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'Big Bang Theory' Star Kunal Nayyar and His Wife Neha Kapur Nayyar on Their Whirlwind Love Story


“The first time I saw Kunal, he was wearing a trucker hat, cutoff gloves, hipster glasses, and a scarf,” fashion designer Neha Kapur Nayyar recalls of meeting Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar in 2009. “It took me a while to find him among all that.” Though she wasn’t impressed with her future husband’s accessories and was oblivious to his fame—“I had never seen the show,” she admits—Kunal was already a goner. “My first thought was, This is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he says. “My second thought was, She’s way out of my league.” The two married in New Delhi two years later. The cutoff gloves stayed home. Here, we asked the so-gorgeous-it-hurts duo some very personal questions.

How do you each define love?

Neha Kapur Nayyar: Selfless.

Kunal Nayyar: Love is not perfect, and that’s OK.

Fill in the blank: Our love story began on….

NKN: December 24, 2009. New Dehli, India.

Fill in the blank: The first thing I thought when I saw my significant other was….

KN: She’s tall.

NKN: Interesting hat. [Laughs]

Your relationship described in three words. Go.

KN: BFF. Best friends forever.

Give me two more.

KN: BFF. Not so serious. Wait, that’s not right. Light. Like, relaxed. Laughter.

NKN: Comfortable. Companion. Best friend.

The best thing I’ve ever learned from my significant other is….

NKN: Selflessness.

KN: Clarity.

Not how to dress?

KN: Oh, that’s funny. I like that answer! Can I steal it? OK, I’ll do how to dress.

The pop song that best describes us is….

KN: That’s a great question. Why are you looking at me? [Laughs]

NKN: We listen to a lot of hip hop.

KN: We gotta come back to that! It’s gotta be something good. “Baby Got Back”? [Laughs] What about “I Love You Like A Love Song?”

NKN: No. [Laughs]

One thing my significant other does not know about him or herself is….

KN: She giggles in her sleep.

Is that true?

NKN: I have no idea! [Laughs]

KN: It’s creepy.

NKN: Thanks! [Laughs] I think when Kunal is singing on his own without anyone around him, I think it’s the most beautiful thing. He doesn’t realize how good he sounds.

Photograph by Olivia Malone Stylist: Henna Koskinen

What is your significant other’s superpower?

KN: Neha has incredible ability to be inviting. She creates a beautiful, familiar, inviting atmosphere wherever she goes.

NKN: Kunal makes everyone feel very safe. Very secure. You can always lean on him. He should be the first phone call when you need someone.

What’s the secret to love that lasts?

KN: The ability to forgive.

NKN: Yeah. I’d say space.

I know that my significant other loves me when he/she does….

NKN: Kunal always wants to make sure I’m OK when I’m traveling, or with my food, so he always takes care of it one step before I even ask him. He’s got it covered.

KN: I know my wife loves me when I come home and it smells like Indian food.

NKN: Oh, is that a little nudge? [Laughs]

When did you know you were ready to propose?

KN: Oh, that’s a good question. I mean, when I went to secure the ring. When I wrote a check for the ring. [Laughs] That’s a good question.

How did you know she was “The One”?

KN: Oh, when she met my family for the first time! There was an unspoken language. She just knew how to interact, be with, give love to, put herself in a very….

NKN: It was very organic.

KN: Yes. She was very organic with my family.

And how did you know he was the guy?

NKN: I came to visit him three weeks after I met him for the first time. I can spend hours talking to Kunal, and it just felt like I had always known him, so when I came to visit him in LA, it just seemed so right. I think I was always ready to marry him.

What advice would you give to somebody that doesn’t know whether they’re in the right relationship for the long haul?

NKN: I say take time. Spend time and take as long as you want before…nothing is out of bounds, no time is running out. Just take your time.

KN: Only do it for yourself. Don’t do it for your parents, your family, her or him. Do it truly for you. That sounds bad, but what I mean is don’t do it for anyone other than yourself.

NKN: Yeah, no pressure.

What are you most proud of about each other?

KN: Neha left her country as an adult to move here for marriage, and I really commend her on her ability to start a company, to make friends outside of my circle of friends, to make a life here on her own, where redefining herself [as an adult] in a new country, she’s been very good at. It takes a lot of courage. It’s not easy at all.

NKN: I think the fact that he doesn’t necessarily play his professional life out too much to people, and how humble he stays, especially with how big the show is, and how far and wide the fans are spread. He just completely stays committed and humble and dedicated and hard-working.



