project. It’s basically straight adaptation of that story. They don’t let you deviate too far from the story because it’s Star Wars cannon and you can’t really interfere or add new things because it’s connected to the television show. So I basically do my version of the television show would be.

AM: It’s still very cool though!

RB: Yes, it’s an honor to play in that space.

I just finished IG-88 Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters and I did Lando Double or Nothing earlier. I love to play in the space. I have a Luke Cage short that’s coming up and maybe a Luke Cage miniseries coming up for Marvel. So anytime you get to play in that space, it’s always fun because it’s such a big fan base that you get to connect with that many people is always an honor.

AM: You created Zombie Love Studio which deals with creating original graphic novels and things of that nature, what are some things coming out of there that you want to highlight?

RB: The first book is Blacula, a reboot of the Blacula character from Blaxploitation era in Oct/Nov which should be dropping then. I also have another book, Florence and Normandie and alien attack story that takes place on the corner of Florence and Normandie famous because of the Rodney King riots that started from there. I’m writing that with Xzibit. I have Tales from the Crip with Snoop Dogg which is the Crip Keeper. I have a book called Crownsville which is set in one of the first black mental asylums in America that’s a ghost story.

There's a bunch of other things that we’re developing that are moving along. There aren’t enough hours in the day, but I’m really excited about it all and it’s coming together slowly but surely.

AM: The depth of what you’ve done is truly phenomenal. What are things on your bucket list that you have yet to do or areas that you want to put into that body of work that you haven’t but that you’re still interested in tackling.

RB: Well certainly, developing the Zombie Love books and Killadelphia and things like that into my Substack page where I do 4 of the books. 3 that are connected to the Killadelphia world which is the book that I do at Image. There are 3 books that I do at Image, Killadelphia, Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog and Monarch an alien attack miniseries that I am doing. My Substack page has 3 other series, Johnny Gatlin who is a gun slinger in hell and hell is like the Wild West. 20 Degrees Past Rigor which is a zombie story set in Flint, Michigan where zombies are connected to the polluted waters of Flint. The Butcher of Black Bottom which is a serial killer story set in 1920’s Black Bottom section of Detroit. Then there’s Elysium Gardens which is in the back of Killadelphia which has an ongoing story on a Substack page. So, there are those books as well. There’s a lot of stuff and next, I hope to adopt a lot of those things into other forms of media whether it’s animated, live action or television or those kinds of things.

AM: Because you have so many projects that are just in constant rotation, how do you deal with the overlap? Do you have to be at a certain point before you take other things on – do you slice it up like a pizza and mix it the best that you can?

RB: Ha! That’s basically it. I try to tackle each thing as the day comes at me. I usually get up at 4 in the morning and then I start writing and I get the comic book stuff done in the morning. Then I tackle my day jobs like Winning Time or anything else that I have in front of me and I take it as the day comes. Whoever is yelling the most that is owed the thing to them – so yeah! Whoever’s voice is the loudest at the moment!

AM: I think that the time that we’re living in right now, although there is still a need for a lot more representation, to think of myself now versus the younger me who wouldn’t have thought to know that there would be an Ava Du Vernay (A Wrinkle in Time, Queen Sugar, Girls Trip), yourself, Shonda Rhimes (Bridgerton, Inventing Anna, Grey’s Anatomy) all these people that are moving storytelling forward. How important is it for you to reflect that in your work and to have POC be able to see themselves as well as for others to understand why they need to be an ally and to make these spaces more open?

RB: Well I think it’s important because the world doesn’t connect in the same way anymore like physically. We don’t talk to each other the way that we used to and it wasn’t perfect back then either. It’s more important than ever to be able to tell stories that have a ring of truth or some semblance of honesty. That way you get to see people as they are good, bad and indifferent more so than as a caricature or something that feels contrived in some way. I think that a lot of the biases that we hold with each other comes from those depictions. I know since 1619, a concerted effort was made speaking directly to African American culture to make us less than human. There’s one idea of being less than human, but you have to reinforce that on a regular basis. So you either make them caricatures or villains – one extreme or the other. If that idea has the ability to sort of ferment for 400 years or more then you’re at a place where it almost becomes truth because you’re so used to seeing that be the case.

