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Miami Swim Week - Megan Mae Stevens

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Non-binary, genderfluid, pan-sexual actor, filmmaker, and conservationist Paulina Lule is a Ugandan-American actor and filmmaker quickly gaining traction in the Hollywood industry. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Paulina began their career studying at the Baron Brown Studio in Santa Monica, California. They were then accepted into the inaugural class of the Los Angeles branch of the award-winning Identity School of Acting. Since then, Paulina has appeared in several television shows including recurring roles on Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D”, Netflix’s “LOVE”, NBC’s “The Good Place” ABC’s “Scandal”, “For the People”, and “General Hospital”. They have also appeared in the festival hit feature film “HONEY BOY” opposite Shia LaBeouf and Noah Jupe. Most recently, Paulina starred opposite Academy Award “Best Actor” winner Forest Whitaker in the MGM+ series “Emperor of Ocean Park”, from the executive producers of the Emmy and SAG Award-winning series “Shameless,” which premiered on Sunday, July 14th. Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Carter, “Emperor of Ocean Park” follows ‘Talcott Garland’ (Grantham Coleman, “The Americans”), whose tranquil existence is upended by the death of his father ‘Judge Oliver Garland’ (Forest Whitaker). His sister ‘Mariah Garland’ (Tiffany Mack, “Jessica Jones”), a former journalist and ardent conspiracy theorist, questions the manner of his death and thinks he was the victim of foul play. Paulina Lule plays Tal’s wife, ‘Kimmer Garland’, a high-powered lawyer on the verge of being appointed a federal judgeship who sometimes neglects the feelings of those around her, including her husband, and who becomes a suspect in Mariah’s twisted conspiracy. Paulina also studied film directing and screenwriting at the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. They received a Master of Fine Arts from Chapman University in Orange County, California. Their films have played at several festivals such as the Austin Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, and Milwaukee Film Festival as well as winning awards at the Bronze Lens Film Festival and Women in Film Festival. As a filmmaker, Paulina focuses on thought-provoking projects that delve into race and identity. They are currently working on a project that hits close to home, with ties to their brother who sadly passed away in 2022 due to gun violence. When they are not acting or creating new film projects, they are focused on building up their local Milwaukee community through conservationism, spending the entirety of 2023 working with the non-profit Zoological Society of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee County Zoo in arts education programming. They ran the Kohl’s Wild Theater Program which provides theater for children centered around wildlife conservation and teaching audiences how to show empathy for and protect wildlife species around the world. They have also worked with the non-profit Milwaukee Film teaching filmmaking, screenwriting, and acting to local up-and-coming filmmakers in their Focus Finder accelerator lab. After their recent visit to Miami for the American Black Film Festival, Miami Living talked with Paulina about their role in “Emperor Of Ocean Park”, their experience in Miami, upcoming projects, and what it’s like to work in the Hollywood industry as a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Miami Living: What drew you to the character of Kimmer Garland, and how do you relate to them personally? Paulina Lule: Kimmer is a smart, powerful, formidable person. I think I could say I have all of those qualities as well ha! But what drew me to playing the character was more what we didn’t have in common. As an actor, you sometimes get to play characters that are outside yourself, and it’s always a blast. As someone dealing with their people-pleasing tendencies, it was fun to play a character who doesn’t agonize over the effects of their choices on everyone else before making them; she just acts and then deals with the aftermath. I think I’ve taken some of that into my own life. I think what Kimmer goes through in the show is

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