DEPT POP-arazzi
ISSUE Spring 2013
story Hilal Nakiboglu
photo Russ Elloway
TEHMINA SUNNY
After a small role in the award-winning film ARGO, the London-born Indian actress appears next in a film with Josh hartnett and in NBC’s highly anticipated series MISTRESSES.
Audrey Magazine: First of all, congratulations on your involvement with Argo [Sunny played the Swissair ticketing agent].
Tehmina Sunny: Thank you! It was such a wonderful experience. I’ve always admired Ben Affleck as an actor, so to be actually working with him was incredible. He’s an amazing director, very respectful and down-to- earth. He had a great team around him, too.
AM: You have a film coming out later this year, with Josh Hartnett, called Singularity. Tell us about your character.
TS: I play the antagonist, Sonubai. She’s quite ruthless and not shy about getting what she wants, even if she hurts people in the process.
AM: Was she fun to play?
TS: Very. It’s only now that I’m playing the more ruthless characters. It’s fun. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting tougher, but I’m being seen more for these roles, and I love it.
AM: And Josh Harnett?
TS: His process was fascinating for me to watch. He’s opened me up to new ways of thinking about how to play a character and work with material. I’m so excited about that project. It just looks so stunning: the cinematography, the costumes, and the storyline. I believe it’ll be premiering at Cannes this year.
AM: How do you get ready for an event like Cannes?
TS: I stick to what works for me. I try to do yoga three or four times a week. Sometimes Pilates. A little bit of weights, but not too much. I love my cardio. I love spinning. I like running, because it puts me back in my own world, which I need sometimes.
AM: In her book, Mindy Kaling says that as she runs, her mind generates these detailed revenge fantasies. Does yours do that, too?
TS: [Laughs] Not quite. Running clears my mind. If I’m feeling anxious or even afraid of something, I’ll run, and it makes me better.
AM: What are you watching on TV right now?
TS: Everything. Homeland. I’m an avid Good Wife fan. I enjoy How I Met your Mother and Modern Family. I have eclectic taste.
AM: The Good Wife stars fellow British Asian actress, Archie Panjabi. Do you two hang out?
TS: She’s based in New York, so not really. But I did meet her at an Emmy party. When I was younger, I saw her in a film called East is East, and since then, I’ve followed her career. It was really nice touching base with her. She was very friendly and asked me, “How are you finding it here? How do you find the process?” And I was saying that four years ago, when I started, there was nothing. The calls that went out were very, very specific. Now, there seems to be more diversity and different roles within projects that I can be seen for. It’s great that the doors are opening.
AM: And what role would you like to see open up for you next?
TS: I’m not going to lie: I’d love to be the next Bond girl.
Hannibal is premiering on NBC on April – learn a little bit about the actress who plays Beverly Katz – Hettienne Park!
DEPT Pop-arazzi
STORY Olivia Ouyang
ISSUE FALL 2012
Go On, NBC
Suzy Nakamura plays teacher’s pet to Matthew Perry’s class clown in the highly anticipated return of the Friends’ star to NBC.
Suzy Nakamura
Matthew Perry (Friends) returns to NBC as Ryan King, a sports newscaster who loses his wife in a texting and driving accident. Ryan thinks he’s ready to go back to work, but his boss, played by John Cho, is insisting that he go to therapy. Ryan reluctantly complies, wreaking havoc at the group meetings led by a woman whose only training is her previous work with a Weight Watchers outreach program. Among the group therapy members is annoying teacher’s pet Yolanda, played by Suzy Nakamara.
NBC’s new show America’s Next Great Restaurant, which premiered March 6, encompasses all of my favorite things: food, competition and creativity. And you know it’s going to be delish because the show’s creators are the same ones behind the hit shows Top Chef and Project Runway.
America’s Next Great Restaurant is a competition for up-and-coming chefs to win a chance to open up a restaurant chain in three locations — Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York City. Each chef proposes his or her own restaurant concept, and the most innovative of the bunch will ultimately win the contest through a series of challenges. We’ll be keeping an eye on the two Asian American contestants who have moved on to the top 10: Sudhir Kandula (The Tiffin Box) and Stephenie Park (Compleat).
In our Spring 2011 issue, we feature actress Anisha Nagarajan, who plays the shy call center worker Madhuri in NBC’s comedy Outsourced. Here, more of our interview with her.
Audrey Magazine: Your character Madhuri on NBC’s Outsourced is shrouded in mystery, but slowly unraveling her true self. Tell us a little more about her.
Anisha Nagarajan: She’s got a lot more to her than meets the eye. She comes across as this very shy sort of wallflower, but she … can, at times, hold her own when it comes to retaliating when people say things to her about being a wallflower. It’s going be fun to see how people react to the surprises that she’s going to show everyone. I’m enjoying discovering her through the writing and through everybody else’s impression of her. It’s interesting to see where she’s going to go and what’s going to happen.
