Gemma Chan Can't Help Talking Substance, Lensed By Paola Kudacki For Allure April 2019

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Gemma Chan Can't Help Talking Substance, Lensed By Paola Kudacki For Allure April 2019

Actor Gemma Chan is styled by Karen Kaiser in images by Paola Kudacki for Allure US April 2019./ Hair by Kevin Ryan; makeup by James Kaliardos. Jessica Chia conducts the interview.

Chan has dominated headlines since playing the troubled cousin Astrid in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. Chan reminds us that political correctness works both ways, and she’s clearly still smarting from the racial pushback against her for playing Bess of Hardwick from the 2018 film ‘Mary Queen of Scots’.

Lupita Nyong'o Is Pure Wisdom + Glam Style In 'Drama Queen' By Paola Kudacki For Porter Edit March 8, 2019

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Lupita Nyong'o Is Pure Winsdom + Glam Style In 'Drama Queen' By Paola Kudacki For Porter Edit March 8, 2019

Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o is styled by Tracy Taylor in liquid, evening elegance in bold colors for ‘Drama Queen’. Paola Kudacki is in the studio for the March 8 issue of Porter Edit. Marjon Carlos conducts the interview

AOC won’t spend time on Lupita’s upcoming horror film ‘Us’, directed by Jordan Peele. The psychological thriller, also featuring Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker, opens in theaters on March 22. Nyong’o is never a dull, robotic interview and she shed great light on her taxing role and relationship with Jordan Peele in her recent Marie Claire US cover story.

A-Squad Mentoring

Actor Lupita Nyong'o is a queen for many reasons, including her universal messaging of inclusion and protection in Hollywood -- even by Brad Pitt. Lupita opens her Porter Edit interview speaking to more protection and genuine support of Hollywood people like Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard, Gabrielle Union and Jared Leto, who remains on speed dial.

Indya Moore Strikes A Pose In Paola Kudacki Images For Vogue Spain March 2019

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Indya Moore Strikes A Pose In Paola Kudacki Images For Vogue Spain March 2019

Actor Indya Moore is styled by Juan Cebrian in ‘Lights, Camera, ‘Pose’. Photographer Paola Kudacki flashes Indya for Vogue Spain March 2019./ Hair by Lacy Redway; makeup by Ralph Siciliano

Moore has made many headlines in 2019, and we turn to her February Teen Vogue article Indya Moore’s Young Hollywood 2019 Interview on the Groundbreaking Power of ‘Pose’ and the Need for Trans Representation Free From Oppression with writer Gabe Bergado.

As Angel on the groundbreaking, empowering FX series ‘Pose’, nominated for best television drama series at the 2019 Golden Globes, Indya Moore transforms into a trans woman of color doing sex work and becoming too close to a client. Not only does ‘Pose’ tell the story of the trans community, but it tells multiple narratives — that there is more than one way to be trans.

Moore appeared in the most recent Louis Vuitton campaign, and engages in global political convos on Twitter. In fact, the Bronx girl told Vogue before the Golden Globes about removing the lining from her leg-baring silver Louis Vuitton ‘armor dress’ with big, brash shoulders : “I get to decide how my body shows up in any space,” she says. “When I’m walking into a place like the Globes, I want to make it very clear that how I show up is to further the freedom of everybody.”

Wayne Booth Channels British Royalty In 'Balmoral' By Paola Kudacki For ELLE US September 2018

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Queen Elizabeth is on holiday at Scotland's Balmoral Castle, and the September issue of ELLE US is honoring British traditions with a New York Spin. Samira Nasr (now at Vanity Fair) styles model Wayne Booth in a mix of Prada, Dior, Hermes and more for 'Balmoral', lensed by Paola Kudacki.

Angela Bassett Is A Beauty Gone Wild Lensed By Paola Kudacki For Porter Edit July 20, 2018

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Angela Bassett Is A Beauty Gone Wild Lensed By Paola Kudacki For Porter Edit July 20, 2018

Screen Queen Angela Bassett delivers a full-throttle display of beauty gone wild in 'Strength Becomes Her', styled by Sara Francia in the season's animal prints and sexy, black sensuality. Paola Kudacki is in the studio capturing Bassett's every move for Porter Edit July 20, 2018.

The superhero, 59, who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 1993 for her role as singer Tina Turner in movie 'What’s Love Got To Do With It' and starred as Stella Payne in 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back' talks 'Black Panther, self belief and age is just a number with Jane Mulkerrins. Read the interview. 

The Queen of Anaconda is reaching a whole new generation of admirers from 6 to 86.  This reality hit Bassett on her recent trip to Saint Lucia with husband and fellow actor Courtney B. Vance and their 12-year-old twins, Slater and Bronwyn. A seven-year-old Irish boy saw his supergirl and yelled to his father "Dad, Dad, that's the Queen!"

British Actor Naomie Harris Cites Female Management Team In Porter Edit Interview April 20, 2018

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British Actor Naomie Harris Cites Female Management Team In Porter Edit Interview April 20, 2018

British actor Naomie Harris is styled by Catherine Newell-Hanson for 'In Shape', lensed by Paola Kudacki for Porter Edit April 20, 2018.

