The Day with Emma Kenney

Lucky for us, we got to spend a day at Los Angeles' hotspot Duff's Cake Mix decorating a cake with Emma Kenney (well, she decorated...we ate) who stars in one of our favorite shows - Shameless. We've been fueling our patience until the new season airs, with features like this and our feature with Jake McDorman (who will also be in the new season!). So we sat down with Emma, and talked to her about the show, her adorable cat, and her downtime - when she has spare time that is!

You started on "Shameless" at so young of an age. It's pretty provocative (and hilarious!)...are you allowed to watch it yet? To be honest, it's not really a show I would watch in my spare time, so I have no interest in watching it. I also read the scripts, so I know the story lines. I also sometimes live tweet but really don't watch the scenes that are adult.

Well, you seem to get along with your co-stars so well (we worked with Emmy Rossum for a cover in 2011 and loved her!). What was the vibe like starting on the show, and how is it now? Looks like you have built a whole new family! We're all friendly, and we've all been that way since the beginning of the show's run four years ago!

So you travel for "Shameless" - Los Angeles and Chicago. What's it like going back and forth? Even when you don't live in either cities! Do you miss New Jersey? I love to travel, and filming in different places is honestly so much fun! Chicago is my favorite city, so I love going there. We just got back from our 8th trip, and I'm still in love with the city. It's kinda nice because we stay in this gorgeous hotel and we film in a lower class area, so I like being able to see everything and every kind of situation while working there. I do miss New Jersey! I love the change of the seasons there, and we don't get that much in Los Angeles. But I talk to my friends and family back home every day, so it's still okay.

What kind of movies or shows do you wish to do next, if you could have control over this decision? More comedies, horrors, etc? I'm dying to do an action movie! I think those are so cool and I'd love to do my own stunts! But personally, I consider myself a better dramatic actor, so I'd like to try comedies to get better and making people laugh, although I'd love to do dramas as well of course.

Is there any particular person (or people) you want to work with too? Who's your acting role model? There are a lot of good actors so I don't really have a role model. There really isn't one person I want to work with. Acting usually means you have to work with others and I learn from every experience!

So your family is from the east coast. How much different is home compared to LA? How did you get started in acting? Los Angeles and New Jersey are so different. In California, most people are involved in the business in some way or another, but in New Jersey, not nearly as many people are, so I like that. I like going home and not having to talk about the business all day long, and just doing and talking about normal things for a little bit. I got started in acting when I was four or five and I just started doing improv classes in New York, which I loved. I did them for years and I still do them now! I got a manager from one of the showcases, and here I am now!

Your parents are both working too - it's wonderful to see they help you with your own job as well! What do they think of your busy career? I love being busy! I'm never bored, there's always something to do when you're working and I love that! My parents know that I love what I do, and they're glad I'm having fun doing it. They always say, though, that if it ever stops being fun (which I highly doubt will happen!), that I can stop, so they're super supportive and aren't pushing me to do this at all.

So we had a blast decorating a cake at Duff's Cake Mix! You must love to bake too. What do you enjoy doing on your downtime? So fun! I love to hang out with my friends, and see movies, really anything any teenager does! I also like to write scripts, and I've started writing song lyrics as well, which I like. I'm a huge reader too. I also like to play tennis, and I'm learning the drums and acoustic guitar too.

And you have a cat named Chester (who appears on your Cake Mix cake)! Does he ever travel with you? Yes, I love my cat! I love cats so much haha. He's actually my Los Angeles cat, so he stays at our place in Los Angeles full time and when we're home, we have a cat-sitter who feeds him and stuff.

Overall, you're very grounded and we love that! How are you able to maintain such a straight head and keep life simply happy? I think it helps that I go back home and to real school when I'm not filming. I have a million friends from Jersey who aren't in the business at all, and none of my family are either. I still do normal teen stuff, and I think that helps! I just have a really nice group of people surrounding me, which is so nice.

Photographed by Roneil Chavez Hair and Makeup by Amber Bruehl Styled by Lucia Tran

Special thanks to Duff's Cake Mix for letting us eat cake!

Brands used: Gracie B., Crafts & Love, Silver Roots Jewelry, and Ruche

Psst - You can get 20% off from the Gracie B. cardigan and skirt Emma wore with code ZOOEYMAG on Gracie B.'s website!