So when you have this culture that is fighting for a slice of the pie or some semblance for respect and dignity, living in a culture and you’re sort of burdened by living with that depiction. It's really a hard thing to overcome because then even the culture itself starts to believe it – is this who I am and some people do. That can be problematic in its own way because you start to devalue yourself and people who look like you.

So I think that the more folks that can get in for various gender, sexual orientation, race or whatever it may be – to be able to speak to your truth in an honest way cannot only help you and the group that you’re in but also people outside of that group so that they have a better understanding of who you are and the struggle that you navigate just to be a human being and to have a human experience.

AM: Who are 3 people that you feel were profound, instrumental or helpful to be in your career?

RB: Damon Wayans (My Wife and Kids, Lethal Weapon, Major Payne) is always first! He was the first person that gave me an opportunity to work on a television show. Were it not for him, I wouldn’t be here. Don Reo (Everybody Hates Chris, Two and a Half Men, The Ranch) who was the showrunner and creator with Damon on My Wife and Kids. He helped take whatever raw ability I had and allowed me into a space in a way that pushed me to a space where I was able to see for myself what I had to do. I’m eternally grateful to him as well. I have to say that there is a tie for number 3 Allen Hughes (Dead Presidents, Menace II Society, The Book of Eli) of the Hughes Brothers, a director. He helped me to bridge art and commerce. He gave me an opportunity to write in a different type of way and helped me find my way of doing art. He was very supportive in that. Then, Max Borenstein who is our showrunner on Winning Time who sort of did the same thing but in a different way. There’s a push sometimes that you need to get out of where you have been to where you want to be and Max was very helpful in being able to push me. Beyond him pushing me, was me pushing me as well. There are a lot of other people and if you had given me 10 or 20, I could have continued on with other people who have helped me even if it was just survival – that’s important as well. So when it comes to writing and being a professional writer, those people come to mind.

IG @therodneybarnes

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 78 Warrick Page/HBO MAX | PG 81 - 85 STARZ/American Gods | PG 87 + 88 STARZ/Heels | PG 91 -102 HBO MAX/Winning Time |

Read the APR ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see IT’S ALL JUST STORY | Rodney Barnes in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

THE GIRL BEFORE

Max Original

HBO Max

We've all had those moments when we want to have a clean slate of sorts. When life gets hectic or confusing, it's time to change things up. In The Girl Before, we meet an architect who has a home where in exchange for staying there, you must agree to a series of rules and way of living. We are introduced to 2 women that opt to participate in this contract in different time periods. At times, their lives mirror one another, even when they have never met each other. The connection is the house, the architect/owner and a grieving man.

How much privacy are you willing to give up in order to reduce the chaos and clutter of your life? At what point do you decide that managing your life on your terms of more important then simply giving it away?

In this 4 episode limited series, you see the impact of making decisions and how each choice creates a number of options for better and for worse.

INVENTING ANNA

Netflix Originals

Netflix

Anna Delvey was a NY It Girl heiress on the move and was on the way to create a social club that allowed the elite sect of NYC and artists to come together. Anna worked to get the appropriate funding to ensure that her vision would be everything she thought it could be. She went on a number of meetings, met the right people and even created an inner circle of sorts that kept her finger on the pulse of what was going on.

The only part that was missing was that she was not a rich heiress waiting for her trust fund or for her father not to cut her off. She was a woman filled with ambition ready to move the chess pieces that she needed and left debts and embarrassment to those that connected with her that didn't know her full story.

In Inventing Anna, Shonda Rhimes delves into this story that has been the subject of a number of podcasts to dig deep into the players involved and additional information on this story that continues to evolve.

CLASSIFIED

QCODE

Spotify

When QCODE drops its immersive scripted podcasts, we know we will be intrigued. Their latest, CLASSIFIED, follows Ivan Harris who finds himself at the Ravenholm Institute.

They say that he will remain there until his delusions are gone. He knows that he is an assassin who fell in love with the woman he was supposed to kill. Who's right and how will he find out?

Read the FEB ISSUE #74 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

BEANIE MANIA

Max Original

HBO Max

Many of us remember when Beanie Babies became the most collectible item. Out of nowhere, these stuffed animals known as Beanies were found in a number of gift shops and stores in your town. Growing up, you even knew that your parents or other elders were collecting them.

