E. Lockhart is the author of the New York Times bestselling series that includes We Were Liars, Family of Liars, and We Fell Apart. We Were Liars is also a TV series on Prime Video. Lockhart invented a superhero for DC Comics: Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero. Her other books include Again Again, Genuine Fraud and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. She has been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and the National Book Award, and an honoree for the Printz Award. She has a Ph.D in English literature from Columbia University. Visit her online at emilylockhart.com. IG and TikTok: elockhartbooks
EPISODE 514- RACHEL CHAVKIN
RACHEL CHAVKIN is a director, sometime writer and founding artistic director of Brooklyn-based experimental collective, the TEAM (www.theteamplays.org) whose work has been seen all over NY, the U.S., and internationally, and whose consensus-driven writing process was the subject of a feature length documentary. She won the 2019 Tony Award for her work on Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown (Broadway, NYTW, National Theatre, London). She is a three-time Obie Winner, and received Tony and Lortel nominations, and a Drama Desk Award for Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway, Ars Nova, A.R.T.). Select projects: Carson Kreitzer’s and MattGould’s Lempicka (Broadway), the TEAM’s Mission Drift (National Theatre), Arthur Miller’s American Clock (Old Vic), the TEAM’s RoosevElvis (Royal Court), Larissa Fasthorse’s The ThanksgivingPlay (2ST, 1st play by a known Native American woman on Broadway), Lilianna Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself—co-directed with Padilla and Steph Paul (NYTW), Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (LCT; Obie Award, Drama Desk and Lortel noms.), Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova and national tour), and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac, Heather Christian, the Bengsons, and Manchester-based writer/performer Chris Thorpe. Her first short film, Remind Me, was an official selection of the Venice and Beverly Hills Film Festivals. 2017 Smithsonian Award for Ingenuity. @rachel.chavkin
EPISODE 513 - ELISA ZURITSKY & JULIE ROTTENBERG
Julie and Elisa have been collaborating since they were nine years old, when they met at a Saturday morning acting class in Philadelphia. A few years later, they became writer/producers for HBO’s Sex and the City, where they earned three Emmy Award nominations and three Writers Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy. Since then, they’ve gone on to write for Smash, Divorce, and Odd Mom Out, where they were co-showrunners, and were writers/Executive Producers on HBO’s And Just Like That... where Julie also directed. They’re currently writing for Amazon’s Every Year After, based on the best-selling Carley Fortune novel Every Summer After. They’re finally writing a screenplay based on their lifelong friendship and partnership, entitled Ampersand, and Elisa is working on her first novel. They both live in Brooklyn; each has one husband and two children.
EPISODE 512 - BRIAN PLATZER
Brian Platzer is the critically acclaimed author of the novels The Optimists (Little, Brown), Bed-Stuy Is Burning and The Body Politic (both Atria/Simon & Schuster), as well as the parenting book Taking the Stress Out of Homework (Avery/Penguin Random House).
He has written frequently for The New York Times, NewYorker.com, New York Magazine, The New Republic, and many other publications.
As a novelist, Brian has toured the country discussing the craft of writing as well as the issues at the heart of his work, such as education, gentrification, chronic illness, relationships, and American politics.
As a humor writer, Brian has frequently written for The New Yorker’s Shouts and Murmurs and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He recently wrote the viral article “Paw Patrol Is Contemptable Trash”; in New York Magazine, and he has performed comic essays on NPR as a featured guest on Live From Here.
As an educator, Brian currently teaches 8th and 12th grade English at Grace Church School in Manhattan, having previously taught literature and writing at Johns Hopkins. Brian is a CNN contributor on education, and wrote, with Abby Freireich, the weekly “Homeroom”; column in The Atlantic as well as various articles on study skills for the New York Times.
Brian is also the co-founder with Abby of Teachers Who Tutor|NYC, New York City’s only tutoring company where all the tutors are classroom teachers with master’s degrees.
Together, Brian and Abby are among the city’s leaders in education-consulting, tutoring, and executive function coaching.
