

Get To Know The Stars Of Netflix’s 'First Kill'
Netflix debuted their new series First Kill on June 10 to rave reviews. The series is a queer, teenage, vampire love story that is focused on a vampire named Juliette and a vampire slayer named Calliope. Juliette Fairmont, played by Sarah Catherine Hook, comes from a wealthy vampire family while Calliope “Cal” Burns, played by Imani Lewis, comes from a long line of vampire hunters. The two families’ hatred for one another goes back generations and it all comes to a head when the Burns family moves to Savannah, Georgia and the teenagers attend the same high school. The Netflix series is based on the short story by V.E. Schwab with the same and it is reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet as the main characters fall in love despite their families’ beef with one another.
Imani opened up about the show in an interview with the New York Post. "What makes this story unique is that it’s two queer teenage girls. I don’t think we see enough of that,” she said. “And, their fight isn’t with their sexuality, it’s this lineage that they were both born into. I think it’s interesting that they were both trying to prove themselves in obtaining their first kills, but they end up going on this different journey. I think it’s so awesome how it all plays out."
Get to know the killer cast below:
Imani Lewis aka Calliope “Cal” Burns
Imani’s character Calliope and her family are new to the sleepy town of Savannah, Georgia and while she comes from vampire hunters, she has yet to have her “first kill” (coincidentally, just like Juliette.) The 23-year-old actress, who hails from Queens, NY, explained what drew her to Calliope in the NY Post.
“I resonate with Calliope in so many different ways,” she said. “I tried to perform her from a place of strength, strategy, diligence. Being a young actress in a game where everything is a hustle, I related to her discipline and her hunger to prove that she’s worthy. I resonate with that feeling in the entertainment world. The character goes through these emotional changes. I love her combat, I love her agility, but I enjoyed them both equally when it came for her journey with herself and figuring out who she was.”
Aubin Wise aka Talia Burns
Aubin Wise plays Calliope’s mother, Talia Burns, and she teaches her daughter the ins and outs of being a vampire hunter. In real life, Aubin is a mother to a baby boy named Kai and has acted in several TV shows such as Atlanta. She is also a Broadway actress and has played in the popular Hamilton as two characters Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds.
Aubin recently responded to First Kill fans calling her a MILF. “I’m officially a #MILF love love love this 😌🙌🏾❤️,” she wrote.
Jason Moore aka Jack Burns
Jason Moore plays Jack, who is Talia’s husband and Cal’s father. While Cal and Talia are starting to question who the monsters really are, Jack is old school and believes that it is his mission to take down evil which he believes are the vampires. Just like Aubin, Jason’s background is in theater but he has also acted on TV shows such as the Netflix series The Punisher.
Dominic D. Goodman aka Apollo Burns
Dominic D. Goodman plays Apollo Burns and is one of Cal’s brothers. His character is more of a risk-taker than his brother Theo as he likes to go into battle with the monsters. Dominic revealed in an interview with Elite Daily that he actually performed his stunts. “This was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, and I've done football, basketball, track and field, military training in college,” he said.
Phillip Mullings Jr. aka Theo Burns
Phillip Mullings Jr.'s character Theo Burns is more level-headed in comparison to his brother Apollo, which is also the opposite of his character Mike Alexander on Tyler Perry’s BET+ series Bruh who is a bit of a player. He doesn’t seem to have that issue in his personal life though. He recently got engaged to his Bruh co-star Alyssa Goss. He recently thanked First Kill fans for showing support for the series and his character. “SPOILER ALERT: if you haven’t finished First Kill… do that before you look at this post,” he wrote “The response from you ALL has been overwhelming in the most beautiful way. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Here are some moments I’ve cherished.”
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Courtesy of Netflix
Black women are not a monolith. We all are deserving of healing and wholeness despite what we've been through, how much money we have in the bank, or what we look like. Most importantly, we are enough—even when we are not working, earning, or serving.
Welcome to Black Girl Whole, your space to find the wellness routine that aligns with you! This brand-new marketplace by xoNecole is a safe space for Black women to activate their healing, find the inspiration to rest, and receive reassurance that we are one small act away from finding our happiness.
Want to discover where you are on your wellness journey? You don't have to look far. In partnership with European Wax Center, we're bringing you a customized wellness quiz to help you up your wellness game. Answer our short series of questions to figure out which type of wellness lover you are, what you need to bring more balance into your life, and then go deeper by shopping products geared towards clearing your mind, healing your body, and soothing your spirit.
Ready to get whole? Take our quiz now!
Paradise + Vibe Founders Talk The Power Of Black Women Tapping Into Enjoyment And Play
It's so interesting how many essential aspects of our self-care, wellness, and personal development as adults are linked to our childhood. And as much as I sometimes hate the whole cliche of tapping into an inner child (a concept of which I've struggled with because, after a few years of therapy, I've wished that metaphoric version of me would actually grow up and stop constantly instigating battles with old triggers), there are so many positives to embracing the positive aspects of child-like wonder, creativity, and fun as a very grown-ass woman.
That's where play comes in, especially in reference to the importance of enjoying life. Research has shown that adults who explore their favorite activities or hobbies from childhood and deliberately seek activities of joy can increase feelings of happiness, support, comfort, and creativity. And it's no secret that those feelings are the key to success behind many of the successful, fly Black women in business we all admire or want to emulate.
