Scene & Heard

B&B’s Diamond White (Paris) is thrilled to be voicing the title character of Disney Channel’s new animated series, MARVEL’S MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR. As Marvel’s first Black teenage superhero, she enthuses, “It feels so beautiful. I can’t even describe it. I love the message that one girl can make a difference. It’s cool to be smart. It’s cool to be into quantum physics. It’s cool to be a great achiever. It also shows, with her family, the importance of community and love. I think it will be really sweet for many young girls to see someone like them, with the poof balls and dark skin. I actually made a list of all the things I’ve experienced as a Black woman and getting my first perm, and they made it into an episode where Jennifer Hudson is voicing my hair. It’s crazy! It’s not just a show about fighting crime but it’s also about sleepovers and perms, so it is very personal, as well.”

Despite his evildoings as DAYS’s Xander, Paul Telfer garners a lot of sympathy for his character from fans, especially those of the female variety. “Obviously, I try to play Xander as vulnerable and sensitive and not a complete monster,” says the actor. “And I’m always looking for ways to give him little gestures and ways of glancing at people that communicate that he is actually quite sweet and does want good things for people, but he’s just so in his own way. It always feels like a compliment when people like it, but at the same time I’m like, ‘Oh, my goodness. . I really worry about what their husbands and brothers are like. I hope they’re not like Xander.’ ” Telfer admits he’s received some memorable comments on social media, along with some interesting odes to Xander over the years. “I won’t go into too much grisly detail, but I get sent pictures and I guess you could call it long poetry that features a méelange of me and Xander,” recounts Telfer with a laugh. “There’s a blurring of reality and fantasy there. I try and just take it in the spirit it’s intended.”

GH’s Tabyana Ali (Trina) and Nicholas Chavez (Spencer) both felt the gravity of the moment when a milestone first kiss was scripted for their characters. “We actually took a lot of time, me and him,” Ali reports. “We got together and we broke that script down and ran it a thousand times. We tried to learn the ins and outs of it and put all the pieces together. We took this very, very seriously! I mean, obviously we always take our work very seriously, but we were like, ‘This is on another level!’ We wanted it to be just right. We wanted it to be spectacular! And I think it turned out just how we wanted it, very sweet and very innocent, in a sense. I’m glad that we did the work beforehand and we didn’t just show up on the day. We didn’t want to do that. We didn’t want to just be like, ‘Okay, Vaseline, mouthwash, let’s go!’ ”

It’s been four years since the death of Kristoff St. John (ex-Neil), and Bryton James (Devon) admits that the void left by his TV dad is just as deep as when it happened. “That was a very hard time to get through,” remembers the actor. “When Kristoff passed, we all went to his funeral and it didn’t feel very real and that we weren’t going to see him again. When it came time to shoot Neil’s funeral, all of us lost it. We were struggling throughout the entire day of filming, so not one performance you saw on that funeral episode was acting.” Not surprisingly, James’s beloved co-star remains a strong presence in his life. “Now, all I think about is making him proud and I try to bring the same energy, joy, levity and professionalism to the set like he did,” James reflects. . “I still want him to be proud of every word that comes out of my mouth. That’s how I carry on and I can speak for Christel [Khalil, Lily] feeling the same way.