Brian suffers from chronic dizziness and has written a series of essays for the New York Times chronicling his experiences and those of fellow sufferers. Brian is a graduate of Grace Church School, Dalton, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins University.
He currently lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn with his sons and his brilliant wife, Alex Hardiman.
EPISODE 511- NICOLE TRAVOLTA
Nicole Travolta is the creator and star of the critically acclaimed solo show Nicole Travolta Is Doing Alright, a high-energy blend of stand-up, confessional storytelling, and transformational character work that has toured nationally and internationally. Originally developed in Los Angeles, the show has since played sold-out engagements Off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, earning 4- and 5-star reviews and coverage in Vanity Fair Italia, The LA Times, BroadwayWorld, The Daily Beast, Broadway Baby, and Outloud Culture. Travolta trained at The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade, where she developed her signature character-driven style. Onstage, she seamlessly shifts between raw confession and razor-sharp impressions — including Jennifer Coolidge, Carrie Bradshaw, and Drew Barrymore — creating what critics have described as a singular comedic voice. Her television credits include Anger Management, Two and a Half Men, and The Middle. She is currently developing Nicole Travolta Is Doing Alright for screen adaptation.
EPISODE 510- GERALDINE HUGHES
Geraldine Hughes is a Northern Irish film, television and stage actress. Geraldine Hughes might not be an easily recognizable face for most, but she has quietly accumulated a long list of film, television and theater credits, most notably as the character of Little Marie in 2006’s film Rocky Balboa. Born in West Belfast, she moved to America after receiving a scholarship to attend university, graduating from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.
In 2005, she wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed play Belfast Blues, a true story from Hughes’s perspective about coming of age in Belfast in the 1980s. Performed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Belfast and London, the play received the Los Angeles Ovation, Garland and Drama Critics Circle Awards, and Hughes won a Drama League Nomination for Outstanding Performance.
Most recently, she appeared in the Irish Repertory Theatre’s production of Ulster American with Matthew Broderick. The production transferred to Ireland in the summer of 2026.
EPISODE 509 - DANE LAFFREY
Dane Laffrey is a Tony Award-winning designer, creative and producer based in New York City. He studied at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art and resided in Sydney from 2002 - 2006.
On Broadway he’s designed the set for The Lost Boys (Palace) Maybe Happy Ending (Belasco) which won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Musical and for which Dane won Tony, Drama Desk Awards and Henry Hewes Awards, Parade (Jacobs) which won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical; set and costumes for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (Nederlander), which he co-conceived with director Michael Arden and for which he is nominated for Hewes and Tony Awards; the 2018 Tony-winning revival of Lynn Ahren's and Stephen Flaherty's Once On This Island (Circle in the Square) for which he received Henry Hewes, Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations; set and costumes for the acclaimed Deaf West revival of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s Spring Awakening (Brooks Atkinson); set for the Broadway premiere of Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love (Friedman).
In New York, around the US, and internationally Dane has designed world premiere plays and musicals by writers including Todd Almond, Will Aronson and Hue Park, Nell Benjamin, Rachel Bonds, Nilo Cruz, Lindsey Ferrentino, David Greenspan, Noah Haidle, Lucas Hnath, Sam Hunter, Sarah Jones, Tom Kitt, Michael John LaChiusa, Dan LeFranc, Matthew Lopez, Craig Lucas, Charles L. Mee, Alan Menken, Kim Rosenstock, Martin Sherman, Jenny Schwartz, Stephen Schwartz and Jen Silverman.
Dane’s work in New York has been seen at theatres including Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theatre, The Public Theatre, Second Stage Theatre, Atlantic Theatre Company, Transport Group, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, B.A.M. Harvey, Vineyard Theatre, The Joyce, SoHo Rep., Labyrinth, The New Group and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, among others.
