When visual journalist Melissa Lyttle moved to Los Angeles just before the U.S. presidential election last year, she found herself drawn to the border and all the political rhetoric wrapped into it.

The 40-year-old Floridian’s curiosity about both immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border eventually led her to Mexico City in December. Lyttle visited a migrant shelter for youth and began taking portraits of migrants making their way to the United States.

But Lyttle, who worked as a staff photojournalist for 15 years, did more than just take a few shots of each person. The photographer also learned a little bit about what motivated each person to make the treacherous journey to the U.S.

“It’s all about introducing yourself, stating your intentions, and allowing people the space to share their stories,” Lyttle told HuffPost about how she approached each migrant with the help of a translator. “Almost everyone I talked to allowed me to make a portrait of them.”

With the help of a reporting fellowship from International Women’s Media Foundation, Lyttle was also able to visit Ciudad Juárez and Nogales as part of her project. At one point, she asked one migrant about the most important thing he carried with him on the journey.

“I wasn’t really expecting anything when I asked them about their prized possession,” she told HuffPost. “It was more a curiosity, initially, and I asked one person, thinking it’d stoke an interesting conversation. And boy, did it ever.”

“He told me about a photograph of his girlfriend that he carried with him in his wallet,” she continued. “And then how he was robbed on his journey, and he was more sad about losing the picture than the money in his wallet. If his answer wasn’t so touching, I may have not asked again. But it made me even more curious what others would say.” 

In the end, the physical things didn’t surprise me nearly as much as the mental ones: faith, hope, phone numbers committed to memory."

One by one, she asked at least a dozen migrants about their most prized possessions, and included it in the captions of their portraits along with information about why they decided to leave their own country behind.

“In the end, the physical things didn’t surprise me nearly as much as the mental ones: faith, hope, phone numbers committed to memory,” she said. “And of course, I adored the guy who told me ‘himself.’”

Lyttle recently returned to Ciudad Juárez and traveled to Chihuahua City to continue working on stories about migrants. She hopes reading their stories and seeing the faces of the individuals risking their lives will give people some perspective when discussing immigrants.

“I really hope that people realize and can relate to the fact that people are simply searching for a better life — and that’s not a good reason to prosecute them,” she told HuffPost. “I also hope people realize that there are economic migrants, who want the chance to make money and support their families and they’re not being granted it where they’re from, and then there are refugees ... people fleeing violence, persecution, and worse. And lastly, I hope people realize that we’re all the same deep down inside.”

Check out 12 portraits of migrants and captions by Lyttle below.  

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Kym Whitley has one of those faces that feels like home. See her pop up in a TV show or movie, and you’re instantly reminded of the greatest hits from her career, which spans 25 years and counting thanks to “The Parkers,” “The Cleveland Show,” “Next Friday,” “Deliver Us From Eva,” the OWN docuseries “Raising Whitley,” and the many other titles worthy of the Kym Whitley canon.

Whitley landed one her finest roles on a breakout episode of “Master of None,” the Netflix comedy that released its remarkable second season last week. She and Angela Bassett play the aunt and mother, respectively, of Denise (Lena Waithe), a longtime friend who hosts Dev (Aziz Ansari) at her family’s annual Thanksgiving dinners. Across one half-hour, a series of holiday vignettes show Denise and Dev growing up. Starting in 1995 and working toward the present day, Denise expresses her sexuality in gradations as the years progress, until she finally comes out to her mother and brings women home to meet the family.

It’s a stirring episode, written by Ansari and Waithe, and based on Waithe’s own coming-out experience. Sweet and humorous and bursting with commentary about the country’s evolving racial and sexual politics, “Thanksgiving” marks one of the year’s most enriching small-screen sagas. It’s a wonder this is Whitley and Bassett’s first collaboration ― they make a sterling comedic pair.

HuffPost hopped on the phone with Whitley to discuss the two-week shoot, directed by Melina Matsoukas, who is best known for her Beyoncé and Rihanna music videos.

How did the role in “Master of None” come about?

What happened was I was very familiar with Aziz. I was familiar with his work, and I knew Lena. She called me and told me about the show. But I had not watched it, so I said, “Well, let me watch the first season.” I laughed and loved it. She called me up and she was like, “Kym, what do you think about being on the show and playing with Angela Bassett?” I said, “Wow. Angela and I are friends, but we’ve never worked together. That would be fantastic if my schedule allows it.” Once I found out it was a female director, I was like, “Oh, this is going to be exciting.” Melina is another fantastic female.

I would say it came to me like that. You get these opportunities. I remember doing “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I’ll be honest with you ― I didn’t know who Larry David was. It was the funniest thing because I feel like the less you know, the better, because you don’t go in with a preconceived notion. Had I really known who Larry David was, I do not think my performance would have been as good as it was. I would have been nervous.

Did you shoot each Thanksgiving vignette chronologically?

Yes, because if you notice when you watch it, the kitchen changed. The only thing that stayed the same ― because you know how we do ― was the dining room. Once we spend some good money on a dining room table and china cabinets, that’s it. The couch changed and the kitchen changed, and it was fascinating to watch the crew switch it around. Our hairstyles had to change, and the clothes — oh, I forgot the clothes; they were hideous!

The ones from the ‘90s?

Yes! It was crazy. So we shot in order from the earliest Thanksgiving to the latest.

How far back do you and Angela Bassett go?