The Home of Jake McDorman

Jake McDorman is a man of style, and certainly the best kind. This 27-year-old Texas native is going to be seen in one of our favorite shows "Shameless," which premieres its newest season on January 12, 2014. Luckily, he allowed for us to come to his Los Angeles home and document our visit. So today, we present you another day with Jake McDorman.

Really nice pad! What stood out to you the most about the place when you first visited it? Thank you! The floor plan, probably. I like a lot of space in every direction including upwards. So the way the place is laid out definitely appealed to me. That and it had a lot of potential for remodeling. I put a ton of work into the place over the course of four or five months to make it the way it is now, so. I saw promise. It was a project.

Do you have a favorite area in the house?

I have a few. We tore down the kitchen entirely. Everything in there is a choice I made at one point or another. Cabinets, countertops, paint colors, backsplash, you name it. Plus it’s where the food is. I’ve always liked being in the kitchen. At the same time, I like the living area in front of the fire place too. It’s the floor plan! Everything’s very open and connected. This is also the first place I’ve lived where I spend a lot of time in my bedroom. Don’t take that out of context...

How’s your cooking? What’s your favorite thing to make? I love to cook. I have a cast iron skillet that I use to cook pretty much anything. I grew up in TX so I’m from a meat and potatoes household. Not too much has changed. Except quinoa. That’s LA’s contribution. Quinoa.

I can sense the Texan, southern feel to it. How would you describe the style? Really? That’s interesting. One of my best friends who lives in Austin, TX came up with the idea for putting the reclaimed wood on the wall above the fire place. I guess it feels southern in some ways. There’s a lot of reclaimed wood. Not just over the fire place. When I started I was thinking industrial. It kind of evolved into a rustic hybrid of industrial and farmhouse maybe. I like things that look old and broken in. And I like using living materials. Wood, iron, limestone.

Do you have a favorite place to shop for furniture? Where did you get some of these pieces (like the crescent moon fixture)? There’s a lot of great places to shop in LA. HD Buttercup, Cleveland Art, West Elm, Restoration. There’s reclaimers in Simi Valley and other places if you want to get creative. Flea Markets are great. The Rosebowl flea market is where I got the crescent moon and a few other things. My coffee table was made by a guy I met at the Rosebowl. Etsy...there’s a lot.

What’s your morning routine like? Any rituals we normally wouldn't think of? Morning routine? The only thing routine about my morning is waking up at some ungodly hour of my cat’s choosing and giving him food. Weird rituals...I read almost every script I get on the couch listening to Ella Fitzgerald & Louie Armstrong Pandora and a pack of American Spirits. That’s not that weird, but hours before the audition I’ll go over my lines in the bathroom with the shower water running. That’s weird. I’ve always done that too. Something about the running water keeps me focused. I should probably get a little fountain. I’d get a lot more done...

Now say you have come home with a fresh script, like one for "Shameless." Do you go straight into studying or do you read for your own entertainment first? Well for "Shameless" definitely for my own entertainment first, are you kidding? I’m current now! When I booked the show I hadn’t seen an episode. Over the hiatus I had the pleasure of binge watching all 3 seasons in a row. I read the script immediately to find out what the hell happens next. But that goes for any script. You can’t start studying until you read it anyway. You read the story and then decide if it’s a story you’re excited to help tell.

And the question everyone always wants to know – Any pets? Dog person or cat person or iguana person? I have a cat named Mr. Boo. He’s a snowshoe, he’s about 18lbs, and he acts like a dog. He talks constantly and is very social. He’s pretty well known amongst my friends and now that I have Vine and Instagram I’m sure he’ll gain a following soon enough. I grew up with dogs and cats though. I love both. If I had enough space I’d have a dog too.

Let’s talk wardrobe for a second. Is your clothing style similar to your home style? A friend of mine just the other day saw my place for the first time and told me it dresses the same way I do. I can see the similarities for sure. It goes back to liking things that look lived in. Broken in already. Vintage. All that jazz. I’ve shopped for clothes at the same places I shop for furniture many times.

Take us back to when you were younger. Did you ever picture yourself living the life you have now? I’ve known I wanted to act for a long time. Since I was very little. When I was younger…I think I always hoped I’d be able to live a life fairly similar to the one I’m living now. But your ideas evolve as you do, right? So if you ask me this again in 10 years, I’ve got much to do for the answer to be still be yes.