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Homelessness Was This Teenager's Biggest Secret, But Her Incredible Story Has a Happy Ending


Every year, 600,000 families with 1.3 million children experience homelessness in the United States. That’s a staggering number. Under such heartbreaking circumstances, no one would fault children dealing with homelessness for feeling despair that impacts their relationships, drive and performance in school. But Angelique didn’t succumb to any of that.

Her story is one that can inspire both compassion and support from those not directly touched by homelessness, and serve as a powerful message to the 600,000 families dealing with homelessness: they can get through it.

Angelique’s mother, Leigh, suffers from depression and bipolar disorder, which have made it difficult for her to maintain a steady income. Angelique’s father, originally from Nigeria, lives in California. Now 18, Angelique, Leigh, and Leigh’s mother lived in their car for 8 months when Angelique was 13, and Angelique still managed to maintain straight As during this period.

Rather than making her angry or leaving her feeling defeated, Angelique’s past (and current struggles as a result of her mother’s ongoing battle with bipolar disorder) have galvanized her to help others. While she’s a talented actor and dancer, she wants to become a psychologist so she can help people like her mother who are suffering from mental illness. Her primary goal in the near-term is to become completely independent: “I know I have no safety net. Everything that I want to be, it’s all on me. This experience has driven me to this independence in the way that I never felt like I had an option to neglect my schoolwork, because I knew [it] was my ticket to never having to experience anything like this again.”

Watch Angelique, her family, teachers and mentors discuss her journey, including its happy ending. And prepare to be inspired.



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'This Is Us' Season 2 Episode 9 Recap: Kate's Story Will Break You


This Is Us is continuing its trio of episodes focused on each of the Pearson siblings. This week’s was all about Kate, who, remember, just found out she lost her baby. That pretty much set the tone for this week’s episode, so fair warning: It’s rough. Spoilers ahead.

Last week’s miscarriage reveal makes this week’s opener pretty devastating: Kate is taking her pre-natal vitamins and talking to her bump. Clearly, what Randall told Kevin hasn’t happened yet, so I’m walking on pins and needles at this point.

But the present-day story pivots for a moment to the ’90s, where Teenage Kate is listening to her walkman in that angsty ’90s teen way. The power’s out at Château Pearson, and Kate’s dog, Louis, pees on her carpet. Blech. Interestingly, we’re reliving the same night Kevin met with that football coach and screwed things up…just from Kate’s POV.

Rebecca nags Kate about picking her top five college preferences because time is running out to decide. Kate would rather clean her dog’s piss than think about college which, honestly, was most of us at one point senior year.

Back to Adult Kate: She’s drinking some gross green smoothie and making a list of questions to ask her OBGYN. Toby makes a lame dad joke, which comes off more annoying than cute. I feel like Toby is annoying 99 percent of the time on This Is Us? Like, stop talking about Shamrock Shakes.

Oh shit: Kate leaves to go measure something in her bathroom, and she feels a sharp pain in her stomach, which is what causes her to lose her baby. She’s back at home, now, and dodging calls and texts from her mother. The tension in Toby and Kate’s house is at an all-time high, and understandably so.

Not even 12 hours after miscarrying, Kate leaves to go to her next singing gig, which Toby finds baffling. Personally, I think Toby should let Kate do whatever TF she needs to do to cope. If that means working more, then so be it. Again, Toby’s out of line and annoying.

Also annoying is Teenage Kate, who completely twists around the well-meaning conversation Rebecca has with her about college. Rebecca says it’s cool if Kate doesn’t know what her passion is, which Kate takes as Rebecca saying she’s “passionless.” Um, what? She’s just looking for a fight, TBH. But then again she’s 17, so it makes sense.

When Kate leaves the room, Rebecca finds a completed application to Berklee College of Music stowed away…and a tape of Kate singing. Teenage Kate’s beautiful voice plays over a scene of Adult Kate singing at a fancy lunch, which she abruptly leaves after seeing a mother playing with her child. Very sad, if not a tad heavy-handed. Adult Kate tearfully dodges yet another call from Rebecca and passes an all-you-can-eat buffet. Whether or not she goes in, though, is still a mystery.

Meanwhile, Toby receives a FedEx message that says a baby item Kate ordered is en route to their apartment. Realizing this would obviously make Kate more upset, he goes down to the distribution center to intercept the package. He gives some uncomfortable monologue to one of the workers about how he’s a “large and powerful man” and will do whatever it takes to prevent this package from arriving to their doorstep. Stop threatening random delivery dudes, Toby!