Oh my gosh. I have know Angela through the industry. I started a comedy club in North Hollywood called the HaHa Cafe back in the day, and Angela came to that. I think I’d met her somewhere else. We’d talked and were friendly. I invited her to a comedy show and she came out. I had probably known her for about 15 years.

How did you iron out the episode’s comedic beats? The moment where you refill Angela’s wine glass and take a swig from the bottle is gold.

Well, first of all, let me say: Working with Angela Bassett, I was nervous. Even though we know each other, with her level of skill, I was like, “Oh my God, she’s going to run circles around me.” And then she said to me, “Oh, but Kym, you’re so funny, you’re going to run circles around me in the comic area.” So we laughed and I think that’s what made it good: We complemented each other. Where I might be struggling in one area, she’ll be strong in the other area.

We really came together and supported each other in this. And come to find out, Angela was very funny. I was like, “Oh, girl, you funny!” She enjoyed doing comedy because she’s always so heavy in drama. I would say we made a great team unexpectedly. I think the timing just came together, especially when we poured the drink. We were doing the scene where I automatically poured the wine in her drink — that was not rehearsed. I saw out of the corner of my eye that she held out the glass, and I hit it with that bottle of wine.

Had you been planning to drink directly from the bottle?

Not at the beginning. It all evolved! As in comedy, we always take it as far as we can until the director says, “All right, OK, that’s too far.” We had a great time in the improv, and of course, the director and Lena and Aziz were so open to comedy and what was good for the scene. Aziz would come in and say, “OK, try it again,” or Lena would say, “Oh, Kym, that was good, that was funny!” Or Lena and Aziz would run over to the corner and talk about it and throw us an extra line. I remember saying, “I need to throw in a line on Page 14 when Lena comes in and says something about her outfit and that she didn’t want to wear the dress.” I said, “As the auntie, I’m going to say, ‘Watch your tone.’” That wasn’t in the script, but I felt that was necessary because I’m the aunt who’s grown up with them.

How were the kids who played Denise and Dev in the first couple of Thanksgivings? 

These kids were so fantastic. They were great actors. We had a little problem with the boy because he really did not like macaroni and cheese. It was so funny to me. It wasn’t funny to him, but he just didn’t like it in his mouth. He didn’t want it. But it was part of the scene because Aziz, as he was growing up, would always taste the macaroni and cheese. So the young actor had to take a bite of the macaroni and cheese, and he would [imitates vomiting sound].

What 8-year-old doesn’t like macaroni and cheese?

Everyone on the set said that! We were like, “Huh?”

The food throughout the episode looks delicious. Did you eat a lot of it?

We tried not to, but the food was delicious. It was very good. But it was long days, so what we did was we all picked our favorite. We would only eat what we liked to eat. And I always took my cues off of Angela, because she was all thin and fantastic and shapely. I was like, “Maybe I shouldn’t eat the whole bowl of mashed potatoes.” It was always fresh and it was catered.

The conversation about O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson, and the idea of our culture dragging black icons, will resonate with a lot of people. And then seeing the family discussing Sandra Bland in a parallel way years later exemplifies how special a bottle episode like this can be. What did it mean to you to get to be a mouthpiece for the way people talk about these issues?

It really just reminded me of real life and how we grew up. With families, everything is so quick and fast. We don’t have the sit-down dinners like we used to when I grew up. I’ll tell you what it did for me: With my son, I said, “I need to make sure we sit down and have dinner because you talk about what is going on.” How am I going to know what’s going on in my son’s life if we don’t have these dinners every day and talk about what’s going on in the news, what happened in your day? That’s how I was raised. And what I love about it is that, especially in the African-American family, it went through exactly what happened. O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson were exactly what we were talking about. Today, we have dinner and we talk about Mo’Nique! It’s always what is closest to your community and what is happening right then and there.

I love the fact that these were huge stories that really dealt with African-Americans because that’s what we talk about around the table. These weren’t stories about the presidency. These were just stories that were huge and historic, and the show was able to pull from that. That also helped the storyline move forward in time.

Seeing the way this family acknowledges race as the years progress is powerful. It’s interesting that Angela’s character informs the children they’re minorities, which they may not have considered yet at that age. 

I never had an Indian friend growing up. That was my favorite part, the moment where he said he was brown. As a little kid, to think he was black, I thought that was so interesting. I had an Asian friend, had white friends, but especially in Ohio, I didn’t have any Indian friends. So I thought that was really important to show America that you can have an Asian kid or a black kid be part of your family — whoever your neighbor is, they become part of your family; they come over, they eat. I just thought that was so huge. And then when Lena was coming out, it was so much to take in.

How the hell did you keep a straight face during the NiplesandToes23 scene?

Oh no, we laughed! Lena was always like, “Stop it!” Lena was at the table with us, but Aziz is so silly because he’s the straight face. That’s how that came in, even with me starting to yell at him, because that wasn’t in the script. Aziz is just ad-libbing, saying “nipples and toes,” and I was like, “OK, enough with it!” It became a thing. And him yelling at the grandma, we could not take it. Every time he yelled at her, I busted out laughing. I was like, “Melina, OK, OK! I’ll do it right this time!” But every time I lost it.

How long did it take you guys to get through that one meal?

Oh no, it took a minute, because even Aziz was laughing. He though it was silly, too. “Grandma!” And she was such a fantastic actress, Venida Evans — I did not know her, but what a fantastic talent.

It was such a treat to see you. You’re someone who has a warm screen energy, and people get excited when you pop up in something. You’re a modern TV icon. 

