Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“From the age of 12, I was on tour all across North America in a 35-foot motor home with my family’s band The Neilsons,” says Tami Neilson, “I met and married a Kiwi and moved across the world to New Zealand 15 years ago. I am lucky enough to be a dual citizen of both countries.”
Best known for playing Katana in “Suicide Squad,” Karen Fukuhara will next be seen in the Amazon series, “The Boys” (premiering on July 26). Her resume also includes the feature film “Stray” and Netflix’s “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.” An avid traveler, the actress says she’d like to explore Southeast Asia next.
Host of CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” Erin Burnett has reported from Cuba, Afghanistan and Israel. Traveling is a big part of her life and the journalist says she is close to reaching her goal of exploring 100 countries. “I’ve visited 90, and I know I’ll always want to see more,” says Burnett, who is based out of New York.
Former NFL linebacker Dhani Jones traveled constantly playing for teams such as the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals. The author of “The Sportsman: Unexpected Lessons from an Around-the-World Sports Odyssey,” Jones’ latest project is the CNBC series “Adventure Capitalists.”
Barry Watson rose to fame portraying the eldest child on “7th Heaven.” In his latest project — the UP TV dramedy, “Date My Dad” — the actor stars as Ricky Cooper, a widowed father of three girls, who tackles raising his young children with the help of his mother-in-law (Raquel Welch).
During a break from rehearsal, Luka Sulic phoned from his home in Slovenia for this interview. “Stjepan (Hauser) is based in Croatia and that’s where our studio that we record in is,” said Sulic, 29. “So we travel a lot for work. But we love it. Over the past few years, the best reward for us has been doing something that seems to inspire a younger generation to play an instrument or make music. That’s the best reward you can get and we are very happy when parents tell us that their children started playing music because of us.”
As one of the breakout stars of the Netflix original series “Orange Is the New Black,” Jessica Pimentel brings life to complicated inmate Maria Ruiz. The actress has another side to her as well: musician. She fronts the indie death-metal band Alekhine’s Gun. A huge fan of New York, Pimentel resides in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.
Actor Dominic Monaghan says he enjoyed one of his best meals in Bengaluru, India. “I arrived at a beach and a gentleman asked me if I was hungry. I told him I was. He told me to go swim in the ocean and when I got back, he would have food. I watched him from the sea build a fire and make some bread. By the time I’d returned, he had made me a fantastic spicy chicken tikka and fresh naan bread. It was the best meal I’ve ever had and it cost me about $2.”
Betty Ann Boeving says that one of her proudest accomplishments has been founding the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition (BAATC), which fights against human trafficking. Boeving, 39, has visited all seven continents, traveled to more than 85 countries and even climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for her cause. “Understanding the cultural dynamics that lead to this outsourcing and exploitation of so many young women is essential to reducing the number of trafficking victims worldwide,” she says.
A former home economics teacher, Kanae Minato rocked Japan’s literary world with her 2008 debut novel, “Confessions.” A movie adaptation of the psychological thriller was selected as Japan’s entry for the best foreign language film at the 2010 Academy Awards. This past summer, the book was released in English.
In her new book, “The Beat of My Own Drum: A Memoir,” musician Sheila E. talks candidly about her rise to fame, her engagement to Prince and the backstory to how Lionel Richie ended up adopting her niece, Nicole.
Filmmaker and New York Times bestselling author Ransom Riggs is best known for his “Miss Peregrine” books. An avid traveler, Rigg says his ideal vacation is to “somewhere I’ve never been before, and preferably, someplace I can’t pronounce. Madagascar has been on my list for a long, long time. While I can pronounce the name of the country, just give its capital city, Antananarivo, a try.”
So, I was having a conversation with some people the other day about coincidences. And I started off my story like this: “Speaking of coincidences, I ran into someone from my hometown when I was climbing a glacier in New Zealand.” Yeah. I sounded obnoxious. Even by my standards.
“I got the travel bug quite early,” says “Suits” actress, Meghan Markle. “My earliest memories are of going to Mexico twice a year and Hawaii quite a few times. We never did conventional family trips like Disney World. Hawaii and Mexico were closer for us than going to Florida or the Caribbean.”
True story. A decade or so ago, when I was on the New Zealand set of “The Lord of the Rings,” someone accidentally spilled grape juice all over me, dousing my pants and turtleneck. There wasn’t enough time to go back to my hotel to change. So, they let me wear one of Liv Tyler’s outfits.
Naming her current CD “33 1/3” came easily for Shemekia Copeland. The title refers to her love of vinyl records, the number of revolutions an album makes per minute on a turntable and her age when the CD was released this past September. Having spent more than half her life in the music business, Copeland has performed with notable artists such as Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger and B.B. King, but says singing at the White House for President Obama and the first lady easily was one of her proudest moments.
Los Angeles-based actress Tracey Heggins knows how fortunate she is. Besides appearing in Common’s indie film “LUV,” the statuesque actress also plays Senna — one of the Amazonian vampires — in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.” “It was so much fun shooting ‘Twilight’ in Squamish (which is halfway between Whistler and Vancouver, B.C.),” says Heggins. “It was a really amazing experience. Then we shot in Baton Rouge going up to New Orleans. There’s no city like New Orleans. We went into all these little voodoo stores, which were interesting. I love the French Quarter. They did a great job of making the French Quarter look like France. I remember when I was in France; I kept thinking how much it reminded me of New Orleans!”
After winning the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Bruce Jenner figured he’d be recognizable for a few years before fading out of the public’s eyes. Little did he know that three decades later, he would be instantly recognizable to a new generation of fans who knew of him not only as an Olympian, but as Kim Kardashian’s stepfather.
Born in Canada, raised in New Zealand and now living in the United States, Daniel Gillies has roles on two current series. He co-stars as Dr. Joel Goran on “Saving Hope” and as Elijah — a character who has been killed and resurrected no less than four times — on “The Vampire Diaries.” The 36-year-old actor and his wife, actress Rachael Leigh Cook, reside in Los Angeles.
Elinor Donahue enjoyed television success playing Robert Young’s eldest daughter Betty Anderson (also known as “Princess”) in the 1950s series “Father Knows Best.” The actress had a slew of fans that wanted to emulate her beauty, grace and character, but for the most part they let her be.