Sailey WilliamsEvery season unexpected fresh and familiar faces climb the ranks to celebrity & super stardom. Sometimes it’s easy to predict who will land among the year’s most popular and successful.Other times a person pops up almost out of nowhere. Who will be the newest members of the exclusive club in the year to come? While we don’t know for sure, our Editor in Chief has found 7 talents that we are betting on.
Photography:
Marley Kate . The Headshottruck
Diana Ragland . David Gabe
You are starring in Nickelodeon’s newest live-action series, “The Other Kingdom”. Tell us a bit about your character.
I play Astral on The Other Kingdom. She’s a fairy princess who comes from the magical kingdom of Athenia but gets the chance to live her dream and be a regular human girl for 90 days. Throughout her time in the human world (the “other” kingdom) as we refer to it in the show, Astral learns about friends, falling in love, and that being a human teenager can be pretty complicated sometimes.
Personally, I see a lot of similarities between her and I. We’re both bubbly, independent and wear our hearts on our sleeve.
Outside of acting you are equally passionate about music. Who & what inspires your musical sound?
Yes! I started writing songs when I was 11 (the same time I started acting). I like to think of my style as “vibey pop”. Definitely pop music but less sugar coated and more unfiltered. That being said, I listen and draw inspiration from so many different artists and genres. Recently I’ve been listening to Flume, Jon Bellion, Florence and the Machine, Sampa the Great, Tov Lo (I could go on and on). I also draw a lot of inspiration from poetry. I’ve been reading a lot of Emily Dickinson, and have found myself referencing her when writing lyrics. There is an awesome slam poetry club a few blocks from my apartment in NYC, and I go there a lot to listen to people’s poetry; that inspires me a lot to. Ultimately I get inspired by everything I experience, whether I’ts what I’m reading, listening to or places I go. It keeps it interesting because it’s always changing.
What influences your fashion choices, any favorite designers?
Living in the east village inspires my fashion choices. People here are so bold and true to themselves. I feel like I could get away with wearing absolutely anything I feel good in, in New York City. I enjoy reading fashion blogs too! As for designers I think Alexander Wang and Dolce and Gabbana are amazing this season.
What are some of your favorite things to do off screen?
I’m a total foodie! I love trying out new restaurants with my friends.
What can our readers expect from you in the next year?
I think 2016 is going to be a big year for me. For starters fans can expect to see the rest of season 1 of The Other Kingdom, and everything that unfolds. I’m releasing my debut single this spring and an EP later this fall. I also plan to be doing live shows, and performing later in the year!!
You can currently be seen as Cole on MTV’s #1 scripted show, Awkward. Tell us a bit about your character.
I’m like Seth Rogen in Freaks and Geeks, but after drinking 50 cans of Red Bull. Everyone has their drama and I’m sitting back and mocking them all. It’s a lot of fun because I’m allowed to say or do anything offensive. I have almost complete creative freedom. I graphically got humped by a bear statue in one episode. That was weird.
Aside from your role on Awkward you have written jokes for the Comedy Central Celebrity Roasts. How did this come about?
I started writing monologue jokes for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. The head writer was in my improv class, then as soon as I started interning at Fallon he put me on their “fax writer” program. Since then I’ve written for multiple famous stand ups, College Humor, etc. There is a lot of ghost writing in this industry, and if you’re funny people want your jokes.
What are some of your favorite things to do off screen?
I’m an adrenaline junkie. I skydive, scuba dive, free climb, fly planes, drive race cars; anything that scares me I love doing. I love the feeling of “oh I shouldn’t do this”, then doing it anyway. Being brave isn’t about being fearless, it’s about walking into that fear and not letting it stop you.
That being said, I just got out of a wheelchair for climbing a building. So it’s not always the safest philosophy…
What has been your most humbling moment?
Definitely being in a wheelchair for 2 months was humbling. I had a hard time doing things myself. My parents and girlfriend had to help a lot, which is hard for me because I’m an extremely independent person. I hate feeling like a burden.
I had to go to my girlfriends birthday in a club while I was in a wheelchair. That was very scary for me; everyone would stare at me and I wasn’t used to people “feeling bad” for me. I’m really lucky it was only 2 months, it was a very emotionally hard period.
What can our readers expect from you in the next year?
I have a show on Instagram, @MontyGeer. We’re releasing a sketch every week with a new celebrity. It’s a lot of fun and I’m pretty proud of my comedy. Check it out, it’s going to be big!
You currently star as Lt. Carlton Burk on the TNT series THE LAST SHIP. Tell us about that role.
This is the toughest role I’ve played. Lieutenant Burk is a no nonsense type of guy. He puts his country, and the Navy first, before his self, his family, and before love. This season my brother comes on the show, played by LaMonica Garrett, and we get to have some fun before getting into some trouble from outside threats, of course.
How did your role in the film, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (with you starring opposite Gary Oldman) come about?
I auditioned for that role, and was very excited when I found out I got it. I’ve been a long-time fan of Planet of the Apes, and particularly the reboot. In the film, at the end of the movie (spoiler alert) when Gary Oldman presses the switch that sets off the bomb that kills us both…that wasn’t what was written. I was originally supposed to tackle him as he threatened to set the bomb off, and us falling to the ground accidentally sets the bomb off killing us both. I think that would’ve been a little more interesting. But the day we were filming, Gary Oldman said he just wanted to press it, and keep it simple. He’s Gary Oldman, so I didn’t argue with him.
Where did the idea for your weekly radio show, “Apollo Night LA,” come from?
It actually came from my mother, who sometimes co-hosts the show with me. She’s great, and always had this vision of doing a show that focused on unsigned artists. Now in our third year, we have a lot of fun on the show, having had guests like Jamie Foxx, Faith Evans, Keke Palmer and En Vogue. You can watch us every Monday night at 7:00pm PST, at www.apollonightla.com.
You are also currently producing and writing a comedy series about a music group trying to make it in the music business. When can we expect to see that?
Who knows… With these things, it takes so long to get them off the ground. But I have been getting some offers, so I’m just waiting for the right one. I’m really excited about it, so hopefully really soon!
We got to hear your musical chops when you played a chauffeur/hip hop artist in the Starz Network series “Crash”- which led to an iTunes-downloadable single, ‘Head Up.’ Any plans to pursue music in the future?
You definitely will hear more music from me in the comedy series that we’re developing. Although it is a comedy series, and there will be some tongue-in-cheek lyrics in the music, I take the music, the production and writing very seriously. I just can’t wait for to come out.