I love you saying that. I’m going to send you a gift because what you said was a “modern icon.” Let me tell you why I love your choice of words. A lot of people are like, “Oh, I grew up with you, you’re such an icon.” And I look at the person like, “But you’re 50. You grew up with me and you grew up with my twin, [Jackée Harry].” But when you said a “modern icon,” I love that, because that makes it like you’re working but you’re still an icon. I appreciate that.

Before I let you go, I’ve always wanted to know more about Kanye’s HBO comedy pilot that wasn’t picked up. He played a version of himself, and I cannot imagine how that didn’t make it to the air.

Ah! That was just before its time. I don’t know why HBO did not pick it up, because we had the producers from “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and the director, Larry Charles. Kanye was so kind, and it was so funny. We literally improvised everything. I got to spend a lot of time with his mother because I got to play his mom, and I really got to know her. I remember J.B. Smoove was in it. We really had something good there, and for whatever reason, the timing wasn’t right. But if it had come out maybe two years later, I think they would have green-lit it right there. It would have been historic.

What was the tone like?

Kanye was funny! He was really playing himself. I was playing his mother like, “Boy, get in this car!” You see how you’re with this rapper, and he’s all big — and he was huge at this time — but the truth is, you have his mother, you have this crazy business manager, and people get to take a peek on the inside.

Do you know the direction the show was going to take, story-wise?

He was playing Kanye West, so it was wherever his storylines went and what Kanye wanted to do, I think he just wanted to show the world what happens in an artist’s life: the good, the bad, the ugly, but also humorous. The fact that Kanye wanted to do comedy — that’s why every time I hear something about him, I’m always like, “He’s so misunderstood.” You have these people who are borderline geniuses. Just because he’s so talented, so smart, you think something’s wrong with him. There needs to be outlets for him to express himself, and when you lose your mother in the way that he did, there has to be hurt and anger behind that that maybe he did not work out, because he had a pretty young mom. I knew R. Kelly at the same time, before he lost his mom and then after he lost his mom — two different people. I have not seen Kanye since then, but every time I hear the crazy stories about him, I always say, “Everyone take a step back, take a breath. Until you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, don’t judge.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

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Colgate University went on lockdown for four hours earlier this month after reports circulated of a gunman on campus. Those reports turned out to be false and the perceived “threat” was actually just a black student with a glue gun for an art project. 

The school later issued a statement confirming it was all a “misunderstanding” but many students were left feeling outraged, saying that the police and school response were drastic overreactions to an incident they say stemmed from racial profiling. 

In response, Jenny Lundt, a sophomore at the school, expressed anger over the situation on social media and called out the school administration’s actions in a Facebook post. In it, Lundt posted a picture of herself wielding a giant sword, which she wrote she keeps in her room, to make a point about how her white privilege played a central role in why she faced no repercussions after she” ran around” the campus holding the sword.  

“THIS is what white privilege looks like,” she wrote in the caption under the photo, which has since been shared more than 16,000 times. “This is me, only one year ago on this very campus, running around the academic quad with a fucking sharp metal sword. People thought it was funny. People laughed- oh look at that harmless, ~ silly white girl ~ with a giant sword!!”

“If you think for even a second this wasn’t profiling, ask yourself why this sword is still in my room and has not ONCE made anyone uncomfortable,” she wrote. “No one has EVER called the police on me. Understand that there are larger forces at play than this one night, and this once instance of racism. This is engrained in our university and our larger society. White Colgate students, we need to do better. #blacklivesmatter.”  

Yet while many commended Lundt’s efforts to call out racism, others maintained that it was her privilege that led to such a viral response to her post and that she inserted herself into a narrative that wasn’t hers to tell.

Lundt later added an update to the post to acknowledge these responses and apologized to “people of color seeing this,” saying “I am sorry that this post is taking up a lot of space. It was never my intention for it to be spread this vast, and I am sorry to those who could potentially feel silenced by the airtime this is getting.” 

She continued: “This post is getting far more shares than I ever imagined. I just want to remind everyone viewing/sharing this that this narrative is not about me and my feelings. This story and the event that happened last week is about are people of color that are oppressed each and every day by this institution and this country at large and I in no way meant to take the conversation away from them and their stories... My privilege allowed me to share my story. My privilege and my influential friends and thus their influential friends made this post go ‘viral’. All of that is privilege at work.”

Because, after all, people of color are impacted by racism most and constantly do the necessary work and make crucial sacrifices to speak out against it ― despite not always being met with such widespread praise. 

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Imagine how great date night would be if Anthony Bourdain was your boyfriend and cooked for you on the regular. Actress Asia Argento doesn’t have to imagine ― it’s her life. 

On Tuesday, the recently divorced Bourdain and Argento made their relationship Instagram official with his-and-her versions of the same pic on their personal accounts. The pair have been rumored to be dating since February.

“Another Green World photo by @Blue.lou,” Bourdan’s caption reads under a pic of the equally tatted couple. 

Back in September 2016, the “Parts Unknown” host split from his wife Ottavia Busia, a mixed martial arts fighter. The pair were married in 2007 and have a 9-year-old daughter together. (This was Bourdain’s second divorce; he was married to first wife Nancy Putkoski for two decades.) 

Argento, 41, is best known in the states for her role as Yelena in the 2002 action film “xXx.” She won the David di Donatello award (Italy’s version of an Oscar) in 1994 and 1996 for “Perdiamoci di vista” and “Campagna di viaggio.” The actress has two daughters of her own. 

