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#Cine 🎬 Before imagining a career as an actor, Madison Pankey dreamed of space. Drawn to astrophysics and the possibility of becoming an astronaut, she saw exploring the universe as a way of understanding humanity’s own story. It was only during her years at Harvard, while preparing her first monologue for an acting class, that something clicked: “The story I wanted to tell from exploring space was actually inside of me the whole time.”

Pankey now brings that same curiosity to FAST, in which she plays Sterling, a determined race car driver who led her to learn how to handle a vintage Lotus 51-C and discover, quite literally behind the wheel, new dimensions of the character’s physical and mental strength. In the interview, Pankey reflects on vulnerability as strength, the influence of her History of Science background on character work, learning to trust her body, and the philosophy that has come to guide her art: storytelling as a form of love that can make people feel seen while also challenging the way they understand the world. taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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17 hours ago

#Culture ✨ In I Play Rocky, J Nycole portrays journalist Diana Lewis, who appeared as herself in the original 1976 Rocky. What began as another acting role became something far more personal for the actor, producer, and storyteller: as Nycole learned more about Lewis, she realized she was portraying a woman whose significance risked being diminished or overlooked once again. That realization led her to push for Lewis to be identified by name in the film’s official credits. “I could not let this woman be forgotten or overlooked.”

In the interview, Nycole reflects on the responsibility of portraying a real person, the importance of preserving Black women’s identities within history, and how that instinct has been part of her life since age 12, when she interviewed her uncle about his experience during the Great Depression. She also discusses her theatre background, her move into writing and producing, and the projects she is now developing to recover the stories of women who have too often been left outside the narratives considered “respectable.” taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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#Culture 🎭 For years, Guilherme Hasselmann lived between two paths. At 18, he moved to the UK to study Business Management and build the kind of stability his family wanted for him, while quietly researching the industry, taking acting classes, filming self-tapes, and waking up at 6 a.m. on weekends to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. What appeared to be his “Plan A” — earning a degree, finding a corporate job, and building a secure life — was something he would eventually realize had been Plan B all along.

Now, after leaving his corporate career, moving to London, and committing full-time to acting and content creation, Hasselmann is entering the riskiest chapter of his journey yet. With his current visa running through the end of 2027, the Brazilian actor reflects on rejection, exhaustion, discipline, creating opportunities without industry connections, and his ambition to help open doors for other Brazilian performers internationally. “Every obstacle I’ve faced isn’t just my story. […] When I can make it, truly make it, that means something beyond me.” taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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#Streaming ✨ In Season Two of The Hunting Wives, Jackie Dallas returns as Jia-Yi, now moving even closer to the center of the political game driving the series. After spending the first season positioning herself for power, the strategist takes on a crucial role in Jed Banks’ campaign for governor — and begins to discover what happens when ambition, public image, and personal interests no longer unfold exactly according to plan. For Dallas, one of the most compelling questions of this new chapter is: “At what point does their desire to win at all costs overcome their intention to do the right thing?”

In the interview, Dallas discusses discovering new sides of Jia-Yi, exploring the divide between private identity and a carefully curated public image, and drawing on her former medical training to observe the smaller details of human behavior in performance. She also reflects on leaving a stable career in medicine to pursue acting, explains why inner conflict is essential to the characters that fascinate her, and speaks about the importance of women understanding their own bodies and advocating for themselves within the healthcare system. taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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3 days ago

#Books 📚 “Summertime” has endured across generations as one of the most recognizable songs from Porgy and Bess, yet Anne Wiggins Brown, the first soprano to play Bess, remains far less familiar to the wider public. In Gershwin’s Bess, journalist and author Lisa K. Winkler revisits the life of the artist who worked directly with George Gershwin during the creation of the opera and whose contribution ultimately occupied a much smaller place in popular memory than its significance might suggest.

In the interview, Winkler discusses reconstructing Brown’s life through archival documents, concert programs, and historical research, balancing fact with fiction, and making sure the racism Brown faced did not become the only lens through which her story was told. She also reflects on Brown’s decision to build a new career in Europe and settle in Oslo: while race certainly influenced her departure from the United States, Winkler makes an important distinction — “her choice to become Norwegian was an act of love.” taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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#Culture 🎭 Taking on Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: On Stage, Elizabeth Anderson tried, for a moment, to set aside the weight of playing one of pop culture’s most recognizable characters and look at her for what she sees as her core: a sixteen-year-old girl who was forced to grow up far too quickly. Amid the violence of the Games, the expectations of the Capitol, and the symbolic role she never set out to claim, Anderson found an intensely sensitive Katniss whose strength comes largely from the need to protect the people she loves.

