Celebrity Coverage
Mykal-Michelle Harris on Giving a Voice to a New Generation of ‘The Little Mermaid’ Fans – Essence

DISNEY’S ARIEL JR. – “Disney’s Ariel Jr.” stars Mykal-Michelle Harris as Ariel. (Disney/Nathalie Gordon)
Since its June 27 premiere, it’s change into a phenomenon for young fans. As the voice behind Disney’s latest reimagining of Ariel, Mykal-Michelle Harris couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the subsequent chapter of her underwater adventures.
“It was so much fun to bring this exciting, vibrant, and so full of life character to life,” Harris tells ESSENCE. “The beautiful songs she sings and the funny quips and jokes she makes were amazing to put in my own way. I loved using the words on the page to put my own spin on things.”
This version continues the story of Halle Bailey — black, red, living within the Caribbean — and introduces her as a vibrant 8-12 months-old, still fascinated by human culture, but alongside her best friends Flounder (Gracen Newton), Fernie (Cruz Flateau) and Lucia (Elizabeth Caro), with the loving guidance of her father, King Triton (Taye Diggs), her older twin sisters Alanna (Jessica Mikayla) and Ayanna (Dana Heath), and her beloved aunt, “Tantie” Ursula (Amber Riley).

In each and a series of shorts, Ariel and her friends learn beneficial lessons about friendship, leadership, responsibility, kindness, consequences, and more, with an original, often Caribbean-inspired song in each episode. The vocal and animation work has been within the works for a while, and audience response because the first eight episodes premiered earlier this summer has been overwhelmingly positive—leaving fans clamoring for more.
“It’s so rewarding to see our hard work on screen,” Harris says. “I’ve had so many reports from friends, family and even strangers who have said they love the show and it’s amazing to hear that this show that we’ve worked so hard on and put so much blood, sweat and tears into is turning out to be a show that will last for generations.”
fans can rejoice because more of her adventures are coming this week. Episode 9, “The Happy Patty Clap,” charmingly incorporates a key part of black girl culture—hand-clapping games.
When Ayanna hurts her thumb and might’t compete within the Clap Game along with her twin sister Alanna, Ariel steps in so Alanna can still compete. But when Ariel puts pressure on herself to clap just like the twins, she quickly learns that doing things her own way is okay. Watch the EXCLUSIVE clip below:
“As a child growing up in Philadelphia, I was always outdoors, often playing one of my two favorite activities, Dutch jumping or working on clapping routines,” Lynne Southerland, executive producer of ESSENCE, tells us exclusively. “The memory of coordinating hand movements with a partner while singing nursery rhymes still lights me up.”
“When we were thinking about possible storylines for the series, my thoughts wandered back to those happy memories and I knew I wanted to celebrate this unique activity that is unique to black girls in Ariel’s world.”
For 12-12 months-old Harris, who remains to be on the age where clapping her hands is a regular pastime, incorporating parts of her real life into her role was a delight.
“I love learning clapping games, especially the ones we see on ‘The Happy Patty Clap.’ I’ve learned a lot of clapping games in the past and I can’t wait to learn new ones and for others to learn new ones from the show,” she says. “Learning these games is so much fun because it’s something I play on set to bond with my castmates and even at slumber parties with my friends!”
“Disney Jr.’s Ariel” premieres Friday, August 9 at 9:00 a.m. ET/PT on Disney Jr. and 10:00 a.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel.
Celebrity Coverage
Hannah John -kamen on Thunderbolts* and always remains ready to get close – essence

Killer Action Role on television, science fiction Odyssey Outlaws and Hyper-Dystopian Stories are stuffed with the movie Hannah John-Kamen as a performer with strength in her emotional performance on the screen. A 35-yr-old English actress known for her roles in movies similar to Andas, just like the television program, Likeand is ready to bring her to her because she had large roles supporting in lots of successful franchises. He represents his role Ghost (Ava Starr) in Marvel. Directed by Jake Schreier, The Asterisk within the title of the film is an actual show Way Marvel, and the filmmaker intended to be this story to be the departure of Disney franchise and resign how very different it’s from the more shiny repertoire of Marvel’s movies.
“Jake’s lens of this film was very, tonally specific”, he describes John-Kamen through the conversation. “It was like creating an independent film in the Marvel universe – Jake had a level of sensitivity and nurturing this story.” Re-reembodiment John-Kamena Ava Starr as a spirit, a killer for employment, is a key paria of the newly formed group, which was later recognized within the film as Thunderbolts, the name developed by the character of David Harbor, Aleksiej Andreovitch (Red Guardian).

