Max Gao

SURPRISE! I’m back in the @LATimes this month (both online and in print) with an in-depth look at Netflix’s #YoungRoyals, which is easily one of the best teen dramas I’ve watched in years. A huge thank you to lead actors @edvinrydings and @officialomar and head writer @lisa_ambjorn for taking the time to speak with me for this feature, and to @dninh for helping me schedule all of these interviews at the last minute. I’m beyond grateful to be one of the first North American journalists to cover this very special show—and I hope to cover it again, if the show is renewed for another season. Stream the first two seasons on Netflix right now!! Click the link in my bio or my stories to read the full feature. But please be aware: The article contains spoilers for the second season! 🇸🇪👑💙 #edvinryding #omarrudberg #lisaambjörn #netflix #netflixnordic #latimes #newspaper

The last article I will publish as a teenager is arguably one of my biggest interviews yet. LINK IN BIO!! 😱✍️ For @elleusa , I profiled the one-and-only @michelleyeoh_official (!!!), who, after more than three decades in the entertainment industry, has finally been given the opportunity to showcase her full prowess as a performer in @everythingeverywheremovie , a multiversal, genre-breaking sci-fi action dramedy directed by her “evil geniuses,” a.k.a. the Daniels (@dunkwun and Daniel Scheinert). Michelle is grace and poise personified. She was everything I hoped she would be and more, and I still can’t believe I got the chance to talk to her, let alone profile her for one of the biggest publications in the world. My heart is so full. I’m still floored. I still can’t believe this happened. #michelleyeoh #danielkwan #danielscheinert #everythingeverywhere #everythingeverywhereallatonce #a24 #a24films #elle #ellemagazine #jackiechan

I used to read the @nytimes all the time as a child, but I never could have imagined that I would one day see my name in the company of such esteemed journalists. Today, a few weeks shy of my 19th birthday, I made my NYT debut by writing about @cw_kungfu . (It would mean the world to me if you checked it out by clicking the link in my bio! 🙏) I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love this show and the people who are a part of it. #KungFu is the show that I wish I had when I was younger to show me that I should be incredibly proud to be the son of Chinese immigrants. Representation matters. Diverse stories matter. This story is for my fellow Asian siblings who, for far too long, have watched shows and movies that failed to show us in all of our humanity. This show is a watershed moment for all of us and for Asian representation in Hollywood. But this piece is also for the people who tried to discredit my own experiences, who said (behind my back) that anyone could do what I do and tried to tear me down at every turn in high school, and who told me that I was too young and too inexperienced to be telling the stories that mattered the most to me. I have worked so, so hard to get to where I am and I am so thankful to be surrounded by so much love and support every day. ❤️ #olivialiang #tzima #khenghuatan #jonprasida #shannondang #eddieliu #vanessakai #gavinstenhouse #yvonnechapman #tonychung #cwkungfu #newyorktimes #nyt

Let’s talk about *that* scene between Morgan and Karadec in the Season 2 finale of #HighPotential. @KaitlinOlson breaks down the significance of that tearful heart-to-heart between the crime-fighting partners, including what it could mean for the future of #Morgadec. Fun fact: Karadec (played by @Daniel_Sunjata ) wiping Morgan’s tears was unscripted. 🥹 Read our full @Variety interview by clicking the link in my bio or Instagram Stories!

I talked to @KaitlinOlson about the Season 2 finale of #HighPotential, and I obviously had to ask her about her character Morgan’s panic attack from earlier in the season (as well as the significance of @Daniel_Sunjata ’s Karadec being the only person who could calm her down). Read our full @Variety interview by clicking the link in my bio or Instagram Stories!

Profiled @ScottSpeedman for the hometown newspaper. Available in print and online today! Link in bio and Stories. 🇨🇦 @TheTorontoStar #Felicity #GreysAnatomy #RJDecker

I was on a Zoom with @NicoleKidman and Jamie Lee Curtis this past Tuesday to discuss their new Prime Video series #Scarpetta. I had one last question for them, but I was asked to wrap and sign off. I told the ladies that I needed to let them go, and this was their response. Full interview to come soon with boss #1 and boss #2 @HollywoodReporter ! 👯‍♀️

