Age: 18
female
Kayla Erickson has been an actress and voiceover artist her entire life. Not many can say they’ve been in the entertainment industry since the age of four, but Erickson was busy booking roles before she had homework. After doing commercials for several years, Erickson landed her first voiceover role with Nick Jr. when she was eight years old, providing all the voices for the “little fish” in the show, Bubble Guppies, for the entirety of season four. Around the same time, she debuted onscreen in NBC’s Saturday Night Live. As a child actress, she has appeared in episodes with high-profile celebs like Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Brie Larson, and Emma Stone, as well as musical guests like Margo Price, Alicia Keys, Shawn Mendes, and One Direction, to name a few. By age ten, Erickson was cast in her first feature-length film, portraying Julie in the indie flick Most Beautiful Island, which was shown at film festivals across the globe. The following year, she provided countless voices on the award-winning anime, FLCL Progressive, which airs on Adult Swim. But Erickson’s biggest role to date is Pinkalicious on PBS, based on the book series of the same name. So far, she’s done nearly sixty episodes. And she doesn’t just voice the main character; Erickson has also flaunted her diverse range of voices by playing supporting characters like Beth, Contessa, Kara, Kayla, Peggy, Piper, and Sadie. Additionally, Erickson is a gifted singer, so PBS often utilizes her musical talents in several episodes, as well as the show’s opening song. Outside of acting, Erickson is an advocate for anti-bullying.
When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants—as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat choose to do henna, even though Flávia is appropriating Nishat’s culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, their lives get more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush on Flávia, and realizes there might be more to her than she realized.