Two enterprising acquaintances-turned-friendpreneurs know just how empowering the pursuit of enjoyment can be, and they've seen the benefits —in their careers, friendships, and within the community of Black women they've built via their platform Paradise + Vibe.
Founders Iana Edwards, CEO, and Kasondra McConnell, CFO, launched the platform in 2020, offering retreats, pop-up events, and other ways for women to connect, relax, release, and, of course, have fun. Friends since 2014, they'd been on the pulse of the intersection between wellness and play in their own respective lives before teaming up for Paradise + Vibe.
"In 2019, Iana became a yoga instructor, and her career just took off in the yoga space to the point where hotels were asking her to teach," Kasondra said. "Later, we went to Jamaica for her birthday, and the last day we were there, we were just in the ocean, talking, and I said, ‘I really think you could do something where you bring people together—because you’re the attraction for the yoga—so why not use your own platform to better yourself?' From there, we came up with a name and launched with the intention to provide a space for wellness for people of color to feel safe and connected and in tune with all of the things that make you feel well and whole."
"With our retreats, we are bringing people together where they can connect in a place where they can play, be present, and get back to what they need at their core—just to feel good."
Even outside of the retreats and other events they host, Iana and Kasondra make sure they infuse play into their everyday lives, and reiterate that the activities don't have to be super-strenuous or structured. Many of the things they love to do for enjoyment in adulthood tie directly into fond memories of their childhood. Kassondra loved watching Legends of the Hidden Temple, a '90s action-adventure game show and used to create backyard obstacle courses in the backyard with her family. Today, she still loves being out in nature, enjoying the mental clarity of walking or hiking. "I oftentimes have to use my brain a lot, but with hiking, you don't. You're just putting one foot in front of the other. I live near a trail, and so I'll go walk there. And anytime I'm engulfed in water, I love it," she said.
One of Iana's favorite childhood memories of fun is going with her schoolmates to a dinosaur exhibit at Fernbank Museum in Atlanta. "We had peanut butter sandwiches, and I was just enamored with the surroundings, getting out of the classroom setting and being with my classmates. It was then that I realized joy is simple, and it's sometimes just a choice."
Iana and Kasondra pride themselves on embodying a different take on wellness, especially for Black women. "We bonded over that before I went to yoga training, and we just saw, inadvertently, a need for something that wasn't there," Iana said. "We have always been very rogue when it comes to wellness. We've given pushback on the whole [idea that] you have to eat a certain way, you have to be a vegan, you have to eat raw foods, [or] you can't eat this, you can't eat that— this trope of, to be a yogi, you have to look and identify as a certain type."
"We love to dance. We love to go out. We love to listen to ratchet music. We do yoga. We do move our bodies. But we're also people, human, and women, and we are a little bit of everything. We approached it like, 'You know what? We're going to take a true holistic approach to wellness and encompass it all and not leave out the turn-up aspect.'"
Iana, who has been practicing yoga for almost a decade (and has been trained by the best to teach it), and Kasondra, a serial entrepreneur who has worked in real estate, retail, and events, merged their talents, skills, and experiences in order to provide something to the market they felt was missing.
Courtesy of Paradise + Vibe
Both agree that wellness is all about intention and energy, not just what you put into your body. And when Black women are able to truly enjoy the things that lead to laughter, comradery, amusement, and pleasure, innovative, life-changing, and culture-shifting things happen. "One day, Kasondra said, 'Friend, wellness is about connection. It's not about whether we're eating a salad. It's so much deeper than that,'" Iana recalled.
"When you think about [when we were] children, in our most pure form as humans, we were a little more connected then," Kasondra added. "When you were playing, you were outside, taking in Vitamin D from the sun, energy from the Earth. You were connecting with other people. Play takes you out of being so heady and into the present moment. You're not so worried and anxious about what you have going on and more so connected to being present."
With Paradise + Vibe retreats, women are supported in participating in group activities and yoga, with the backdrop of paradise in global locales—including South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and Indonesia—that truly facilitate freedom, leisure, and bliss. "There's proof that, if you look at what depression is, it's essentially being stuck in the past, and anxiety is being occupied with the future and what's to come," Kasondra said.
"So if you can do things like Bikram yoga, which Iana teaches, it's so hot and so intense but so rewarding. It gets you into the present moment. [With] play [it's] the exact same thing, so we took these ideas, and we injected it into our retreats. We select activities that allow people to do things that will take them out of their comfort zones, especially for our audience, which is predominantly Black women. We're talking about in Costa Rica, where we're white-water rafting. In Jamaica, we hiked Mayfield Falls. There's parts of the water where you have to swim, and [that took] people out of their head and got them into the present moment."
Changing the narrative on wellness, enjoyment, and self-care for Black women is vital, especially when choosing a holistic approach that's both considerate of one's personal experience and passions and pushes them to break boundaries. That's what connected Kasondra and Iana in the first place. "We love a hot spring, a body of water. Let’s get on an ATV. Let’s go to an elephant sanctuary—any kind of activity that breaks our adult avatar," Kasondra said. "When you are engaged in some sort of play, you’re the closest you’ve ever been to your childhood version of yourself."
For more on Kasondra, Iana, and Paradise + Vibe events, visit them on Instagram or their website.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image courtesy of Paradise + Vibe