Beanie Mania goes behind this craze to share how the company came into existence, how it grew slowly and how a group of Midwestern women began driving value and interest to this toy and how it became something where people felt that they literally would become millionaires.

We learn about how the company with a handful of employees went from having a product, to giving it life with the poems, names of the Beanies and having a non-traditional distribution.

Ultimately, greed, undervaluing employees and additional issues began to be the undoing of the millionaire dreams that many had. It also looks at how there is a resurgence of these toys and interests as younger generations have been gifted the toys.

OZARK S4 PART I

Netflix Originals

Netflix

We've been waiting to see how it all comes to an end on Ozark and this month, Part 1 of the final season of this show dropped with the first 7 episodes and the remaining 7 will drop later this year. We catch up with with Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) Byrd as they continue to utilize their accountant work with the drug cartels in order to gain political influence in the Midwest.

With this goal in mind, the entire family is focused on being able to leave the Ozarks and to move back to Chicago to get back to life. Unfortunately, there continues to be twists and turns as enemies and frenemies wind up dead, former work associates find themselves dragged into bigger problems and new acquaintances prove to be harder to work with than ever.

With the goal firmly ahead of them, we know that ultimately, the tag line for this season is, "no one makes it out alive."

WILD THINGS

Apple Original

Spotify

We all remember the entertainment tragedy that took place at Siegfried and Roy's show. When one of the stage tigers carried Roy offstage, it led to the final show. Wild Things goes behind what took place to talk about the entertainers and what else was involved.

Read the JAN ISSUE #73 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

MOMENTUM IS KEY WITH MARK WAHLBERG

We've been a fan of Mark Wahlberg since we first saw his music video for Good Vibrations and as a model for Calvin Klein underwear. We knew then that he would transcend his popstar status as a multi-hyphenated brand that we would continue to see. As he began to make the jump to the big screen in The Basketball Diaries and Boogie Nights, we knew that we would continue to see him taking on additional cool projects.

Since those early days, we have enjoyed Mark's range of characters in our favorite films from Martin Scorsese's The Departed, Patriot Day, Ted/2, 2 Guns, Transformer franchise and All the Money in the World. With the ability to oscillate between dramatic and comedic roles, Mark has proven to be a powerhouse and received A Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in The Departed. He has been equally as dominant behind the screen as an Executive Producer of HBO's Entourage, Ballers, McMillions, Boardwalk Empire, How to Make it in America, A&E's Wahlburgers, USA's Shooter (which he was the main character in the movie version) just to name a few.

We know him to be a man who has a work ethic and commitment to all of his projects whether it's an upcoming role, as an entrepreneur, his passion for his family and his ability to get up early to get his workout in so that he is in shape for whatever life throws at him.

We're excited to have Mark as the cover for this month's issue where he shares his words of wisdom that he has learned as he navigates life and the business. He shares how he continues to optimize his efforts, how he approached his roles, his upcoming film Arthur the King, his apparel brand, MUNICIPAL, and Wahl Street on HBO Max.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When we look at your career as an actor, producer, entrepreneur and investor what has been your mantra as you navigate these areas?

MARK WAHLBERG: Just get going. So many people get stuck over thinking whatever it is. But the key is just to get going. Any momentum is better than no momentum.

AM: You are known as a man with a number of optimized habits. What’s the best way that one can approach that?

MW: Get into a routine that allows you to be the best version of yourself.

AM: What’s the first 3 things that you do in the morning when you wake up?

MW: Pray. Then eat and workout.

AM: Obviously, you’re in great shape and we know that you get up pretty early to get your work in. What is the simplest, but most effective piece of workout equipment that you own?

MW: That’s got to be my PowerPlate Pulse. I feel like I have one in every room in my house. Soreness goes away in just a few mins.

AM: You have been in a number of our favorite movies, from Boogie Nights, The Departed and Transformers franchise. What has been the most physically taxing role that you’ve played on screen?

MW: There are so many because I love the physical aspect of some roles. People pushing themselves to the limit. The Fighter, Lone Survivor were like that. And my new movie I just finished shooting, Arthur the King, does the same.

AM: Which role that you’ve played — Tommy Saunders (Patriots Day), Marcus Luttrell (Lone Survivor), Mike Williams (Deepwater Horizon) — inspired you most personally?

MW: They’re all so different but the one thing that they have in common was they are all real people committed to something bigger than themselves.