Olivia’s Spring covershoot was just as fun as the celeb herself. From singing Disney tunes in the dressing room to dancing to 90′s hip hop, Munn kept our spirits up with her endless streams of LOL quips. The photos are gorgeous (as you already saw) but the video’s even more awesome! (Cause Olivia talks and moves and her hair blows in the wind and stuff) Check it out below:
The new Miss Hawaii USA, Angela Byrd, being crowned.
This year’s Miss USA Pageant, which will air in May on NBC, is a biggie: it’s the 60th anniversary. And while we find too few Asian faces represented in the national competition, we can usually count on Hawaii to put up an Asian American contestant. Hawaii was the most recent state to join the Miss USA competition (in 1962), and four Miss Hawaii USA winners (including eventual Miss Universe winner Brook Lee) have gone on to win the national title of Miss USA, while Chinese-Filipino-Hawaiian American actress Kelly Hu went on to win the Miss Teen USA competition in 1985.
The Event
One of the most highly anticipated new shows coming out this season is NBC’s The Event. A high-octant thriller about an Everyman named Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, The Class) who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée Leilia (Sarah Roemer, Disturbia) and accidentally begins to expose the biggest government cover-up in U.S. history, affecting the lives of several strangers including the newly elected U.S. President Martinez (played by Blair Underwood of Dirty Sexy Money) and Sophia (Laura Innes, ER).
Ian Anthony Dale plays detective Simon Lee
One of the key characters in the show is detective Simon Lee, played by actor Ian Anthony Dale (of Japanese, French and English descent.) If you recognize Dale’s exceptionally sculpted face, it’s probably because the actor, 32, has been all over television, including shows like CSI, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Bones and 24.
The hype surrounding the show adds to the casts’ publicity workload, with Dale having to make numerous press appearances, from San Diego’s Comic Con to the Emmy’s. Despite his frenzied schedule, the actor took some time to chat with Audrey.
How are you doing these days, Ian?
For the last couple of months, been pretty exciting and really busy. My life went from being pretty laid-back to pretty hectic.
It’s awesome that you were able to land a part on The Event. How did that happen?
I heard of the job from Jeffrey Reiner. Just last year, I was lucky enough to do a guest star role on Trauma which Jeffrey Reiner was also exec producing/directing. I got some pretty good opportunities to do some good work and I must have done a good job cause he then started pushing me for the role of Simon Lee for The Event. This is a really exciting opportunity.
Did you always know you wanted to act?
When I was a junior in high school, I had never done any acting and my friend says why don’t we try out for this one act play? I was trying to get over my fear of public speaking so I thought why not? I was lucky enough to get a speaking part and I quickly discovered theatre and performing was something I enjoyed. I actually shifted gear when I went to college because I was so disillusioned with Asian American roles. The odds were stacked against me. However, over my four years in college, I saw the landscape begin to change. You saw Lucy Liu on Ally Mcbeal and I thought, why don’t I give this a shot? So after I graduated, I packed my bags and headed to LA.
And now, you’re on one of the hottest shows this season, The Event. The show has been getting comparisons to Lost and Heroes. How do these comparisons make you feel?
I think it’s nice to draw those kinds of comparisons ‘cause you’re talking about shows that have been on air for a really long time. I think people are going to have a lot of high expectations but they don’t want to be hung out to dry because a lot of people felt like their lives were wasted from the ending of Lost. Our show will try not to repeat the mistakes of that show and questions will get answered but I don’t feel any personal pressure but the pressure really rides on the shoulders of the producers and writers because they have to come up with engaging stories week in and week out. I’m just enjoying the chance to get to work with amazing people.
Catch Ian Anthony Dale in The Event tonight on NBC.
Olivia Munn does it again, except this time with a new book. Her autobiographical book of rants and love, Suck It, Wonder Woman!: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek, was released on July 6.
Olivia Munn's new book.
Named to Maxim magazine’s “Hot 100″ list for the past three years, Munn is of Chinese descent on her mother’s side and of German-Irish descent on her father’s. Although born in Oklahoma, she was predominately raised in Tokyo and later settled in Los Angeles. Known for hosting G4’s cult hit Attack of the Show, the actress is the newest regular correspondent for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and is starring in the new NBC sitcom, Perfect Couples, which is premiering this fall.
Her wonder woman tales comprise of a hilarious collection of essays like “Thought’s About My First Agent’s Girlfriend’s Vagina,” or “Sex: What You Can Do To Help Yourself Have More of It.” There is even a chapter entitled “What to Do When the Robots Invade (Yes, When!),” wherein Munn literally gives advice on what to do when the robots invade. Wow.
In a recent interview with Vulture, the entertainment section of New York Magazine, she said, “I want young girls who read [Suck It, Wonder Woman!] to feel empowered that there’s somebody who went through all of this and made it out on the other end.” Her charming wit and love of hover-boards are what earned this down-to-earth goddess of the geeks major points with guys and gals alike. Munn’s new cheeky story of being a fearless, at times dorky, female in Hollywood is sure to be a hit.
Oh, she even made sure to include a timeline of great moments in Geek History.
Check out Audrey‘s interview with Olivia Munn in our Feb/Mar 2007 issue here.