A couple of weeks ago, I hopped on a 6 a.m. flight to New York City for a special assignment. On a rainy winter afternoon in a swanky downtown hotel, I spent a couple hours with #TellMeLies stars @GraceVanPatten and @JacksonWhite for @TeenVogue ’s January/February 2026 cover story. For three seasons on the hit Hulu young-adult drama series @TellMeLiesHulu , the 29-year-old actors have become the face of the ultimate toxic romance, playing out a cautionary tale about the enduring ramifications of getting into bed with the wrong person. But whereas their characters are locked into a cycle of mutually assured destruction, the actors’ real-life dynamic could not be any more different. After initially keeping their relationship under wraps, the couple are ready to pull back the curtain on their love story, offering a rare glimpse into the life they have quietly built together. This cover has been months in the making, and I could not thank my editor @claire_ifying enough for entrusting me to write this dual profile of Grace and Jackson. I also owe a debt of gratitude to all of the editors on both the Teen Vogue and @VogueMagazine teams who helped me mold my original draft into this beautiful final product in just a couple of weeks. I can only hope to have more opportunities to write these kinds of stories in the future. Click the link in my bio or my Instagram Stories to read the full story! ✍️: @max_gao 📸: @anndyjackson stylist @corneliuslafayette assistant stylist Reza Marcano hair @jacobrozenberg make-up @misha212 groomer @melissa.dezarate tailor Marquise Foster set design Maisie Sattler production @modem_creative_projects_ executive producer @malcolmkhaldi production manager @26mjeremy production assistants Dino Kuznik & Sam Hana location Gary’s Loft creative editorial director @mianne.chan senior designer @lizcoulbourn global fashion director @tchesmeni programming & creative development director @amalielikefamily associate fashion editor @samgasmer assistant fashion editor @_okcrys digital director @stopalyssatime entertainment director @eugeneshevertalov senior editor @claire_ifying senior manager, social media @jillianselzer beauty editor @dony_moi

✅ Attended my first in-person #CriticsChoiceAwards (and second as a voting member of the Association) 🤩 Brushed shoulders with Ariana Grande, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan, Adam Sandler, Paul Mescal, Seth Rogen, Jeff Goldblum, Jacob Elordi, Timothée Chalamet + so many more! 🤝 Caught up with a bunch of people I’ve interviewed in the past (including new Emmy winners @therealnoahwyle *, @shawnyhats and Owen Cooper, the always superb Kathy Bates and Matthew Rhys, and the very funny @janellejamescomedy ) and finally met a bunch of colleagues for the first time 👻 Met two of my favourite #GhostsCBS (@rebeccawisocky and @ashergrodman ) and one Living (@imrosemciver ) * Here’s a fun anecdote: I interviewed Noah Wyle twice last year about #ThePitt, but this was the first time I got to meet him in person. He said he remembers me “very well” because his first-born son is around the same age as I am, and apparently on the day of our first interview, he went home and told his son that he was just interviewed by someone who is “much farther” along in life than he is (WHAT?!). I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but I will take Noah’s words as the ultimate compliment. (I did tell him to apologize to his son on my behalf though! 😂) What a day. Thank you for having me, @CriticsChoice . Until next time. 🫶

@LucyLiu has been famous for so long that younger generations of Asian Americans and Canadians (including myself) always point to her as the first Asian face we can remember seeing in Western media. Over the course of her three-decade career, the Chinese-American trailblazer has transformed into one of “Charlie’s Angels,” a ruthless, highly skilled Yakuza leader in Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill,” and an unapologetically sharp-tongued attorney in David E. Kelley’s “Ally McBeal.” But in @RosemeadFilm , which marks her first-ever dramatic lead role, Liu sheds her action-star persona to deliver a haunting, career-redefining performance as a widowed Chinese immigrant mother grappling with her own terminal cancer diagnosis while navigating her soon-to-be-adult son’s worsening schizophrenia. I screened the film a few weeks ago, and I still can’t stop thinking about the ending. Thank you to Lucy for her candour and kindness throughout our conversation and to my @harpersbazaarus editor @bybiancabee for thinking of me to write this story! To say I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak with and write about one of the actors who defined my coming-of-age would be an understatement. Full interview link in my bio and Stories. ♥️

one of the highlights of #TIFF50: i got to spend a half hour with jude law and @jasonbateman in downtown toronto to discuss their new netflix show, “black rabbit,” which just premiered on thursday. i could not have enjoyed this chat more. link to the (spoiler-filled!) @hollywoodreporter interview in bio and my stories 🐇🖤 #judelaw #jasonbateman

Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor sure know how to make each other laugh. For @NBCNews , I spoke with two of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors about working together on director Oliver Hermanus’ new bittersweet WWI-era romantic drama, “The History of Sound,” which debuted at Cannes earlier this year and is now playing in theaters. Click the link in my bio or Stories to read the full interview! 🎶 #paulmescal #joshoconnor #thehistoryofsound #nbcnews #film #movie #movies