Naomie Harris appeared in the Academy Award-winning Best Picture, 'Moonlight', where she was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Award for her tour de force performance as the protagonist's mother, Paula.

Harris will appear next in director Andy Serkis’ feature adventure, “Mowgli,” as a member of a stellar cast that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett. The film is scheduled for release later this years.

On the subject of #MeToo in Hollywood, Naomie Harris says that it really wasn't a problem for her, admitting that she was 'protected' from sexual harassment by her managers -- protection not afforded to so many other Hollywood women by their own managers. 

Harris candidly offers a simple example of how that works: 'When everything [about Harvey Weinstein] was blowing up, my manager did remind me about a person who asked me, post-screening, to go up to his room and have a drink.

But because my manager is amazing, she immediately stepped in and said, 'That's not happening under any circumstances'. It was four or five years ago."  Because she's been surrounded by primarily women on her team, Harris believes she's escaped much of the intimidation, misery or just plain good-fun, male pussy-grabbing so many other women actors have experienced.

Harris also takes up the topic of cultural appropriation, one that will surely bring a hailstorm of Twitter hate onto her shoulders. "'I think it’s a compliment to adopt other cultures and races’ ideas of what makes them look beautiful.'  

Paola Kudacki Eyes Hiandra, Lineisy & Luisana In 'Ser Mujer' For Vogue Mexico April 2018

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Models Hiandra Martínez, Lineisy Montero & Luisana González are styled by Anne Christensen in pastel parfait femininity. Photographer Paola Kudacki captures the trio in 'Ser Mujer' for Vogue Mexico April 2018./ Hair by Lacy Redway; makeup by Georgi Sandev

Paola Kudacki Flashes Madison Headrick In 'lo Neuvo' For Vogue Spain December 2017

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Model Madison Headrick is styled by Sara Fernández for 'lo Nuevo', lensed by Paola Kudacki forVogue Spain December 2017./ Hair by Pawel Solis; makeup by William Bartel

Gal Gadot Is All 'Wonder Woman' Lensed By Paola Kudacki For ELLE US December 2017

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Gal Gadot Is All 'Wonder Woman' Lensed By Paola Kudacki For ELLE US December 2017

Actor Gal Gadot covers the December 2017 issue of ELLE US, styled by Simon Robins in Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co jewely, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Gucci and more. Photographer Paola Kudackicaptures Gadot with an engaging interview by Holly Milea. 

“There’s been a fear for years of her being ‘clean’ and yet still tough,” says Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, who, three-quarters of a century after Wonder Woman made her DC Comics debut, brought the superheroine’s story to big-screen life last year, starring Gal Gadot. “So many people’s assumptions about what would make a tough woman is actually a damaged woman. People were confusing strength with defensiveness, and I was like, ‘Why would she be defensive? She totally trusts people! Why would she be angry? She assumes that she’s going to be treated well. She has no chip on her shoulder!’”

Wait until she finds out she’s getting paid 80 cents on the dollar.

In fact, it's director James Cameron who took it upon himself to issue a negative critique of Gadot's 'Wonder Woman'. After all, a successful man would have the answers, right? Cameron called Gadot "an objectified icon", pointing instead to Linda Hamilton's 'Terminator' character as what a female action protagonist should be. "She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit," Cameron said of the character Sarah Connor.) Gadot's 'Wonder Woman' was "a step backwards" for women. In post-Hillary defeat America, director Patty Jenkins was not amused.  

Jenkins noted that women don't need to be one thing to be a hero. THR shared her counter-argument:

Black Barbie Duckie Thot Stuns In Paola Kudacki Images For Paper Magazine Fall 2017

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Black Barbie Duckie Thot Stuns In Paola Kudacki Images For Paper Magazine Fall 2017

Rising model Duckie Thot gives a meaty interview to Michael Cuby in the Fall 2017 Beautiful People issue of Paper Magazine. Duckie covers the issue in stellar images by Paola Kudacki, ones that pay homage to the Australian-Sudanese model's stunning doll-like features now maximized in styling by Jason Rembert. Duckie herself has embraced what Twitter calls her Black Barbie features. 

Cuby walks where angels dare not tread . . . a man's description of an always-articulate black woman's beauty:

Duckie's skin color is a large part of the reason her name has slowly (but, no doubt, surely) become a mainstay for the fashion set. It's a warm, mocha chocolate that's impossibly smooth and even-toned, and its dark hue is striking in a way that has made her simultaneously adored by casting agents looking for something radically different to the white industry norm and uplifted by the onlooking people of color observing -- and celebrating -- her increasingly rapid success. 

Speaking of being a Black Barbie, Duckie responds:  "Barbie is this perfect thing that walks around and I'm definitely not perfect. . . . "I'm so happy that people say that about me, because it basically is a lovely thing to be introduced to the world as this Black Barbie. I will take the title."

Paola Kudacki Flashes Isabella Emmack In 'Runway To Elleway' For Elle US September 2017

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Paola Kudacki Flashes Isabella Emmack In 'Runway To Elleway' For Elle US September 2017

Model Isabella Emmack suits up in 'Runway To Elleway', styled by Samira Nasr. Paola Kudacki is behind the lens for Elle US September 2017./ Hair by Lacy Redway; makeup by Georgi Sandev