The family roots of John-Kamen reach her Nigerian father and Norwegian mother, who performed significantly different works as a criminal psychologist and fashion model. With her established experience in Performance’s art, she was able to introduce her history of upbringing in a house stuffed with beauty and brains in her roles on the screen. The English contractor doesn’t stop his roles on television and film and cooperated with the maestros cinema, similar to Steven Spielberg (), and now Jake Schreier. “It’s quite difficult, because when you filter abroad, you revolve with a time difference that is easier to say than to do,” says John-Kamen. “In this world it can be a lonely lifestyle that concerns the spirit, and I grounded, taking breath and seeing my loved ones, friends and hugging my dog.”

Florence Pugh leads as Yelena Belova, a self -sighted super agent who suffers from disturbing episodes that recreate memories of the past that persecute her. The unusual childhood injury Belova led her to becoming a one who acts probably the most alone. Belova and Starr are a fortress behind Anti Hero Alliance of the Thunderbolts. They are the one women in a six -person organization who meets with controversial forces. “He, very, controls himself, his body and making decisions very much,” the John-Kamen explores. “She is Fort Knox and is a lonely wolf.”

The unusual moments of the comedy from the forged, which incorporates Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman and many others, does so related and feel more human than OR. Without having shiny superpowers, which make up lightning, they’re forced to face their reality without pursuing fandoms and public support. In the film Arch Nemesis Thunderbolt is the vengeful figure of Louis-Dreyfus, Valentina Allegra de Fountaine-infiltrating director who tries to manipulate and remove the Marvel Hero team.

During the 2 -hour journey, which makes up the history of Thunderbolt’s origin, the audience experiences the way in which these qualified warriors are still fighting for the worst problems. Ava Starr remains under the radar for many of the film because he has more sequences than words. “Her guard is very elevated,” says John-Kamen. Ava Starr appears when Yelena Belova needs her most to save the world overtaken by darkness. The character of Lewis Pullman, Robert “Bob” Reynolds, is armed against Thunderbolts, and his arch symbolizes how our minds may be as powerful because the uncomfortable villain.

Schreier’s approach to this film within the Marvel series was to enlarge greater than outside, removes all glamorous aesthetics that makes the heroes so aspirative. Even in Thunderbolts marketing, a wheat box standing in the course of the box is caught to satirize the trail of superheroes created within the Marvel cinema. Each anti -hero character stands in front of its own internal battles created by the trauma and wounded within the script by Eric Pearson. “We really laughed between shots,” Hannah warns me, talking in regards to the heavier features of the film. “I really created this beautiful family in this cast.”
In general, it is a story that follows wounded individuals who learn to treat. Along the way in which, they establish a family bond and support system. In 2025, when people can feel more disconnected, the narrative of Thunderbolts hits the home harder, watching the characters construct sufficient confidence and mental Harta to stand in themselves and their newly discovered friends. “I think that at the end of this movie I want you to hug a loved one or make sure someone feels safe and informed him that they do not have to boldly smile,” John-Kamen says.
Celebrity Coverage
Karen Pittman in the latest drama Netflix “Forever” – Essence

Karen Pittman during the thirty first Guild Actors Guild Awards. Photo: Maya Dehlin Spach
Karen Pittman is just too accustomed to prime quality content. From, to, she built a profession playing dynamic characters at the center of an intelligent, conscious society. But in the recent Netflix Pittman series, he enters the unknown territory – each skilled and emotional. Adapted by Mara Brock Akil and the performer produced by Regina King, the concert again imagines the iconic novel by Judah Blume from 1975 through a up to date lens, concentrating black love, family and growing pains of adolescence in America Pre -Floyd. This is a type of project that usually doesn’t come – and Pittman knew about it after the jump.
“I don’t have such a thing on my work on TV,” says Essence. “I did it in the theater, but not in this way with these colleagues.” When Akil turned to her regarding the role of Dawn Edwards-Reduer with a high power and fierce protective mother-she showed that the stars were leveled. “Not very often in your career, as an actress, people will allow you to break your mold and do something else,” he says. “And Mara is known for the concentration of black women. It meant to me.”
In the series Dawn is the mother of Justin, teenagers moving in the old flame, identity and independence. It is an effort that required Pittman to make use of his mother’s own instincts – but with restraint. “Dawn and I are two very, very different mothers,” he says with amusing. “But this level of cruelty in how it protects my children? I am completely adapted with it. There is no compromise for me in this way.” While Dawn emanates what Pittman calls “Razzle Dazzle” – a type of presence that makes people sit straight when he enters the room – she can be harsh, sensitive and struggles with the terrifying transition to permit her son to enter a situation that she will be able to’t control.