In the interview, Anderson discusses finding her own emotional truth within the character, revealing vulnerability to an audience of 1,200 people, and building Katniss’s very different relationships with Peeta and Gale alongside Vinnie Copeland and Nathan Stokes. She also explains how moments of breaking the fourth wall feel almost like journal entries and why one idea continued to guide her performance beneath the scale of the production: “She’s just a sixteen-year-old girl who has been thrown into a world where simply staying alive is her biggest fight.” taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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#Culture 🎭 Taking on Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games: On Stage, Nathan Stokes did not want to view the character solely through his relationship with Katniss or through the choices that have long divided fans of Suzanne Collins’ story. For the first-ever stage adaptation, the British actor went back to Gale’s beginnings — the hardship of District 12, the losses he endured as a child, and the responsibility of protecting his family — to understand how survival, anger, and a desire for change shaped the man audiences will meet on stage.

In the interview, Stokes discusses working with Elizabeth Anderson, who plays Katniss, to build a relationship rooted in grief, trust, and a shared history that predates the Games; finding new shades in a character who has lived in fans’ imaginations for years; and allowing the stage to reveal vulnerability beneath Gale’s strong exterior. For Stokes, understanding Gale means resisting easy judgments: “Before judging Gale, ask yourself the question: what do you think you’d become if you were dealt his experiences? It’s not always black and white.” taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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6 days ago

#Culture 🎭 Taking on Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games: On Stage, Vinnie Copeland found the character’s greatest strength in what he refuses to give up. Surrounded by the violence of the Games and the pressure of the Capitol, Peeta continues to choose kindness and empathy without being untouched by anger, fear, or frustration. For Copeland, that tension between what Peeta shows and what he carries underneath has become one of the most exciting parts of bringing him to the stage.

In the interview, Copeland discusses honoring the relationship fans have built with Peeta over the years without recreating previous interpretations, developing Katniss and Peeta’s connection with Elizabeth Anderson, and exploring the conflict between genuine emotion and public performance. He also explains how the theatre itself, designed with the feeling of an arena, heightens the sense of being watched and raises the stakes of every performance. “He won’t change who he is to survive the Games or to cower to the Capitol.” taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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6 days ago

#Cine 🎬 In Run Hide Fight: Infidels, the new action thriller directed by Kyle Rankin, Charlotte Delaney Riggs plays Farrah, an intense and determined young woman who takes on a leadership role among the students at the center of the story. To build the character, Riggs went beyond her own scenes: she observed real-life protests, studied the behavior of people in leadership positions, and discovered during filming that reading the rest of the script also changed her understanding of how Farrah was perceived by those around her.

In the interview, Riggs discusses joining the project while initially knowing only a small part of the story, finding humanity in a character placed within polarizing circumstances, and working with Rankin to push Farrah toward a more heightened performance than she first envisioned. She also explains how she sustains emotions such as anger, sadness, and passion through long shooting days — and why, for her, a believable performance begins with one essential idea: the character first has to make sense to the actor playing her. taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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#Streaming 🎬 In Netflix’s new release Unabomber, David Webster plays Roy, a fictional character created as one of Ted Kaczynski’s classmates at Harvard. To build someone within a story inspired by real events, Webster found his way into the character through contrast: while Ted struggles within the social world around him, Roy connects with others easily and approaches him as a friend. “I decided he was Ted’s opposite in many ways,” the actor explains.

In an interview with Luca Moreira, Webster discusses finding the purpose of a fictional character within a historical narrative, working with Jacob Tremblay, and viewing Ted through the eyes of someone who could not yet know who he would become. He also reflects on a career that began at age 12, his approach to rejection, and how screenwriting has changed the way he reads and builds characters as an actor.. taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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16 days ago

#Books 📚 For 25 years, Huey Choi built a career in law around ideas of security, stability, and professional achievement — values shaped both by the instability she experienced growing up and by her Korean upbringing. Over time, however, the attorney and author of Who Stole My Pork Belly? began to recognize the difference between a life that looked right to others and one that truly felt right to her.

In an interview with Luca Moreira, Choi reflects on finding the courage to question a definition of success she had already achieved, carrying the lessons of her past forward without allowing them to dictate her future, and using humor to revisit family memories with honesty and compassion. Today, after a life long measured through discipline and professional expectations, she also finds meaning in seemingly small things — a simple meal, a cup of tea, traveling alone, caring for abandoned dogs, or simply sitting still. “My younger self was focused on becoming someone. Today, I think success is being at peace with who I already am.”. taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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21 days ago

#TV #Cine #Streaming 🎬 Nate Bynum joined Outer Banks expecting to play Demp for a single episode. What began as a guest appearance grew into six episodes by the end of Season Four — and even a filmed death scene did not mark the end of his character’s journey. Producers ultimately decided to bring the mysterious groundskeeper back for Season Five, deepening his relationship with the Pogues and turning what was meant to be a brief job into another unexpected chapter in a career that has rarely followed a straight line.

In an interview with Luca Moreira, Bynum discusses disappearing into a character almost completely unlike himself, working on a production of Outer Banks’ scale, and watching young lead actors perform professionally many of the things he teaches his own students. An actor, university professor, and screenwriter, he also reflects on how those three sides of his career continue to shape one another — and on the rejection that helped build the confidence he carries today: “I’ve come to believe that failure is part of success — perhaps even the most important part.”. taken in PopSize United Kingdom Magazine by @popsizeuk

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22 days ago