We’re back to Teenage Kate. She’s at Kevin’s football game with Rebecca but, remember, she doesn’t know Rebecca knows about her singing aspirations. Rebecca spills the beans about finding her application. Kate’s annoyed at first, which honestly comes off as bratty more than anything because Rebecca is trying so hard to make a connection. She softens, though, and they share a tender moment—which gets interrupted by Kevin’s knee injury.

At the hospital, Rebecca gives Teenage Kate a genuinely devastating speech about how she’s sad Kate felt like she couldn’t come to her about Berklee—and how it’s her job to be open for Kate, always, even when Kate doesn’t want it. I don’t know why, but this is making me tear up more than anything else on this episode. I’m a sucker for mother/child dynamics!

Now we’re back to Adult Kate, and she’s at a buffet. This whole narrative feels exploitative and is making me cringe. She ultimately decides to not eat the food and leaves the restaurant. This, conveniently, is timed to Toby finding the baby package at the warehouse. Whad’ya know?!

Kate eventually answers Rebecca’s call and tells her she lost the baby. She’s at home, but Toby doesn’t know that; he went to Kate’s singing gig to pick her up and panicked when he saw she wasn’t there. Once they’re both home, they have a huge, teary-eyed argument about the miscarriage. It’s some of Chrissy Metz and Chris Sullivan’s best work on the show.

Rebecca shows up to Adult Kate’s apartment, and Kate collapses into her arms—which parallels the monologue Rebecca gave Teen Kate at the hospital. Of course it does. It’s This Is Us! Rebecca then tells Kate a story about how she freaked out on a random lady way back when about a bag of yellow onions. I shouldn’t be laughing at this, but I am. The scene ends with Kate and Rebecca crying and hugging and now I’m crying and want to hug my mother. Damn it. Rebecca and her wig got me again.

Parting thoughts: Randall’s episode is next week!

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Meryl Streep Shares the Story of Her Own Experience With Violence


During the last six weeks, we’ve heard stories from dozens of empowered women, finally sharing their experiences with sexual assault and harassment at the hands of powerful men. But as Meryl Streep reminded us in a recent speech at an award ceremony for the Committee to Protect Journalists, that kind of threat is only one of the dangers women still face.

The Oscar-winner said there had never been a more dangerous time to be a female investigative journalist. “We do recognize the special cocktail of venom and ridicule which is always tinged with sexual threat that’s served up online for women—any woman in any profession—that stands up to tell the truth. I revere the people who do this because I am not a naturally brave person,” she said.

“But I do know something about real terror—the two times in my life when I was threatened and dealt with real physical violence, I learned something about life that I wouldn’t have known otherwise and I was lucky because my instincts served me well,” Streep said, according to The Daily Beast. “In one instance, I played dead and waited until the blows stopped—watching like people say you do from about 50 feet above from where I was beaten. And in the second instance, someone else was being abused and I just went completely nuts and went after this man. Ask Cher—she was there. And the thug ran away, it was a miracle.”

Streep and Cher both acted (and received Oscar nominations for their work) in the 1983 drama Silkwood. Cher had previously revealed that she and Streep once “saved a girl from a large mugger in New York City.”

She went on to explain how experiencing these moments of violence had changed her “on a cellular level,” saying women have been conditioned to be on “hyper alert,” to anticipate the violence so many generations of women have had to endure.

Streep also thanked the journalists who are making sure stories about women dealing with harassment and violence are not being silenced, saying, “You are the enemy of the people, yeah! Just the bad people. And I, on behalf of a grateful nation, thank you.”

Related: How Bad Does a Movie Have to Be for Meryl Streep to Not Get an Oscar Nomination? I Watched 23 to Find Out



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'This Is Us' Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: The Emotional Story Behind Randall's Adoption


There wasn’t a big hook or plot twist on tonight’s This Is Us episode; instead, the show-runners gave us a poignant, emotional 42 minutes where we learned more about the characters than arguably ever before. Here’s what happened (spoilers ahead, of course):

Jack and Rebecca

We open with a friendly little reminder that Rebecca and Jack didn’t formally adopt Randall: They straight-up just took him home from the hospital, so a social worker is now entering the picture to make things official. She’s sweet, but at one point savagely pops into Rebecca and Jack’s house for a surprise check-up, which gives me life. Keep Jack and his beard in check, girl!

