Tennille Read stars as Frankie’s close friend, Bianca, in season two of Workin’ Moms. She is also the co-founder of Theatre Inamorata, a company focused on developing female-centric stories for the stage. Tennille talks to Defective Geeks about her work and the importance of representation in the creative community.

Hi Tennille, thank you for answering our questions! Tell us about Workin’ Moms and your character, Bianca? How did you get involve with the show? 

Workin’ Moms is a comedic sitcom about women who are juggling their professional careers with their personal lives and being moms. I love the show because we get to see women in different situations, expressing themselves in ways that we don’t typically see on tv. I first got involved at the end of Season 2. My scenes were with Juno Rinaldo’s character Frankie, and I think the powers that be liked our chemistry because I was brought back in Season 3. I think Bianca is pretty courageous, choosing to become a solo-parent and all, and I think she’s pretty relatable.

Olunike Adeliyi is a rising star, nominated for her role in BOOST for Best Supporting Actress by the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards. Her strong presence can also been seen in Darken where she plays a warrior, and the upcoming feature, Chaos Walking alongside Tom Holland (Spider-man: Homecoming) and Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Get to know the talented actress in our interview below!

Tell us about your upcoming feature film, BOOST. What can you tell us about your character, Amina Nour?

Amina is a hard working woman, caring for her two sons, and trying to keep her family together and out of harms way. She reminds me of my mother, an immigrant to Canada trying to make a better life for herself. Amina found she had to work ten times harder than most people who are originally from Canada, to prove she deserves to be a part of the Canadian fabric.

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Talented and hardworking, Annie Chen was born and raised in Taiwan and found her passion for the performing arts at a very young age. Annie trained at the prestigious School of Toronto Dance Theatre and started her career with a bang— she danced with Lady Gaga on stage at the 2011 Much Music Video Awards and Korean pop star, PSY at the 2013 Much Music Video Awards. Despite her success in dance, Annie is also currently pursuing a growing acting career. Read our interview with her to find out more about her journey.

Hi Annie, thanks for speaking with us! You have had an interesting creative journey, can you tell us more about how you got into acting?

I had always wanted to be an actor as a kid but didn’t think it was something that I could do for a living because I didn’t see many representations of myself on screen. Two years into my career as a professional dancer I decided to go for it and paid for my first acting class. It was exhilarating, and from there on I have been pursuing it professionally and of course, always updating and training. It was not an easy transition especially coming from a strong dance background. I was put in a box and not taken seriously as an actor. On top of all that I was also a female ethnic actor and would often audition for roles that required an accent or spoke mandarin. However, the industry is slowly evolving. There are more female directors, writers, and the lack of diversity on screen is being acknowledged.

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Today, I wandered into Barnes & Noble in an attempt to procrastinate from real life. After perusing my usual aisles (aka manga and Young Adult books), I happen to wander into the toy section where I immediately came across a Rose Tico Funko Pop. Insert my immediate excitement, especially after I just read Buzzfeed’s feature on her this morning. Although I didn’t impulsively buy her at that very moment, I am here to share my rising happiness that she exists. An Asian woman who has a lead role in a Star Wars movie? It almost feels like a personal achievement.

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There is a lot to celebrate when it comes to the latest Spider-Man “reboot”—besides the movie actually being really, really, really amazing. The best Spider-Man movie yet in my humble opinion. I am totally biased though, Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel hero. Although, I admit, Spider-Man 2 with Tobey McGuire still holds a special place in my heart. Alfred Molina as Doc Ock. Can’t deny, fam.

Still, Spider-Man: Homecoming did an amazing job casting a diverse group of actors and since I am Filipino, I had to talk about the outstanding performance by Jacob Batalon as Need Leeds.

Seriously… Batalon is a gift.

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We spoke to actress, Roseanne Supernault, about her upcoming movie, The Northlander which explores Indigenous culture in a dystopian and science fiction world. She is a strong voice for representation in media and also works with youth as a facilitator for suicide prevention. After reading this interview, I think you’ll agree with us that Roseanne is a real life Wonder Woman!

I watched the trailer for The Northlander and I am pretty excited about this film! I’ve watched fantasy and science fiction shows for years and I always think it’s worth discussing that a lot of them are still lacking representation. I think it’s great that The Northlander explores a different perspective through Aboriginal characters. Please tell our readers about it and about the character that you play.

The Northlander is a Dystopic Adventure Sci-Fi that takes the main character on a mission for his people and along the way he meets my character Mari, a Huntress. Both of us are searching for identity and belonging, and in the midst of it all become entangled with the nefarious and nomadic Heratics who seem to want something from both of us…

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In this episode, filmmaker and creator, Richard Martinez, joins us a special co-host to talk about representation behind the camera. Fanfic Theatre: Star Trek… Spock Kitty?

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Not even going to throw any pretense here — yes, all we did in this episode was pretty much talk/gush about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (plus Fast & Furious 6). Not even sorry.

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