In February, the 60-year-old celeb chef and the Italian actress were photographed hand-in-hand in Rome. And Bourdain gave major props to Argento for her help on the Rome episode of “Parts Unknown.” In the episode, which aired in December, the two share plates of pasta, watch a boxing match and go grocery shopping. 

“The episode would not have been possible ― or be anything like it is without the truly magnificent Asia Argento,” Bourdain wrote in December. “She’s spent a lifetime in films ― mostly in front of the cameras, but also ― and quite notably ― behind, directing most recently the remarkable and beautiful ‘Incompresa (Misunderstood).’”

Sounds like someone’s smitten. 

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File this under ways to fill a kid’s room with a bit of girl power.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a kids’ book filled with bedtime stories about women who changed the world like Frida Kahlo, Mae Jemison and Malala Yousafzai. After raising more than $675,000 on Kickstarter to help create the book, the team behind the massively appreciated collection released artwork from it for sale in poster form.

The special release marks a celebration since the team has sold more than 500,000 copies of the book worldwide. Each poster includes an illustration of the featured woman as well as an empowering quote from her. Because several artists contributed to the project, every poster stands out from the rest.

The Rebel Girls team is currently taking pre-orders for the $20 posters, which are 18 inches by 24 inches. According to the book’s site, they will be delivered in June.

Rebel girls (and boys), get ready to cover your walls.

See more of the posters, which are available online, below.

The HuffPost Parents newsletter, So You Want To Raise A Feminist, offers the latest stories and news in progressive parenting.   

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With last week’s release of her single “Malibu,” we’ve entered the era of Mellow Miley Cyrus.

Mellow Miley is older, wiser and has a few regrets ― namely the 2013 video for “Wrecking Ball.”

On Monday, the 24-year-old stopped by “The Zach Sang Show” and played a game of “Marry, Eff, Kill” with a twist. Using the traditional rules of the game, Cyrus was forced to reveal her true feeling about her hit songs on the radio show.

“Marry would probably be ‘The Climb’ because it still has a message I’m down with,” Cyrus said, adding she would “eff” her 2008 song “7 Things,” which is believed to be about her relationship with Nick Jonas.

“Kill would be ‘Wrecking Ball.’ That’s something you can’t take away ― swinging around naked on a wrecking ball lives forever,” she explained. “Once you do that in the mass that I did, it’s forever. I’m never living that down. I will always be the naked girl on a wrecking ball. No matter how much I just frolic with emus, I’m always the naked girl.”

Cyrus added, “I should have thought how long that was going to follow me around. That’s my worst nightmare ― that being played at my funeral.”

“Wrecking Ball” was the second single off the singer’s 2013 album “Bangerz,” which, at the time, was part of a campaign to introduce the world to the New Miley, who smoked weed, popped molly, twerked and was accused of “degrading” a foam finger while she rubbed up against Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV VMAs. 

At the time, Cyrus appeared to be trying to break free of what she perceived as family-friendly shackles imposed on her during her contract with Disney while starring on “Hannah Montana.” 

This New Miley was supposed be the real one ― or so she thought.  

“I feel like I can really be myself,” Cyrus told Billboard of “Bangerz” in 2013. “I really have more of a connection of who I am, and I feel like I can maybe express that more in my music now.”

That was early on in terms of New Miley, though. Her 2015 album “Dead Petz” ushered in an era that pushed boundaries even further, making the “Wrecking Ball” video look G-rated in comparison. During the tour, she performed wearing prothetic breasts and a strap-on dildo, while her videos became, well, just weird.

Cyrus didn’t get to pick which three songs to play “Marry, Eff, Kill” with, but her reaction to “Wrecking Ball” seems to indicate a new, more mature public face.

“I love talking to people, and I approach them in a normal, ‘Don’t treat me different, ’cause I’m not’ way. That’s what started this evolution for me, getting out of my ‘Dead Petz’ phase,” she told Billboard for a recent cover story. “People stare at me anyway, but people stare at me a lot when I’m dressed as a ­fucking cat.”

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Jeff Goldblum was almost Siri and we are shook about it.

The “Jurassic Park” actor recently said in an interview with Australia’s “Today” show that Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs attempted to convince him to become the “voice of Apple,” according to CNET.

Really.

“Steve Jobs called me up a few decades ago to be the voice of Apple,” Goldblum told interviewer Richard Wilkins. “That was early on, and I did not know it was Steve Jobs.”

Siri can be really irritating when she goes off in your pocket accidentally, but if it was Jeff Goldblum talking to us, we probably wouldn’t hate it as much.

If you’re thinking “Why Jeff Goldblum?” then you probably forgot he was actually an Apple ad man for a little while.

Here’s a classically ‘90s Apple promo with Goldblum talking about pizza and computers ― what a combo!

Maybe the next iPhone will feature some Goldblum ... Hey, we can dream, right?

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It’s been months since “The Handmaid’s Tale” wrapped filming, and Yvonne Strahovski still can’t get Serena Joy out of her head. 

As the resident baddie in Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s celebrated novel, the Australian actress is discovering new depths to a character whose inner life was largely absent from the text. 

For Strahovksi, her first introduction to the world of “The Handmaid’s Tale” was the pilot script ― she went back and read the book later ― and what inspired her wasn’t the character’s cruelty, but her pain. Capturing the humanity of a woman complicit in the subjugation of her gender under an oppressive regime was an opportunity to make the role her own. 