His work has been seen at major theaters around the US including Center Theatre Group, The Geffen Playhouse, The Goodman, The Humana Festival, The Hollywood Bowl, The Old Globe, Huntington Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Deaf West / Wallis Annenberg Center, Shakespeare Theatre D.C., Denver Center Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, South Coast Rep., Baltimore Center Stage, Seattle Rep., Woolly Mammoth, Two River Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, The Studio Theatre D.C, Yale Opera, Long Wharf Theatre, Chautauqua Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company, and others.
Internationally, Dane has worked in Hamburg, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Oslo and throughout Australia.
Dane has served on the advisory committee for Lincoln Center Theatre's LCT3 and as a guest artist / guest designer at Yale School of Music, The Juilliard School, NYU, Carnegie-Mellon University, Interlochen Arts Academy, The University of Western Sydney and NIDA. He has served on the faculty of Purchase College.
Dane won a 2017 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Set and Costume design and has been nominated for 3 Tony Awards, 3 Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, 9 American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Design Awards, 5 Ovation Awards (winning 2), and a Sydney Theatre Award, as well as numerous regional accolades.
EPISODE 508 - ZHAILON LEVINGSTON
Zhailon Levingston is a Louisiana-raised storyteller, director, and activist who co-directed CATS: The Jellicle Ball, an immersive reimagining of the classic musical that premiered in 2024 at New York City’s Perelman Arts Center. The production earned him an OBIE Award (co-directing) as well as a Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Outstanding Direction of a Musical.
Zhailon’s first “Broadway” job was selling tickets to Broadway shows in Times Square. In 2017 he sold concessions for multiple Broadway theaters. At 27 years old, he became the youngest Black director in Broadway history, directing the Broadway production of Chicken and Biscuits. His other directing credits include Wonderful Town at New York City Center Encores!; Reconstructing at Brooklyn Academy of Music (co-directed with Rachel Chavkin); Little Miss Perfect (Olney Theater Center); Patience at Second Stage Theater; and Table 17 at MCC Theater (Lortel Award nominee for Outstanding Direction) and currently at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse.
Levingston is a board member of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Artistic Director of Inheritance Theater Project, and co-created a ‘Theater of Change’ course at Columbia University School of Law that is still being taught today. Once a year he returns to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana to direct.
EPISODE 507- MICHAEL JAMES SCOTT
Michael James Scott plays Nurse Francois on Scrubs.
His previous television credits include Apple TV’s critically acclaimed animated series CENTRAL PARK, Showtime’s BLACK MONDAY and Hallmark’s A HOLIDAY IN HARLEM.
Michael is no stranger to commanding an audience. He is currently making history as the longest-running Genie in Disney’s Aladdin, a performance that has earned him critical acclaim and a devoted fan base. A powerhouse in the theater world, he was also an original cast member of The Book of Mormon, Something Rotten!, and Hair, cementing his reputation as a versatile, scene-stealing performer.
Beyond the stage, Michael showcased another side of his artistry with his 2020 holiday album A Fierce Christmas, featuring beloved classics like “Christmas Time Is Here,” “This Christmas,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
EPISODE 506- MICHAEL TOWNSEND- SECRET MALL APARTMENT
Michael Townsend draws on everything. For over twenty years he has been spear-heading collaborative drawings using low-adhesive tapes that can be stuck on facades, sidewalks, walls, whatever without permanent repercussions.The drawings started as nightly guerrilla raids on the surfaces of Providence, Rhode Island and as interest in these ephemeral works grew he has been invited to perform over 500 of his Tape Art creations on walls around the world.His work with the Tape Art medium has optimized his efforts as a community artist and he has worked collaboratively with tens of thousands students both young and old. The uniquely accessible nature of his teaching practice have made this participatory work a good fit for prisons, hospitals, psychiatric facilities, nursing homes and communities struggling to have their voices heard.When he is not pressing tape onto walls, Townsend might be found in front of a computer editing footage from his films, choreographing short dance pieces, working on a subterranean sculpture pieces or working relentlessly on one of his epic secret projects. Townsend and his collaborators became an international curiosity when it was discovered that they were building a fully-functioning apartment space inside theProvidence Place Mall that they had occupied, undiscovered, for four years. The project was ended abruptly before the wood floors were installed.