That’s as inspiring as it gets.

AM: When you began as an entrepreneur, what was the best piece of advice that you received?

MW: Things never go exactly as you planned. But if you’ve put a great team together, and are persistent, you’ll find creative solutions together.

AM: Since last Oct, we became aware of your fashion brand MUNICIPAL and included it in our cover shoot with EDM DJ/producer duo SOFI TUKKER as well as in our cover shoot with Twilight's Peter Facinelli. We love that the line takes you from day to night. What’s your go-to pieces of MUNICIPAL gear?

MW: SuperBlend tees, Sport Utility Jogger, Everyday Boxer Brief, ICON Trucker Hat – can’t pick just one!

AM: So what’s your favorite new discovery?

MW: MUNICIPAL SuperBlend tees. I live in these things.

AM: When you’re not on set, brokering your deals or thinking of your next project, what is your ideal day?

MW: Spending time with my family.

AM: We love your commitment to your health and fitness, but when it comes to a splurge are you drinking wine, beer or liquor?

MW: Wine

AM: When it comes to athletes, who influenced you the most?

MW: I grew up in the 80’s so it was Larry, Michael, and Magic.

AM: So what music are you listening to right now?

MW: Lately I’ve been watching a bunch of old school hip hop videos with my kids. The stuff holds up!

AM: We’re all streaming a number of shows on various streaming platforms. Any suggestions on what we need to be bingeing?

MW: How about HBO Max? Netflix is Spenser Confidential. And on HBO Max, check out the Wahl Street series airing April 2021.

IG @MarkWahlberg

PHOTOS COURTESY | Mark Wahlberg

Read the Apr Issue #64 of Athleisure Mag and see Momentum is Key with Mark Wahlberg in mag.

BING3WATCH | SUCCESSION

Read the Aug Issue of Athleisure Mag #56 and see BING3WATCH | SUCCESSION in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

MILLION DOLLAR BEACH HOUSE

Netflix Originals

Netflix

We can't get enough of reality shows in general and when it comes to those that are focused on real estate, sign us up! When you're finished bingeing watching Selling Sunset, make sure that you check out Netflix's newest show that focuses on Nest Seeker International's agents as they sell homes in the Hamptons. As is the case with this formula, we'll be introduced to an array of personalities of realtors and brokers that are taking on a hot destination, watching how they do their business, how they stay ahead of the competition and how they work together as an agency as well as individually! In addition, we can transfer our wanderlust through them and be transported to new locales. Of course, we're definitely waiting to see what kinds of drama they will get into as well!

I MAY DESTROY YOU

HBO

HBO + HBO MAX

We meet Arabella Essiedu (Michaela Cole) and her friends in London living their best lives. Arabella is a Twitter star turned author working on writing her 2nd anticipated book while in the throws of procastination and serious writer's block, with her best friend Terry Pratchard (Weruche Opia) who is a struggling actor and her other best gay male friend Kwame (Paapa Essiedu). We follow Arabella as we focus on her finishing her book. She takes a trip to Italy and meets a man who calls her out on her vices, when she is back home, she opts to take another break to go out and is sexually assaulted; however, she spends the remainder of the season putting together the details, dealing with her stages of grief, what it means to be a victim and getting her power back.

In the midst of her focus on herself, she also learns how her interactions as well as being present with her friends shift as well. Ultimately, she realizes that after a year since the incident, she has to get her life together and she can't do it alone. This powerful and emotional series just completed so it's worth doing a proper binge.

EVEN THE RICH: THE HOUSE OF VERSACE

Wondery

Spotify + Wondery+

Even the Rich delves into some of the richest families, couples and systems and shows that although they have wealth, access and lives that are on another level, they also deal with the same issues of loss, betrayal and ambition. This season has included a number of stories that are covered within a few episodes from the Royal family, The Murdochs, Gettys, Beyoncé & Jay-Z and they are currently delving into The House of Versace. Within each story, there is a primary focus such as how Gianni's siblings Donatella and Santo's initial involvement within the the family business shifted over time - especially after his death.

This conversational pop culture podcast is hosted by Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore- Williams and is filled with anecdotes, stories from and behind the headlines as well as their own insight into what took place.

Read the Aug Issue of Athleisure Mag #56 and see Bingely Streaming in mag,