Until the sixth episode “A Woman’s Place,” released on Wednesday, the series utilized flashbacks as emotionally-driven viewpoints to juxtapose what life was like for Offred (Elisabeth Moss) before she was forced to bear children for the ruling class to which Serena belongs. 

This week, Strahovski delivered some of the finest work of her career, as the series veered away from the book and back to a time where Serena more than lived up to her surname, something that has been stamped out in the totalitarian state she helped create. 

HuffPost recently caught up with the actress.

The series paints Serena as a more complex character as compared to the book. In this version, we understand her as tragic figure. Was that something that attracted you to the role? 

It was definitely something that was important to me after reading the book and having the series flesh out Serena by humanizing her a little more. Yes, she’s the villain. Yes, she’s the evil character, but she also has feelings. It was important for me to try to attempt to have audiences connect with her in some way, shape or form emotionally because she is so unrelatable in every other way. I was going to say in a lot of ways, but I’m gonna say she’s unrelatable because she’s evil.

There’s a real sense of sadness with Serena.

On paper she is so evil, but where does she draw the line? I feel like Serena is so complicated because she is one of those authority figures who created this society, but now she has to live in it. She’s realizing it’s not so great for her either. On some level, she’s also dealing with a lot oppression as a female because she’s been stripped of her rights, to a degree. How do you deal with the complexities of trying to negotiate the fact that you did this to yourself, but also you’re living it and it doesn’t feel so good anymore?

This week’s episode was particularly flashback-heavy and shifted the POV to Serena. What was it like to explore her life before Gilead? 

It felt really unnatural and weird. It really did. It felt like a big giant leap, but I think it’s an important one, because it’s heartbreaking. We’re following the story of Offred and Ofglen and all these amazing characters who are suffering in some way, shape or form, but I think this is a story about how everyone is suffering.

Having those flashbacks with her finding some sort of happiness and meaning and place for herself in the world is important to show, even though I personally struggle to not judge her and totally disagree with what she’s doing as a passive bystander when women are totally losing their rights. 

The flashback scene where Serena isn’t allowed to speak in a meeting about the creation of this new society because she is a woman stood out to me. 

That scene was hugely important to me because it bridged that gap between Serena Joy pre-Gilead, as we see in those flashbacks, and then Serena Joy in Gilead. We spend so much time focusing on the current Gilead, so suddenly in Episode 6, the flashbacks were really hard to imagine after setting up this pent-up, very uptight character. The biggest thing on my mind was at what one point did Serena Joy exit the conversation about how Gilead was going to be set up.

I think that’s the beginning of the demise of her former self and the demise of her and the commander’s relationship. That’s where her rights started getting taken away and she no longer has a voice. It’s this weird line she walks of having a pure intention to begin with of saving the world and creating more babies in a religious-based way. Somewhere along the line, it got obviously really messed up.

Serena and the Commander (Joseph Fiennes) actually share a consensual and loving sex scene in the flashbacks. What was it like to film a sex scene that wasn’t so dark? 

It kind of felt like a normal day of a different show that wasn’t “The Handmaids Tale.” It wasn’t rigid. The walls are very thick and high in Gilead and as each character, we live bound by those parameters, so to have those parameters let go and just shoot a scene that seems pure, loving, passionate and intimate just kind of seemed like a normal day at work instead of working on material that’s really confronting very potent issues and themes. 

How did it differ from the ceremony scenes you share with Elisabeth Moss and Joseph Fiennes? What goes through your mind when you’re all in bed together? 

In the actual moment, it’s pure rage for Serena. She’s lost a lot also. She’s lost her ability to do her work as an author or a spokeswoman. She’s lost her right to connect to her husband sexually. She’s got a lot of emptiness inside her, so she holds onto the one thing that will make her life better there, and that’s having a baby. Serena also has no way out. It’s not like she can leave her house, the country or the Commander. In a way, it’s her own story of survival, but she just happens to be doing really shitty things while she’s surviving. 

I’ve always had this image of her as a boiling pot of water on a stove with the lid tightly on. Every so often, the boiling water inside gets [to be] too much and it has to release and the lid lifts and she releases her rage. There’s just no release in Gilead, so when she can abuse her power and release some of that pent-up rage, she does. 

Did you stay in character during the ceremony scenes? How did you break the tension?

No, I think I would go insane if I stayed in that mode the whole time. We have to let go. Although, I do have to say mentally it was hard to let go of Serena because she is so complex and has all these dualities that feels like a puzzle sometimes. She did stay with me in my brain for the most part of shooting the show. 

We’re not, like, freaky-deaky toward each other on set. It’s a very normal cast and crew and we all like to come to set because it’s just a workday for us. After we get past "How was your weekend?" and "How was your night last night?" we switch gears and get into this kind of stuff. 

What do you make of Serena’s smoking habit? It seems to be one the few obvious cracks in her “perfect wife” facade. 

I sort of saw it as a calming thing and also something to do. There’s just not a whole lot that she has to do in this society. She’s the master of the house and she’s supposed to take care of all things domestic. But I just feel like there would be that element of boredom if you’re in that situation. What do you do? She paints, knits and she smokes because there are no other things to do our outlets. The smoking thing did really seem to me like a time-passing mechanism or a calming mechanism when things get too much for Serena when she’s about to blow. 