EPISODE 505 - JAMAAL FIELDS-GREEN
Jamaal Fields-Green is a multi-hyphenate talent, with experience and accolades across acting, singing, writing, and directing. A Musical Theatre graduate, Jamaal refined his theatrical skills and began to craft his identity as an artist during his time at the prestigious Hartt School. Most recently he led the company in MJ the Musical on the West End. A globally recognised role, Jamaal’s portrayal showcases his ability to embody a character and is a testament to his deep understanding of his craft across music and acting. Prior to MJ the Musical, Jamaal brought to life the characters of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the Chicago company's rendition of Hamilton: An American Musical and appeared on TV with appearances on Freeform’s That Thing About Harry and Chicago PD. Beyond acting, Jamaal wrote and directed an award-winning short film - The Inevitable - and recently released an EP of original songs titled ‘What Was the Reason’. Jamaal is currently signed with talent agency Curtis Brown.
EPISODE 504- RAFAEL MONSERRATE
Rafael Monserrate is an accomplished Producer and Director with more than two decades of experience creating acclaimed unscripted and narrative content. He has executive produced and directed over a dozen television series, including History Channel’s Alone, the award-winning survival series hailed by The New Yorker as “the best reality show on television,” now in its 13th critically acclaimed season and streaming on Netflix. A two-time feature film director, his credits include Peel (Sony Pictures), starring Emile Hirsch and Amy Brenneman.
His work spans large-scale competition formats, intimate documentaries, and character driven narrative films, unified by a cinematic sensibility and a commitment to emotional truth. Most recently, he directed, executive produced, and completed production on Teenhood, a four-part docuseries of unprecedented access to four American teens over 50 transformative days. He is currently developing The Colony, a feature film exploring the formative years and ideological awakening of Malcolm X. Across formats, Rafael crafts stories that are intimate yet expansive, grounded in lived experience, and designed to resonate long after the screen goes dark.
EPISODE 503- ROSIE GLEN-LAMBERT & HAILEY MCAFEE
Rosie Glen-Lambert is a bicoastal theatre director originally from Los Angeles and currently based in Brooklyn. She is the Artistic Director and Founder of The Attic Collective, an award-winning Los Angeles based theatre company. Rosie is also a proud Kilroy who fights for and believes in the importance of gender parity in the American theatre. Rosie was recently the associate director of Babbitt, written by Joe DiPietro, directed by Christopher Ashley, and starring Matthew Broderick (La Jolla Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre Company). Recent directing work includes Swallows (La Mama), The Robots: A New Chamber Opera (Project [BLANK]), नेहा & Neel (Wagner New Play Festival), and a benefit performance of Love Letters (La Jolla Playhouse, Featuring Matthew Broderick and Ellie Kemper). Rosie was a 2025 Director for Moxie Arts NYC's Incubator Lab. Rosie received her MFA in directing from UC San Diego.
Hailey McAfee is an actor, writer, director, and associate artist of The Attic Collective. Recent acting credits include Three Exorcisms and Iphigenia in Splott (LA Theatre Bites Best Solo Show Winner, Best Actress Nominee, Hollywood Fringe Best of The Broadwater Winner, Best Solo Show and Top of Fringe Nominee). Directing credits include The Hostage Situation (Inkwell LAB) Here Comes the Night (SheLA Festival), Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin (Inkwell LAB) and Hedda Gabler (Hollywood Fringe Best of The Broadwater Winner, Best Drama Nominee, LA Magazine Top Pick of Fringe). She has a degree in Theater Arts from UC Santa Cruz.
EPISODE 502- LIZ TUCCILLO
Liz Tuccillo was a writer on "Sex and the City" and co-authored the bestselling book "He's Just Not that Into You." She went on to create the WB TV series "Related" and worked on the TV shows Smash, Sweetbitter, Alaska Daily and American Sports Story. She was the showrunner for HBO's Divorce for its third season and is currently the showrunner and creator of "Best Medicine," an adaptation of the British Doc Martin, starring Josh Charles that was recently picked up for its second season. She has developed television and film with Will Smith, Ali Wentworth, Chelsea Handler, Debra Messing, Lauren Graham among others at Warner Bros, NBC, ABC, Starz, Peacock, Shondaland, Amazon, Fox, and Fx.
