There is a specific kind of disappointment reserved for cheap cashmere. You buy an “air-conditioned mall” knit thinking you’ve outsmarted the luxury market. It feels deceptively soft on the hanger, but the moment you wear it out into the world, the illusion shatters. After one afternoon, the silhouette sags, the cuffs stretch out, and an aggressive, fuzzy haze of pilling forms along the underarms almost immediately. By wear number three, it’s just embarrassing.

Which begs an obvious shopping question: What actually justifies the leap from a high-street knit to a $295-plus investment piece? Is it just brand prestige, or is there tangible, physical proof woven into the threads?

To find out, I traveled to Northern Italy with luxury knitwear house Falconeri, tracing the journey of a single garment from raw material to finished product. Visiting their yarn mills in Biella and their facility and HQ in Avio, I watched every stage of production unfold. What I discovered is that true cashmere quality isn’t necessarily built in a flash of genius. It’s layered, step by painstaking step, kinda like a good lasagna. Here is what separates run-of-the-mill knits from pieces built to last for years (and how to make sure your investment stays pristine for years to come).

Long Versus Short Fibers

The quality gap begins long before a single thread is spun into yarn. On the factory floor in Biella, the first thing that hit me was the sheer scale of the raw material: massive pallets of fluffy raw Mongolian goat hair arriving straight from the pastures. Holding that raw undercoat in its bulk form before its undergone any industrial processing is like touching wearable cotton candy, without the stickiness. It’s extraordinarily soft, super light, and extremely delicate.

Even if the source is the same, here’s where the budget brands cut costs: They rely on short, thick, leftover fibers (often the sweepings or coarse outer hairs) to whip together their sweaters. Because short fibers don’t have enough length to anchor securely into a yarn, their raw ends stick out. The moment your arms rub against your sides, those loose ends roll into immediate, stubborn pills.

High-tier houses source long, ultrathin fibers from the goat’s undercoat. Long-staple fibers interlock tightly when twisted, creating a smooth, strong yarn that resists surface friction and retains its softness without disintegrating.

The Factories

Seeing the raw fiber was impressive, but the technical yarn-spinning process was where the engineering clicked for me. Falconeri operates an entire factory dedicated exclusively to turning raw fleece into refined yarn. Inside, every batch of fiber is dyed, conditioned with natural oils, rested for a week to balance moisture, and precisely carded or combed. Optical sensors continuously scan the moving threads, automatically cutting out even micro-imperfections before the strands are twisted together. From there, the yarn travels to a second dedicated facility in Avio, where it is transformed into the actual garments.

This isn’t mass assembly. It is high-precision craftsmanship. I watched skilled seamstresses painstakingly hand-link individual threads to state-of-the-art Japanese knitting machines, ensuring seams lie completely flat and never pull or distort over time. When you watch a single garment pass through dozens of hands, sensors, and quality checks, the cost-per-wear makes total sense.

Year-Round Styling

Because high-quality cashmere is naturally thermoregulating, treating it solely as a “winter sweater” is a missed opportunity. Fine-gauge knits belong in your wardrobe rotation 365, 24/7. I put my ultrafine sweater to the test in the scorching summer of Milan, wearing it with my go-to capris and kitten heels. Tying it around your neck is always a smart option, too. It especially comes in handy when the air conditioner is blasting indoors. For cool fall mornings, I plan on letting a thin white T-shirt peek from underneath the V-neckline and wearing it with everything, from jeans to pencil skirts.

The Cashmere Care

The most shocking insight from my conversations with the craftsmen in Milan came down to laundry care. Like most people, I had spent years assuming cashmere was strictly a “dry clean only” situation (probably because of the nightmare experiences I’ve had in the past with synthetic hybrids). The artisans laughed at that idea because dry cleaning uses harsh chemicals that strip the fiber’s natral oils over time. Their actual directive? Cashmere loves water. You can safely wash your knits in a standard washing machine provided you use a low-tumble, delicate cycle with cold water and gentle detergent. Low friction is the goal.

Next you’ll want to get ahead of pilling and comb your sweater before it starts. The craftsman showed me how running a fine cashmere comb lightly over friction points catches stray strands before they form those dense pills.

Lastly, remember that gravity is the enemy. Heavy hangers stretch the shoulder seams and ruin the necklines on structured knits. So never hang them. Instead, lay them flat to dry or store them folded.

The Investment Pieces

If you’re ready to build a knitwear collection that actually lasts, skip the fast-fashion rack and focus on versatile, long-fiber staples. You aren’t just paying for a label when you upgrade your knitwear. You are paying for a piece of sartorial joy that holds its shape, honors Italian craftsmanship, and gets softer every time it touches water. Skip the $29 sweaters that end up in the donation bin by November, and invest in a knit that will earn its keep for years and years to come.