Hulu has renewed “The Handmaid’s Tale” for a second season. What are your thoughts on the series moving away from the text and into uncharted territory?  

I’m excited by the prospect. I feel like each of these characters have so much to offer and there’s a lot to explore. I love that we’ve been given this opportunity to spend these 10 episode reflecting what Maragaret Atwood’s book originally told us, but now we have these established characters, so we can take them places. It feels like there are a lot of places to go because we are in such a rigid society, so when everything is so pent up and rigid there a lot of rules to be broken. For someone like Serena, it would be really interesting to see her belief system challenged against her own will. I would love to see her own walls that she built herself crumble around her.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

New episodes of the “The Handmaid’s Tale” are available every Wednesday on Hulu. 

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The artistry of Solange Knowles has become an indelible part of contemporary reflections on black womanhood. In a recent essay for Teen Vogue, Solange blesses us with some insight on how she developed into the regal being she is today. 

The singer graced Volume II of Teen Vogue’s June issue and her essay, “A Letter To My Teenage Self,” was posted online Wednesday.

In the letter, Solange assures her younger self that all the uncertainty, fear and pain she’s enduring will all serve their purpose in the long run.

And she pays tribute to each youthful version of herself ― including the one most likely to rock micro braids, a stage she eloquently classifies as “the football-player’s-girlfriend-who-wears-braided-blond-highlights-and-swears-by-capri-pants phase.”

“at the time, you are searching,” Solange wrote. “seeking in every corner and pocket of the world for who you are ... you will sow each of these chapters in the land that you become.”

Solange shares the impact of everything from the tragedy of a close friend’s death at 17 years old, which she refers to as “the hardest year of [her] life,” to being judged for her looks and free spirit:

“when you go out into the world feeling confident in who you are and what you reflect, young folks will call you names and grown folks will call you names,” she wrote. “It’s ok. one day you will name yourself, and that name will belong to you. it will not be the ones they ordained: “crazy, ugly, attention-seeking, weirdo.”

A significant portion of the letter is rightfully dedicated to mama Tina Knowles and the other women who showed her what black women were truly made of, outside of disparaging media stereotypes. 

They were probably in part responsible for all of the cultural introspection that took place within Solange’s iconic album “A Seat at the Table.”

“you thank them for re-writing the script before it was ever etched in your memory,” she wrote of the women. 

We thank them too. 

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Goya Foods will not sponsor this year’s Puerto Rican Day Parade. The decision ends, until further notice, the company’s continuous 60-year partnership with the organization behind the annual event. 

The New Jersey-based company cited a “business decision” as the reason for pulling their sponsorship of the annual event that’s being held in New York City on July 11 this year. The Puerto Rican Day Parade, which also hosts a variety of other cultural, educational and social events, said the decision could affect the students who receive scholarships from the non-profit organization.  

“Goya has made a business decision not to participate in this year’s Puerto Rican Day Parade,” the company said in a statement to HuffPost on Wednesday. 

As for whether the decision would apply for future Puerto Rican Day Parades, the company said “that has not been decided.”

On Monday night, the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario reported that Director of Public Relations of Goya Foods Rafael Toro had written a letter to the Puerto Rican Day Parade saying they had withdrawn their sponsorship because the company had been targeted by boycotts that opposed the parade’s intentions of honoring recently released Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar López Rivera.   

The company told HuffPost “the letter was false and NOT written by Rafael Toro... or any employees or affiliates of Goya Foods.” El Diario has since removed any mention of the letter in their report. 

In response to Goya Food’s decision to end the six-decade-long sponsorship, the Puerto Rican Day Parade issued the following statement to the New York Daily News on Tuesday:

We are very disappointed at Goya for pulling out of our Parade via a phone call and with no rationale other than “it was a business decision.” We have learned more through the press, since we have not yet received any official notification, in writing. After a 60-year partnership, we would expect to, at the very least, discuss this very serious matter face-to-face. In the end, Goya is jeopardizing the parade’s commitment to 100 college and college-bound students who stood to receive parade scholarships.

HuffPost also reached out to the organization for comment but had not heard back at the time of publication. 

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Just when we thought the recent “Once Upon a Time” news couldn’t get any worse, another shocker rolls on in.

During a Build Series interview with HuffPost on Wednesday, Jamie Chung, who plays recurring character Mulan on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” tripped us up when we asked her about that mass exodus of cast members. 

Chung, who will be appearing on Fox’s new “X-Men” show “The Gifted” this fall, sort of, kind of, might have revealed that Season 7 of “Once” will be the show’s final season.

“I actually just ran into one of the creators the other night,” she said, referring to either Edward Kitsis or Adam Horowitz. “They’ve gone seven years, that’s a long time. But there are a couple of cast members coming back for the final, final season. They keep calling it the final season, but it’s just going to keep on going.” 

Wait ... what the Chung? Is it the final season, or isn’t it?? 

Chung didn’t elaborate, but when asked if she’d be back for “the final, final season,” she said, “I don’t know, we’ll see.” 

Last week, it was revealed that Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan), along with Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White), Josh Dallas (Prince Charming), Rebecca Mader (Wicked Witch Zelena), Jared S. Gilmore (Henry Mills) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle) would all be leaving the show, even though ABC’s not canceling it. Instead, Season 7 will focus on a new storyline including current characters Lana Parrilla (Regina/Evil Queen), Robert Carlyle (Gold/Rumpelstiltskin) and Colin O’Donoghue (Killian/Hook).