EPISODE 500- BELLE BURDEN
Belle Burden is an attorney specializing in juvenile immigration cases. Her work has appeared in The New York Times. Belle attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College and received her JD from New York University School of Law. She lives in New York City with her three children. She is the author of Strangers: A Memoir Of Marriage which is on The New York Times bestseller list.
EPISODE 499- RYAN SPAHN
Ryan Spahn is a Drama Desk Award–winning actor and writer. Select theater credits include- Richard II (Red Bull), Danger and Opportunity (East Village Basement), The Antiquities (Playwrights Horizons), Jordans (The Public), Merry Me (NYTW), Good Enemy (Audible), Jane Anger (New Ohio), Summer & Smoke (CSC), Daniel’s Husband (Westside), Moscow x6 (MCC), Exit Strategy (Primary Stages), Gloria (Vineyard). Select TV/Film: Sub/liminal, Zero Day, Elsbeth, AHS: Delicate, Succession, Modern Love, The Bite, Chicago P.D. Ryan co-wrote the feature film He’s Way More Famous Than You and wrote the play Inspired By True Events (Concord Theatricals, Theatrely’s “Best of 2024.”). Juilliard graduate and the first teenaged Borg on Star Trek: Voyager.
Ryan Spahn is a Drama Desk Award winning actor who appeared in the Off-Broadway casts of Danger and Opportunity (East Village Basement), Richard II(Red Bull), The Antiquities (Playwrights Horizons), Jordans (The Public), Merry Me (NYTW), Good Enemy(Audible), Jane Anger (New Ohio), Daniel’s Husband(Westside), How To Load A Musket (59e59), Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow (MCC), Summer and Smoke (CSC), Exit Strategy (Primary Stages), and Gloria (Vineyard).
Regional work includes the Goodman Theatre (Jeff Award nomination), Shakespeare Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Berkshire Theatre Group, Philadelphia Theatre Company (Barrymore Award nomination), and Williamstown Theatre Festival.
On television, he’s been seen recently in Sub/liminal, Zero Day, Elsbeth, AHS: Delicate, Succession, Modern Love, The Blacklist, The Bite, and Chicago P.D..
Ryan co-wrote the feature film He’s Way More Famous Than You and is the playwright of Inspired By True Events (Concord Theatricals, Theatrely’s “Best of 2024”), which premiered during Out of the Box Theatrics’ Obie Award–winning season. He is a Juilliard graduate (BFA) and was the first teenage Borg on Star Trek: Voyager.
EPISODE 497- CLINT RAMOS
Clint is a highly beloved, internationally acclaimed artist. He wears many hats - as Lincoln Center's Artist-in-Residence and the Producing Creative Director for New York City Center, Encores!. Clint earned a Tony nomination for Maybe Happy Ending costume design and is the first person of color to win a Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play for Eclipsed.
As the first year of his Lincoln Center Artist-in-Residence continues, Clint takes on curation of the beloved American Songbook series in 2026, featuring an iconic lineup of artists. He is also currently designing the costumes for The Metropolitan Opera’s highly anticipated production of Tristan und Isolde (March 9 - April 2, 2026).
In addition, Clint co-founded and leads Springboard to Design, a tuition-free theatrical design mentorship and education program for high-school students from underrepresented communities.
Clint has a discerning eye for style and approaches design, whether designing for stage or screen or styling himself, with intentionality and effortless sophistication. He is recognized as one of Asia's most influential creatives and is fresh off a sold-out run of Into the Woods in the Philippines, working as Artistic Director.