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@tomi.adeyemi #childrenofbloodandbone ♬ original sound – tomi adeyemi

Fans are wondering what actually happened for Adeyemi to entirely cut ties. Calling this adaptation highly anticipated would be an understatement. The film, shot in IMAX, projected to be a big screen blockbuster that could rival the impact of The Hunger Games and has been compared to the expansive world of Harry Potter. With a star-studded cast, and direction by Gina Prince-Bythewood, Children of Blood and Bone could open new doors in the fantasy film genre when it hits theaters January 15, 2027. 

Though Adeyemi nor the filmmakers have given much detail about what happened behind the scenes, some fans are wondering what the controversy means for the project. Though Adeyemi has announced herself that she will not be seeing the adaptation of her novel, she has not sent a call-to-action for her fans to also abstain from the film. In fact, in response to a comment on a since-deleted TikTok video, the 32-year old said “I do not mind anyone going to watch the film.” She continued, “I wrote this for us. I fought for us. I’m just laying down my sword and officially separating my name because I can’t keep being hurt and attacked behind the scenes.”

Audiences have mixed feelings about the film. Some have expressed that they, too, will be sitting this one out to support Adeyemi, while others feel like the roles Amandla Stenberg and other cast members hold should’ve been for Nigerian actors. Still, some fans’ support for the film hasn’t wavered, especially considering the unfair standards Black filmmakers face when studios look at box office numbers.

This is an unfortunate controversy. Children of Blood and Bone has had a generational impact as a YA novel that has broken barriers for how big fantasy that centers Black characters can be. And though it is not the first text based in Africa that uses magic, spirituality and cultural tradition to weave together a stunningly resonant story, it is the first of its kind to get the massive budgeting and Hollywood hype typically reserved for films with white-dominant casting. It’s expected to become one of the biggest fantasy features next year. Many worry that if this film doesn’t meet the mark at the box office, it may be a long time before another Black writer or director — let alone a Black woman — gets to showcase a fantastical world at this level. 

We may not know the root cause of the controversy but here’s a timeline of how we got here.

March 6, 2018: Tomi Adeyemi publishes Children of Blood and Bone

At 24, Tomi Adeyemi released Children of Blood and Bone, the first of three books in her groundbreaking Legacy of Orïsha series. The YA novel is set in a fictional African nation where protagonist Zélie Adebola sets out to bring magic back to the people of her kingdom who have been stripped of their power by an oppressive regime. Published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, Adeyemi received a historic book deal that included preemptive filmmaking rights which sold to Fox 2000 Pictures. Children of Blood and Bone debuted at No. 1 on New York Times’ Bestsellers List and spent over 120 weeks in the rankings. The Nigerian-American author also has earned several literary awards and was named on the Time 100 list in 2019 and 2020. 

January 2022: Adeyemi lands a seven-figure deal with Paramount Pictures 

The film was initially developed under George Lucas’ Lucasfilm with This Is Us writer Kay Oyegun penning the script and Rick Famuyiwa directing. After Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm let the rights on the film lapse. A major bidding war ensued between studios, including Universal, Amazon and Netflix. Paramount Pictures came out victorious, obtaining the rights to the Children of Blood and Bone trilogy, which also includes Children of Virtue and Vengeance (December 2019) and Children of Anguish and Anarchy (June 2024). When first announced, Deadline reported that her deal included a seven-figure screenwriting guarantee, creative approvals for the author as executive producer and a guaranteed theatrical release.

“Paramount’s passion and enthusiasm to bring this story to life has been incredible,” Adeyemi told the trade outlet at the time. “We are all so excited for this new chapter and are already hard at work.”

December 14, 2023: Gina Prince-Bythewood announced as director

Prince-Bythewood entered the project as its new director. She also co-wrote the script with Adeyemi with her husband, Reggie Rock Bythewood, serving as an executive producer. The Love & Basketball director said that she was approached to take the helm of Children of Blood and Bone three times over the course of seven years, noting that the timing wasn’t right the first two times. When she was approached the third time, she had The Woman King and The Old Guard under her belt. She noted that those films gave her the technical and emotional readiness to tell the story.

“I couldn’t say no,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “It was something even bigger in a space that we hadn’t got to see ourselves in, which is fantasy and big, epic fantasy.”

Since being named director, both Prince-Bythewood and Adeyemi have discussed their alignment on record. In June 2024, Adeyemi sang the director’s praises in an interview with Elle. “What Gina does so well is tell these deep, complex stories of women who look like us front and center, with incredible action set pieces, incredible cinematography,” she said. “It feels divine. It feels bigger than [just] making this project. We’re really in sync.” 