The Pearson gang has to appear in front of a judge, Ernest Bradley (a black man), to make Randall’s adoption legit. But this dude isn’t playing games; he immediately asks to speak to the Pearson’s social worker, and because she isn’t there he reschedules their court date for three weeks. Rebecca and Jack are shook because the social worker told them she didn’t need to be present for the hearing. Something’s fishy. It’s probably concerning Rebecca’s middle-part.

Nope, it’s not that: The judge doesn’t think Randall belongs in Jack and Rebecca’s home; he thinks Randall belongs with a black family. He says Randall won’t be prepared to live life as a black man if he’s raised by Rebecca and Jack. Rebecca tries to fight the judge on this, but he says his opinion won’t change. So, she writes an angry letter to the judge saying her family won’t stop until he does his job.

Instead, he recuses himself from the case, and the Pearsons go before another judge (a black woman) to formally adopt Randall. It’s a much smoother process this time around. She has no objections and signs Randall’s adoption into law.

Adult Randall

Randall isn’t pleased about taking Déjà on a court-ordered trip to visit her mother, who, remember, is in jail. He immediately tries to block Déjà from seeing someone in handcuffs when they get to the jail, which is such a Randall thing to do. He’s the best.

PHOTO: NBC

But, oh man, Déjà’s mother—for whatever reason—opts out of the visit. She doesn’t want to see Déjà, but Randall massages the situation to make it seem less harsh. And the hits keep coming: Apparently, Déjà had been saving up every cent of her allowance to give her mother so she’d be more comfortable in jail. Oy.

Now, Beth’s the one who isn’t pleased; she says that as long as Déjà is under their roof she’s not visiting her birth mother. That’s a bit of a statement to make since, ya know, these visits are mandatory. But Beth’s a queen who’s above the law, so I support her.

Randall visits Déjà’s birth mother on his own and learns more about her situation. She didn’t want to see Déjà the other day because she has large bruises on her face. (She was jumped.) They proceed to have a very tense argument about what’s best for Déjà, which ends with Randall saying Déjà’s mother will have to “go through him” in order to get to her. There’s a lot of nuances at play here that I’m not sure how to unpack. Ultimately, Randall decides to give Déjà’s mom their phone number so she can call her that night.

Adult Kate

Oh my God, Kate and Toby tell Kevin they’re pregnant in the cheesiest, dorkiest way—but, like, it’s kind of cute. Sweatshirts are involved. Kevin’s either too drunk/high/sad to grasp the news right away, but eventually he feigns enthusiasm. I’m so over sad Kevin and want them to bring back shirtless Kevin.

Kate, of course, notices that Kevin was a hazy mess during their pregnancy announcement—but she immediately pivots the conversation to Toby’s very Catholic mother. Toby’s afraid to talk to his mom about their pregnancy because they aren’t married, which is a big no-no for Catholics. So Kate’s wild-ass solution is for them to get married that day. Alrighty then.

But maybe this isn’t going to happen? Kate and Toby get awkward about the whole thing at city hall—and then Toby has a super creepy conversation with Jack’s urn about how much Kate loves traditional weddings. So, yeah, they’re probably going to have a big wedding.

Toby re-proposes to Kate and says they should have a big, ridiculous wedding if that’s what she really wants. They cry. It’s cute and emotional and just a pinch blech. But isn’t all of This Is Us just a pinch blech? That’s why we love it.

Adult Kevin

Kevin, for some reason, keeps delaying his trip to visit Sophie in New York City. No, actually, he’s delaying moving to New York City; apparently, between last week’s episode and this week’s, Kevin decided to move back East. He’s clearly sad and acting weird, and his burgeoning pill addiction is probably to blame. He immediately pops a pill and takes a swig of beer after talking to Sophie on the phone. Oof.

Kevin, clearly high, manically goes shopping for an engagement ring for Sophie an hour before boarding a flight to New York He ends up buying three rings and telling the jeweler he’ll let Sophie “decide” which one she wants. This makeshift engagement will end badly.

This Is Us - Season 2

PHOTO: NBC

Kevin gets to Sophie’s hospital (remember, she’s a nurse) and immediately starts popping pills. He falls asleep at the hospital, while waiting for Sophie, and has a nightmare about being a bad father. Then, he shows up to Sophie’s house—sweaty, high, and clearly strung-out—and says he’s not the guy she thinks he is. He says the dreams he has of their future are nightmares. Sophie then abruptly shuts the door in his face. So…they’re broken up? Yikes, this is all just so depressing.