Clint was born and raised in Cebu, Philippines, and now lives in New York with his husband and daughter. He serves on the Advisory Board of the American Theatre Wing and is a co-founder of Design Action. A lifelong advocate for equity in theatre and film, Clint is committed to creating a more inclusive industry for People of Color and championing the rights of immigrants.
EPISODE 498- BRADLEY WHITFORD
Bradley Whitford, a classically trained stage actor, gained fame as “Josh Lyman,” on NBC’s 'The West Wing,' which earned him his first Emmy award in 2001. He went on to win Emmys in 2015 and 2019 for his work in 'Transparent' and 'The Handmaid’s Tale' and is grateful to have had the opportunity last year to direct the show’s fifth season penultimate episode, “Allegiance.” He is currently filming “The Diplomat” alongside his West Wing co- star, Allison Janney.
Whitford appeared in AMC’s limited series 'Parish' alongside Giancarlo Esposito, a drama about a taxi driver whose life is upended after picking up a Zimbabwean gangster. He also starred in the independent film 'I’ll Be Right' There with Edie Falco and completed work on Netflix’s limited series 'The Madness,' opposite Colman Domingo.
He is also known for his work in the Oscar-nominated films 'Get Out,' 'The Post,' 'Scent of a Woman,' and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 'tick, tick… BOOM!' Whitford also produced the documentary, 'Not Going Quietly,' about the life of progressive activist Ady Barkan. Other notable film credits include Warner Bros’ 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters,' Disney’s 'Saving Mr. Banks,' and HBO’s Lyndon B. Johnson biopic, 'All The Way,' among many others.
TV credits include Apple TV+’s 'Echo 3,' NBC’s 'Perfect Harmony,' which he executive produced and starred in; FOX/Netflix’s 'Brookline Nine-Nine,' Showtime’s 'Happy-ish,' ABC’s 'Trophy Wife,' CBS’ 'The Mentalist,' FOX’s 'The Good Guys,' and NBC’s 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,' among others.
Growing up in Wisconsin, Whitford studied theater and English literature at Wesleyan University and attended the Juilliard Theater Center. He has appeared on Broadway in Aaron Sorkin’s 'A Few Good Men' and in 'Boeing, Boeing' with Mark Rylance. Off-Broadway credits include 'Curse of the Starving Class,' 'Measure for Measure' at Lincoln Center, and 'Three Days of Rain' at Manhattan Theatre Club. Regional credits include the title role in 'Coriolanus' at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., and Oberon and Theseus in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' at Hartford Stage. In 2021, Whitford starred in the Old Vic’s production of 'A Christmas Carol' at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles as “Ebenezer Scrooge.” Also at the Ahmanson, in 2023, Whitford recently played the scene-stealing “Narrator” in the hit farce 'Peter Pan Goes Wrong.'
EPISODE 497- SAM TUTTY
Sam Tutty is an Olivier Award winning actor and singer. Following his graduation from drama school he originated the role of Evan in the Tony Award Winning Musical, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, in the West End. His performance garnered widespread acclaim from critics, eventually going on to receive numerous awards, including Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical at the WhatsOnStage Awards, Most Promising Newcomer at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in Leading Role in a Musical in 2020. Being aged 22 at the time, he is one of the youngest winners of this prestigious theatrical award in history. Following its sell-out run at The Kiln Theatre, Sam transferred the role Dougal in the new two-hander musical ‘TWO STRANGERS’ to the Criterion Theatre in the West End, directed and choreographed by Tim Jackson.
EPISODE 496- ARIANNA DAVIS
Arianna Davis stars as series regular ‘Madonna’ in the new NBC cheerleading comedy Stumble opposite Kristin Chenoweth and Taran Killam.
Filling the current void of cheerleading media which dominated the early aughts and 2010s, Stumble is being prioritized by NBC as its next big comedy. Arianna’s character, a curvy, Black college cheerleader with a chronic illness, is a breath of fresh air in the on-screen cheerleading space which has long been devoid of diverse representation.
Arianna is a true triple threat – in addition to acting, she is a professional dancer who started dancing at just two years old, as well as a singer-songwriter.
Arianna