Interview by Amanda Evans Edited by Lucia Tran

Photographed by Vince Trupsin Groomed by Cat White

The Home of Jake McDorman

Jake McDorman is a man of style, and certainly the best kind. This 27-year-old Texas native is going to be seen in one of our favorite shows "Shameless," which premieres its newest season on January 12, 2014. Luckily, he allowed for us to come to his Los Angeles home and document our visit. So today, we present you another day with Jake McDorman.

Really nice pad! What stood out to you the most about the place when you first visited it? Thank you! The floor plan, probably. I like a lot of space in every direction including upwards. So the way the place is laid out definitely appealed to me. That and it had a lot of potential for remodeling. I put a ton of work into the place over the course of four or five months to make it the way it is now, so. I saw promise. It was a project.

Do you have a favorite area in the house?

I have a few. We tore down the kitchen entirely. Everything in there is a choice I made at one point or another. Cabinets, countertops, paint colors, backsplash, you name it. Plus it’s where the food is. I’ve always liked being in the kitchen. At the same time, I like the living area in front of the fire place too. It’s the floor plan! Everything’s very open and connected. This is also the first place I’ve lived where I spend a lot of time in my bedroom. Don’t take that out of context...

How’s your cooking? What’s your favorite thing to make? I love to cook. I have a cast iron skillet that I use to cook pretty much anything. I grew up in TX so I’m from a meat and potatoes household. Not too much has changed. Except quinoa. That’s LA’s contribution. Quinoa.

I can sense the Texan, southern feel to it. How would you describe the style? Really? That’s interesting. One of my best friends who lives in Austin, TX came up with the idea for putting the reclaimed wood on the wall above the fire place. I guess it feels southern in some ways. There’s a lot of reclaimed wood. Not just over the fire place. When I started I was thinking industrial. It kind of evolved into a rustic hybrid of industrial and farmhouse maybe. I like things that look old and broken in. And I like using living materials. Wood, iron, limestone.

Do you have a favorite place to shop for furniture? Where did you get some of these pieces (like the crescent moon fixture)? There’s a lot of great places to shop in LA. HD Buttercup, Cleveland Art, West Elm, Restoration. There’s reclaimers in Simi Valley and other places if you want to get creative. Flea Markets are great. The Rosebowl flea market is where I got the crescent moon and a few other things. My coffee table was made by a guy I met at the Rosebowl. Etsy...there’s a lot.

What’s your morning routine like? Any rituals we normally wouldn't think of? Morning routine? The only thing routine about my morning is waking up at some ungodly hour of my cat’s choosing and giving him food. Weird rituals...I read almost every script I get on the couch listening to Ella Fitzgerald & Louie Armstrong Pandora and a pack of American Spirits. That’s not that weird, but hours before the audition I’ll go over my lines in the bathroom with the shower water running. That’s weird. I’ve always done that too. Something about the running water keeps me focused. I should probably get a little fountain. I’d get a lot more done...

Now say you have come home with a fresh script, like one for "Shameless." Do you go straight into studying or do you read for your own entertainment first? Well for "Shameless" definitely for my own entertainment first, are you kidding? I’m current now! When I booked the show I hadn’t seen an episode. Over the hiatus I had the pleasure of binge watching all 3 seasons in a row. I read the script immediately to find out what the hell happens next. But that goes for any script. You can’t start studying until you read it anyway. You read the story and then decide if it’s a story you’re excited to help tell.

And the question everyone always wants to know – Any pets? Dog person or cat person or iguana person? I have a cat named Mr. Boo. He’s a snowshoe, he’s about 18lbs, and he acts like a dog. He talks constantly and is very social. He’s pretty well known amongst my friends and now that I have Vine and Instagram I’m sure he’ll gain a following soon enough. I grew up with dogs and cats though. I love both. If I had enough space I’d have a dog too.

Let’s talk wardrobe for a second. Is your clothing style similar to your home style? A friend of mine just the other day saw my place for the first time and told me it dresses the same way I do. I can see the similarities for sure. It goes back to liking things that look lived in. Broken in already. Vintage. All that jazz. I’ve shopped for clothes at the same places I shop for furniture many times.

Take us back to when you were younger. Did you ever picture yourself living the life you have now? I’ve known I wanted to act for a long time. Since I was very little. When I was younger…I think I always hoped I’d be able to live a life fairly similar to the one I’m living now. But your ideas evolve as you do, right? So if you ask me this again in 10 years, I’ve got much to do for the answer to be still be yes.

Interview by Amanda Evans Edited by Lucia Tran

Photographed by Vince Trupsin Groomed by Cat White