The series takes place in 2018, and sometimes the Nominee Actors Guild awards as “preliminary sketch”. Before Pandemia, before he calls for racial justice, the series records quiet fears that defined so many black households. “This is an uncertain place for a mother,” he explains. “Watching your child goes to the hostile world. This program reflects where we were as a country and why Dawn is so focused on the development of the Son.”
This helps that Pittman’s stars are Wood Harris, who plays Father Justin. Two actors divide not only skilled chemistry, but a typical language that reaches their roots. “We spoke smoothly with each other,” he says. “Wood was simply an ideal star-open gentleman, accessible and full of respect for work. Our heroes love deeply, and the conflict between them concerns noble problems, not a small drama. This made the scenes rich.”
The dream team doesn’t end there. Pittman lights up, saying that he’s directed by King, whose artistic instinct and private experience have added work. “Regina grew up in Los Angeles, she was the mother of her son at this age – there was such a large synergy,” he says. “He is the director of the actor, completely commanding, but also related to the crew in a way that made the whole set feel grounded.”
But this Akil, says Pittman, who built the foundation. “Mara could write for everyone, do everything – but she decides to warm up her work around us,” he says. “She is intended in a way that I have never experienced. We saw her influence by: – But this series gives us a different dimension of her vision. It is delicate. It is sharp. It is deep, deeply black.”
For Pittman, It’s greater than a brand new loan on her impressive CV – it is a type of return home. A probability to stretch, cooperation with creators that admires and tell a story that resonates at every level.
“This is one of those rare times in which work, people and message are consistent,” he says. “And when it happens, you jump.”
Celebrity Coverage
Tara Davis -woodhall reveals a rare photo of her essence

@_Taarra_ / Instagram
From boxes to turns and extensions, Track Pro and gold Olympic medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall did all this. But “many of you have never seen my natural hair,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
In a rare appearance, a floating, frame -fate of Afro Olympians occupies the front seat when he works with Dove, Rise.365 and The Crown Act to bring black hairstyles to the emoji digital universe.
“With almost 4,000 emojis there is not a single emoji representing real people with natural or protective hairstyles,” Dove wrote in one other post. “Why exists emoji, but there is no hairstyle where you can use them? The meaning of textures, protective styles and those who proudly wear them cannot be overstated.”
In relation to the #CodemyCrown movement, the hashtag used to persuade Unicode so as to add 4 latest emoji to our keys to our keys, Davis-Woodhall removed its extension to disclose the curls that all of us waited for. In the true representation of what – and who – is missing within the Emoji library, its hydrated, shrunken texture describes the wonder of our Afros – even in times after we rarely see them.
“There is no emoji that reflects my natural type of hair,” he says. “Or any hairstyle that I love to wear! Let’s change it!” With over 100 posts under the hashtag #codemyCrown, the longer term of hair integration means showing our natural texture – and all styles between them.
-
Press Release1 year ago
U.S.-Africa Chamber of Commerce Appoints Robert Alexander of 360WiseMedia as Board Director
-
Press Release1 year ago
CEO of 360WiSE Launches Mentorship Program in Overtown Miami FL
-
Business and Finance11 months ago
The Importance of Owning Your Distribution Media Platform
-
Business and Finance1 year ago
360Wise Media and McDonald’s NY Tri-State Owner Operators Celebrate Success of “Faces of Black History” Campaign with Over 2 Million Event Visits
-
Ben Crump1 year ago
Another lawsuit accuses Google of bias against Black minority employees
-
Theater1 year ago
Telling the story of the Apollo Theater
-
Ben Crump1 year ago
Henrietta Lacks’ family members reach an agreement after her cells undergo advanced medical tests
-
Ben Crump1 year ago
The families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright hold an emotional press conference in Minneapolis
-
Theater1 year ago
Applications open for the 2020-2021 Soul Producing National Black Theater residency – Black Theater Matters
-
Theater11 months ago
Cultural icon Apollo Theater sets new goals on the occasion of its 85th anniversary