This month, Prince-Bythewood told Essence that co-signing on the film with Adeyemi “was everything.” She said they were aligned through scripting, artwork and more. “And that’s inspiring as a director because again, we’re here because of something that came from her and we want to honor that,” the director said.

January 22, 2025: The principal cast draws initial criticism

Thuso Mbedu, Damson Idris and Amandla Stenberg lead this ensemble cast, which also includes Viola Davis, Regina King, Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Zackary Momoh, Tosin Cole and Lashana Lynch. A predominantly Black cast with major star power wasn’t enough to quell audiences’ concerns over certain casting choices, however. Readers called out colorism after Stenberg was announced as one of the main protagonists, who is described as having “dark copper skin” and contends with colorism and fatphobia in the book. Folks also took issue with a lack of Nigerian representation, pointing to the novel’s Yoruba roots.

Stenberg, who also received similar backlash for playing the role of Starr Carter in The Hate U Give, responded to the criticism in a since-deleted TikTok video posted on February 2025, noting that being “at odds with my own community,” felt more painful than the racism she received from being cast in the Star Wars universe.

The actor also acknowledged how colorism plays out in the industry and said that she only felt comfortable going after the role after meeting with Adeyemi and getting her blessing. 

“I had the opportunity to meet Tomi, the novelist, for the first time … And she goes, ‘Amandla, I want you to know that when you were a little girl and you were cast as Rue in The Hunger Games, and people said that Rue’s death wouldn’t be as sad because you’re a Black girl—that inspired me to write this series so that Black girls like you and Black girls of all shades could have a story written about them,’” Stenberg said. “We started crying, and I said to myself, ‘God wants me here.’”

During a June 2025 interview, podcaster Zethu Gqola asked Adeyemi about the criticism around the actor’s casting, to which the author responded that she “understand[s] when people are frustrated.” She also addressed the concerns over Nigerian representation.

“If you need me to be a punching bag, I get it because just like you, I’ve been hurt so many times by this industry and the feeling of being erased by it.” She added, “If you feel brokenhearted by this, I don’t think you’ll feel like that when you’re sitting in the theaters. I promise you, this world is so beautiful and we’re all in it and that’s so beautiful to me.”

During the interview, Adeyemi also noted that the film features Nigerian actors selected from the casting call filmmakers held across the West African country. 

The film also features Saniyya Sidney, Diaana Babnicova, Bukky Bakray, Ayra Starr, Pamilerin Afolake Ayodeji, Shamz Garuba, Kola Bodunde and Tèmítópé Fágbénlé.

July 4, 2026: Adeyemi begins distancing herself from the film

The author posted a cryptic TikTok video stating that she would not be watching the film. “There is a reason I will not post anything about the adaptation of my work. That’s all,” she wrote in a screenshotted conversation. The video has since been deleted. The post also included screenshots of a conversation between herself and Stenberg stemming from a text exchange in February 2025, around the time Stenberg posted their response to the casting criticism. 

“Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me,” the message read, according to the Los Angeles Times. Adeyemi also appeared to have blocked Stenberg.

Adeyemi was also noticeably absent from a special sneak peak screening at CinemaCon in April 2026.

July 27, 2026: The Children of Blood and Bone trailer drops

At a trailer premiere screening in Brooklyn on Monday, Prince-Bythewood said the film is “beautifully inspired by Nigeria and also inclusive of the whole diaspora. We wanted all of us to be able to see ourselves within this, just our complete and utter humanity, all the beautiful hues.”

July 29, 2026 Adeyemi recalls the day she left set hyperventilating

The day after Paramount released the film’s first trailer, Ayedemi shared a five-minute long TikTok discussing an undisclosed traumatic experience she had which prompted her to leave the “set of my own film adaptation, hyperventilating and sobbing.” Though she doesn’t go into much detail, she claims that she continued to be “antagonised” even after her departure. The author stated that if she didn’t ring the alarm, things would only get worse. 

She stated that she “suffered such severe somatic pain and so many panic attacks,” upon returning from Cape Town to America after filming. “I knew it was so bad that I would never ever be able to watch this film, and I made peace with that,” she said. 

What’s next?

We’re still six months away from this film’s release. Whether audiences find out what the controversy is centered on remains to be seen, especially considering the filmmakers and studio have yet to comment. It’s also too early to say whether or not Children of Virtue and Vengeance and Children of Anguish and Anarchy will also get screen adaptations.

Adeyemi was also set to make a cameo in the film. With her current stance on the film, it’s likely her appearance will not make the final cut. Her representatives told People that her current focus is promoting The Siren, her forthcoming novel which releases in September.

We’ll update this article with more details as the story unfolds… 

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Watch the full episode below:

⚠️ This episode contains an honest discussion of infertility, IVF, and fertility treatments that may be sensitive for those currently navigating their own journey. Please watch with care.