Young William/2016 William

But wait! Tonight’s episode also included some backstory about Randall’s father, William, and it was emotional. In an earlier flashback, we see William being sentenced to jail for drug possession; he gives a very emotional monologue about how he does drugs to mask the pain of losing his mother, girlfriend, and son. He calls himself the most disappointed man alive. It’s a doozy—if not a wee bit melodramatic.

Equally as melodramatic—but damn it, so effective—is the monologue William’s judge gives him about also being disappointed. He says he’s tired of sentencing people to long, hopeless prison stints for crimes that could’ve been prevented, and he wants to take a chance on him. It’s a poignant scene, and it makes me miss 2016 William. Bring him back!

OK, so 2016 William does come back—for a very sad mini-arc. It’s at the moment he finds out his cancer is fatal. William returns to his apartment with the materials to shoot up heroine, but before he does it he visualizes the face of the judge who gave him mercy decades before. Immediately after this, he gets a knock on the door: It’s Randall, from the pilot, telling William he’s his biological son. Damn it, here come the tears.

And get this: The judge who recused himself from the Pearson’s case and the judge who worked young William’s case know each other. It’s a convoluted and forced twist, but I have goosebumps regardless, so who’s the real sucker here?

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The Real Story Behind the 'Stranger Things' Snow Ball Scene Is Predictably Adorable


Season two of Stranger Things ends with (spoiler!) what might be the purest scene in all of pop-culture: The gang attending the Snow Ball together. They’re ostensibly there to have fun, but the kids treat the occasion with the gravitas of a life-or-death situation. Weeks earlier, these adolescents were fighting off a pack of demon monster dogs—but here they’re just as stressed, if not more so, about all the hallmarks of a school dance: first crushes, first dances, first kisses, first heartbreak. It’s so human to watch it hurts.

The plan was always to end the season this way. “Literally, from the beginning, from the very first moment talking about season two, we knew this had to end at the Snow Ball,” executive producer Shawn Levy told us at the Stranger Things premiere in Los Angeles. “We kept our mouth shut for over a year, but this was destiny. This is about all these characters coming together, and we were careful not to do things just because audiences wanted it. But you can’t deny the world Eleven and Mike at the Snow Ball! I don’t know that it gets better than that.”

No, it really doesn’t—especially because the dance allows for two important kisses to take place: one between Max (Sadie Sink) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and one between Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). It’s a telling moment about where these characters are at heading into season three: The feelings between Max and Lucas may be newer, but their rapport is more comfortable than the more reserved (but still so, so passionate) affections between Mike and Eleven. “Neither kiss was firmly scripted,” Shawn explained. “But we really agonized over, ‘Does one kiss take away from the other kiss?’ And yet, Caleb and Sadie are so winning, so charming. It kind of finishes that storyline. Mike and Eleven, though, that’s almost the beginning of something. It’s a reunion, but it’s also a bit of a promise. Maybe there’s some of the answer as to what’s in season three in that kiss.”

Sadie agrees the relationship between Max and Lucas might end there. “If we’re being realistic here, what eighth grade relationship lasts longer than a few months?” she said. “Even that’s long! At my school, people date for two weeks and are like, ‘It’s not working out.’ But it’s cute, so maybe they’ll explore that.” Millie, meanwhile, thinks that Eleven’s hesitation comes from her being so laser focused: “I think it was her objective! She has a method!”

But regardless of how the characters were feeling, their IRL counterparts weren’t quite as invested. “The kids were mortified shooting those kisses,” Shawn joked. “Mortified! We had to do it a lot of times because the steady cam was going around and around. If the camera was in the wrong place, you wouldn’t see the kiss.”

But this wasn’t the first time Millie and Finn have kissed on screen—they had a moment in the finale of season one, too—so they’re basically pros at this point. “Finn is the only boy I’ve ever kissed,” Millie shared. “It’s easy to kiss him now! [Laughs] I know that sounds really weird, but it’s easy to kiss him!”

So easy, in fact, that Caleb sought some advice from Finn before the big scene. “He’s the master at it!” he explained. “He was like, ‘Just like that…[makes a smacking sound]. The kiss wasn’t that bad. It was cool, but it wasn’t like, ‘Oh my gosh, I loved it.’” It was, though, a big milestone for him: “It was my first kiss! I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m kissing Sadie. She’s my friend! Whoa! So I was like, ‘I’m just gonna kiss.’ But she came in for the kiss, so it wasn’t me making the first move.”

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