Why Here

Eden Espinosa may have gotten her start singing nearly every Disney princess ballad for Disneyland park-goers, but that was just the beginning. She's now one of the best-known contemporary stage actresses in the world and has had lead roles in iconic shows including RENT and Wicked. On this week's episode of Why Here, hosts Benton and Tristan chat with Eden about her humble Orange County beginnings, her political and social activism, her Mexican American heritage and the admittedly comical recurring nightmares she has from playing a green witch. At the end, Tony award-winning actress and activist Karen Olivo joins the conversation to make sure Eden shared the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 

Imagine: You're living your life in New York City, then mom moves in — with you and your partner. Director Sian-Pierre Regis doesn't have to imagine. His film "Duty Free" is a sort of love letter to his mother Rebecca Danigelis, who, at the age of 75, was fired and evicted. With nowhere to go, she was left to rely on Sian-Pierre to help her find more work. What she instead found was a chance to write (and complete) her bucket list and live a life she had always dreamed of, with her son by her side. The journey became a touching film about companionship and aging out, in theatres mother's day weekend. In this re-run of an interview originally conducted in December 2020, the two join hosts Benton and Tristan to talk about their journey, the critically acclaimed film and so much more. 

The past year has introduced the world to many folx who’ve helped us understand what our blind spots might be. One of them is Sis, an actor, activist and sister to many who’ve felt left out of crucial conversations about race, identity and gender. On this week’s episode of Why Here, she talks to hosts Benton and Tristan about growing up in Texas, how she helped call out the entertainment industry and the ultimate way to get back at a misbehaving roommate (don't worry, they've long since made up). 

Guests on Why Here often get asked what their secrets are. WELL, the tables have turned. On this week's episode, Tristan McAllister turns the mic on himself and lets co-host Benton Whitley embarrass him on the eve of his birthday. Tristan talks about growing up in Alaska, his big gay wedding (and divorce), a chance run-in with Clay Aiken that changed the course of his life and first kisses. In truth, the only way the two stay honest is the addition of contributor Claudine Ko, who sits to run interference and make fun of them whenever they start acting like two effing annoying, queer white dudes. 

Actor and writer Casey Thomas Brown (@shartyparty69) was a big part of our Instagram feeds all through quarantine. From Her Majesty The Queen to Fiona Apple and many more, his comical impressions of well-known people, and those he's conjured up, helped us find humor in a dark time. But he's so much more than an internet meme Queen. He's also a series regular on @Netflix's wildly funny The Kominsky Method and has appeared in various other films and TV shows, including Tell Me a Story, Shameless, Grey’s Anatomy, Law and Order SVU, and Criminal Minds. On this week's episode of Why Here, Casey joins hosts Benton Whitley and Tristan McAllister to talk about finding humor in the middle of a pandemic and if he thinks Queen Elizabeth might have actually watched him play her in that now-famous viral video. 

If you think coming out to your parents is tough, try telling them you have HIV. Even harder, try telling the world. For a decade 31-year-old Luke Ray Kelly kept his HIV diagnosis a secret, only sharing it with loved ones and sexual partners. Then he saw the hit HBOMax show It's A Sin and he realized that by keeping his secret he was complicit in creating the very shame that has stifled a critical and life-saving conversation about HIV and AIDS. On this week’s episode of Why Here, Luke joins hosts Benton Whitley and Tristan McAllister from London to talk about why he decided to go public with his status and #endthestigma. 

What were you doing at the tender age of eight? While most of us were busying ourselves with My Little Pony and Lego sets, Australian-born Jeremy Heimans was focused on things a bit headier. His childhood obsessions were nuclear non-proliferation and global poverty. He even tried to stop Desert Storm (with a fax machine). Nowadays he's a globally known activist and movement builder, whose work has literally touched all of your lives.  On this week's episode of Why Here, Jeremy sits down with hosts Benton Whitley and Tristan McAllister to discuss all of this and how his Lebanese and Jewish heritage has shaped the way he's taken on the biggest racial, social, economic and environmental issues of our time.

Robert Hartwell has our hearts. Truly. After conquering Broadway in his twenties, with leading roles in multiple shows, he turned his attention to arts education. Now, as the founder and CEO of The Broadway Collective, he works tirelessly to help aspiring performers find their voice (and their footing) on stage with workshops online and across the U.S. This week he sits down with Why Here hosts Tristan McAllister and Benton Whitley to talk about Black excellence, a home purchase that went viral and a "spam" email that led to him appearing in a music video with Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams. 

In 2017 Sandra Caldwell had a reckoning with herself — she could keep living as she had or she could make an admission that would shake the entertainment world. She chose the latter, and gave the interview of a generation to The New York Times, revealing that she had been living and successfully working as a cisgender actress for decades, all the while being transgender. The TV, film and stage star, who was featured in the landmark Netflix documentary about trans erasure and invisibility called "Disclosure" and the critically acclaimed "Paris Is Burning,"  sits down with Why Here hosts Benton Whitley and Tristan McAllister to talk about her transition from Hollywood lady to an LGBTQIA icon. 

Can you imagine jumping out of an airplane with your nearly 80-year-old mother?  Sian-Pierre Regis can. It was actually his mother Rebecca Danigelis’ idea. She had a few more too, all of which went on the bucket list that Sian-Pierre asked her to make after she was fired from her job and forced out of the apartment she had lived in for nearly four decades. She was devastated. He saw a chance to give her all the things she always dreamed of. The two set out on a journey to discover the world and rediscover one another. He made it into a critically acclaimed film called Duty Free. The two join Tristan and Benton on this week’s episode of Why Here.