Kitsis and Horowitz explained the reboot of sorts to Deadline, saying they “reached a point where we felt like it was time to close certain chapters in the book that we were telling and to take some risks and move forward.”

Obviously those three [Parrilla/Carlyle/O’Donoghue] are very important to the storytelling we have planned for next season, as is Andrew West as the adult version of Henry, so it’s really four returning characters. And then there’s Allison Fernandez as his daughter, so that becomes kind of the core we’re building around.

We’re not ready to make any formal announcements yet, but we’re planning that there will be more regulars added to the mix and probably more recurring characters as we build out the universe of this iteration of the show.

So will the show find a new stride with Season 7 or, as Chung put it, will it be “the final, final season”? Only time will tell. 

HuffPost has reached out to ABC for a comment. 

Watch the full Build interview with Jamie Chung below. 

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The White House is a flaming dumpster right now, and it’s unclear who will still be there in a month. There are rumors that White House press secretary Sean Spicer might be fired after some recent disastrous press briefings. 

So, while he still has the job, let’s play Sean Spicer Bingo. We created a custom card, so print it out and play along during his press briefings!

Gosh, if we had a buck for every time he used one of these signature Sean Spicer catchphrases!

Use these custom tokens for some added Sean Spicer-brand fun!

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The new trailer for “Star Trek: Discovery” is finally here, and it’s out of this world.

The series faced some bumps along the way, having its premiere delayed, but CBS finally released the trailer at its upfront presentation on Wednesday. From the teaser, we learn that 10 years before Captain Kirk there was First Officer Michael Burnham, aka Sonequa Martin-Green from “The Walking Dead.” And she kicks butt.

In addition to Martin-Green, “Star Trek: Discovery” features a solid cast, including Michelle Yeoh (”Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”) as Captain Philippa Georgiou, Jason Isaacs (aka Lucius Malfoy from “Harry Potter”) as Captain Lorca, and James Frain (”Gotham”) as Spock’s father.

The network seems to have a lot of confidence in the show, as it already bumped up a Season 1 order from 13 to 15 episodes. From this trailer, we can see why.

You can watch “Star Trek: Discovery” on CBS All Access this fall.

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Every South Asian woman has an incredible story of resilience to tell. One Bangladeshi photojournalist has made it his mission to bring some of those untold stories to light.

GMB Akash is an award-winning photojournalist from Dhaka, Bangladesh who captures portraits of people in his country who rarely make the headlines ― sex workers, child laborers, schoolgirls, women fleeing abusive relationships, women who have no place to call home. 

The 39-year-old from Dhaka has been sharing these images on his social media accounts, pairing the portraits with paraphrased captions that dig deeper into his subjects’ life stories.

Akash said he believes its his duty as a photographer to tell these kinds of stories.

“I must show what can be shown; going deep into every milieu and into every aspect of poverty, deprivation and hardship that I can encounter – because the only sin for a photographer is to turn his head and look away,” Akash, who has been taking photos since 1996, told HuffPost in an email.

Sometimes, it takes just a few moments for people to open up. And other times, it takes much longer. 

“It takes a lot of empathy and connection from soul to soul to understand pain and suffering, as well [the] beauty of another human being,” Akash wrote. “There were times when we simply [sit] together without speaking a word and continue to try to hold the tears. Most of the times it happened while I interview sex worker or elderly abandoned mothers. I let people to open up their wound, suffering, tragedies, and voices.”

HuffPost asked Akash to share 12 photographs of women he’s met in his Bangladesh whose stories have left an impression on him. From Tahora, an elderly woman who was abandoned by her three sons, to Shaheda, a woman who built a new life for herself after the death of her abusive husband, these are incredible women who have lived through both immeasurable sorrow and joy. 

“There is a beauty about a woman whose confidence comes from experiences; who knows she can fall, pick herself up, and move on,” Akash told HuffPost.

Read on to hear from these remarkable women and read . 

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Wolverine doesn’t care about getting hurt ― he heals almost immediately. For the rest of us, this is gonna sting. 

It appears “Logan” is truly Hugh Jackman’s final performance as Wolverine. We previously were holding out some hope, but in an interview with HuffPost in honor of “Logan” coming to Digital HD, Jackman shut it down.

We asked the actor what the chances were that we’d see his Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool together on screen.

His answer? Not good.

“It’s sorta out of my hands because I’m an actor who’s played Wolverine. I’m out,” he said, “But if I was running the studio and someone else was playing Wolverine...”

“I’m sure that’s something they could pull together,” “Logan” director James Mangold chimed in.

The director continued, “The reality for me is I’ve made two Wolverine movies in a row, so you’re talking to a guy who’s actually ready to direct Hugh Jackman in something else.”

Sorry, Deadpool.

Jackman previously said he might’ve held off his Wolverine retirement if he had the opportunity to meet the Avengers. Since there’s zero chance of that happening, we asked Jackman what an Avengers-Wolverine movie might look like.

“That would look like a miracle of business,” said the actor, laughing. “It’s a shame,” he added, saying that one of the joys of the comics is when multiple characters get together. 

Mangold came at it from a different perspective.

“The films have gotten so damn crowded,” he said, “It would probably look like one of these selfies with the Oscars with everyone just trying to cram into frame.” He continued, “But of course it would be exciting.”

But alas, it will never be. If you need us, we’ll just be over here watching “Logan.”

We’re not crying. You’re crying.

“Logan” is available now on Digital HD and will be available on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD on May 23.

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Ron Cephas Jones made everyone reach for the tissue box with his incredible performance as Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown) biological father, William Hill, on the first season of NBC’s breakout hit “This Is Us.”

Warning! Spoilers below.

After spending the season reconnecting with his grown son ― who was adopted by Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) as a baby ― William lost his battle to cancer on the Episode 16 of the show, titled “Memphis.” The whole episode was a tear-jerker, and a reminder to cherish the ones you love. 

But although William is no longer alive in the series, Cephas Jones confirmed to HuffPost during a Build Series interview that his character will be back in flashback scenes, which the show is known for. 

“I would come in each day in the dressing room and I would open the script going, ‘Is this the day that they’re going to kill him?!’ And it was so hard. I could imagine William feeling the same way ― waking up each day not knowing if it’s going to be your last day,” Cephas Jones said, adding, “As the actor in Ron, I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay a part of the show and stay a part of the family that we’ve created there. And lo and behold, that happened. That’s the next thing for Season 2.”

According to the actor, the writers and creator Dan Fogelman will create a “really beautiful” storyline for William next season. 

“It’s similar to Jack’s character ― you already know that he’s died but we see his whole life throughout the season. So now, Season 2 will go back and fill in those spaces and those questions people have about William ― with his relationship with Jessie (Denis O’Hare) or how did he become a musician or how did he get from Memphis to Philadelphia?” Cephas Jones explained. “What and how and where they’re going to write, I have no idea, but I’m just really blessed and happy that I’ll be back for Season 2.”

Cephas Jones said the cast is usually kept in the dark about storylines until table reads, where they freak out flipping through page after page.

“We’re reading along going, ‘Oh, s**t! Oh, f**k! Oh my f**king God!’ And we’re laughing and we’re looking at each other going, ‘Oh no!’” he joked. “It’s definitely a page-turner and exciting and a lot of fun.”

We can’t wait to see where Season 2 takes us. (Probably on another emotional roller-coaster, duh.)

Watch the full interview with Ron Cephas Jones on Build below. 

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Shi Hailei, a tattoo artist at Samurai Tattoo in Shanghai, is helping new moms regain their confidence after giving birth via caesarean section by offering free tattoos to cover the scars. 

China has a high C-section rate, with approximately 35 percent of Chinese babies delivered via caesarean instead of vaginal birth. Many attribute this high rate to China’s one-child policy, economy and healthcare conditions, while others note that superstition from relatives may encourage women to schedule C-sections on lucky days on the Chinese calendar.

Shi’s free tattoos aim to help C-section mamas regain their confidence as they recover from the surgical procedure and try to embrace their postpartum bodies.

“I felt awkward to see my scar when wearing a low-waist dancing dress,” dance teacher Grace Yuan, who got a rose tattoo in April, told Reuters. “I can dance freely on the stage now without worries or awkwardness.”

Here’s to helping all moms feel confident in their postpartum bodies!

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It seems Eva Longoria can rock nearly anything on the red carpet, even a dress that’s backward.

As this year’s Cannes Film Festival begins, the actress celebrated more than a decade of attending the event by posting a throwback photo on Instagram and revealing a “fun fact.”

In the photo Longoria shared on Wednesday, the star is wearing a dress with a deep plunge in the front. But it turns out that plunge was supposed to go in the back. 

“Flashback to my first year in Cannes 12 years ago!” she wrote in the photo caption. “I look like a baby! Fun fact: I had my dress on backward Yep. Backwards and didn’t know it!!!!”

No worries, Eva. We didn’t know it, either. 

H/T People

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Whether it’s a bright splash of color or a lively melody of beats, artists express themselves in many ways, often drawing inspiration from other art forms.

Mambo listens to music to stay in the moment and spur his creativity as he makes modern art. In the video below, see how music influences Mambo’s work and discover which artists he admires most from this year’s Billboard Music Awards. 

The Front Row to the Billboard Music Awards is Awesome with XFINITY X1.

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Merriam-Webster defines “headdesk” as an internet neologism “used to express frustration or exasperation.” 

Apparently, it also describes the dictionary’s reaction to having its helpful language advice once again ignored by President Donald Trump.

On May 8, Trump issued another of his memorable misspellings, tweeting, “Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Council.” Oops, wrong council/counsel, pointed out indefatigable word defender Merriam-Webster: 

Just 10 days later, however, Trump was at it again, this time with a weird mashup between the two spellings in a now-deleted tweet: “With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed.”

Catch that? The i has become an e, but unfortunately it’s still right after a c. That’s not a word!

This time, Merriam-Webster was too exhausted to reiterate its previous correction, simply following up on the May 8 thread to relay their reaction:

Apparently a facepalm just wasn’t enough. 

According to Merriam-Webster, “headdesk” is derived from the literal slamming of one’s head into a desk out of frustration or annoyance. The abbreviated term arose online, initially in late ‘90s forums, and has been popularized on social media and other digital communications as a quick, colorful way of conveying one’s irritation.

“The word headdesk is used most often interjectionally, or a parenthetical comment on something,” the dictionary notes, but with outrage and frustration becoming a constant feature of the political scene, it’s no wonder we’re increasingly using it as a verb or even a gerund.

Merriam-Webster has been headdesking over Trump’s reckless disregard for the English language for some time. Given all the troublesome news coming out of the White House ― the least of which may be its spelling woes ― we should probably all get comfortable with the word, and its application.

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