If you or someone you love is facing infertility, you are not alone. Share this episode with a woman who needs to hear that it is possible.

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Toni doesn’t hold back when it comes to the realities of being a successful and full-time content creator, especially when advocating for dark-skinned Black women’s access to high-quality beauty. It was very interesting to learn how she maintains strong brand relationships without compromising the truth about product efficacy. She details the commitment and self-trust one has to have to succeed, because your point of view is everything. During their conversation, Toni talked about her interest in product development and why she isn’t limiting herself in anything. Toni also blessed the podcast with a quick tour of her favorite products, from skincare, to haircare, and of course blush! They covered her recent Architectural Digest feature and the intentional design choices that went into making her home, hers.

Watch the full episode below:

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Nour Tayara joins the Naked Beauty Podcast to talk about his innovative and 100% plastic-free beauty brand, AORA. During the conversation with host Brooke DeVard, he shared how he found his place in Lebanon’s underground queer scene and shaped his life’s motto to be kind and engaging to everyone, wherever you are. They talk about how Nour supplemented his scholarship by taking guerrilla marketing jobs and how they changed his mind about his electrical engineering major. Nour explains how an incredibly high test score landed him an internship and ultimately a full-time role at L’Oréal, where he worked for 13 years.

As Nour’s role and responsibilities evolved, he learned more about the waste and overconsumption plaguing the industry. Always prepared to innovate, he pitched a plastic-free brand to his management, which was promptly rejected. While reeling from a series of difficult events, Nour shared that a four-month break in Mexico City ultimately led him to his co-founder. The pair were aligned on building a brand that celebrates Mexican culture and is 100% plastic-free. Join them for an incredible conversation about what happens when you stay open to possibilities for your future and your principles are immovable. Nour details what it means to him to bring color to the clean beauty movement, why Mexico has always been a lifeline, and what it feels like to disrupt an industry.

Watch the full episode below:

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Every year when the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale rolls around, I don’t care about the boots or the designer coats. I’m strictly here for one thing: deodorant. It’s not just any old deodorant. I’m talking about the viral Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Deodorant three-pack. Normally, it runs $96, but during the sale, it drops to $72 (and that single restock powers my pits for an entire year.)

Call me dramatic, but applying it feels less like basic hygiene and more like a high-end skincare ritual. It glides on like velvet and smells so wildly heavenly that I often completely ditch traditional perfume. My absolute favorite moment? Slipping into bed after a late shower, cuddling up to my husband, and hearing him say, “You smell amazing, babe.” Every. Single. Time.

There is an alternative version that’s aluminum-free for the ingredient-obsessed. I’ve tried it but somehow keep coming back to the original instead. I just can’t resist that hypnotic scent and sweat-proof formula.

The catch? I’m clearly not the only one in this cult. There are literally 203 people viewing the product page as I type this, and when it sells out, it’s gone. You have until August 9 to grab yours—if you’re quick enough to beat me to the checkout button. Good luck out there.

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Zendaya and Tom Holland have been making waves with their Spider-Man: Brand New Day press tour, but is the film worth watching? The anticipated sequel to Spider-Man: No Way Home has just hit theaters, and it’s a more grounded, serious look at Spider-Man’s life as he attempts to live life in solitude. The film has received an overwhelmingly positive response from critics, with a solid score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It’s easy to dismiss Spider-Man: No Way Home as a superhero film that’s all about action and big set pieces, but there’s a deep look into what makes you unique, how connection and relationships are so important, and it will make you want to call your best friend.

Below, entertainment writers Angeline Barion, Bernice Corral and Rachel Choy examine what makes Spider-Man: No Way Home so emotional, the acting performances from Sadie Sink, Zendaya and Tom Holland, and how many tissues they went through. Spoilers below.

Rachel Choy: How excited were you for this movie?!

Bernice Corral: Literally my most anticipated movie of the year. From Sony.

Angeline Barion: I’m not usually openly expressive about how much of a fan I am about things, except for minions. So this coming out around the same time meant I had an out of body experience. I think I almost blew up, like spontaneously combusted. That’s the level of excitement.

RC: I want to know the level of tissues. How many tissues did you use?

AB: I bought a packet of 60 Kleenex tissues, and I think that collectively between three of us sitting in the same row as really big Spider-Man fans, I think we got through 20, and we had like a whole plastic cup full.

RC: Let’s talk about the performances to begin with. What did you think of Tom Holland?

BC: I mean he’s great, but did he need to be topless that much?

RC: Yeah, he didn’t need to be in his undies. But also, he did. Wait, guys, can we talk about the moment he got his organic web?

AB: That was a bit red hot.

RC: It was like jizz. It was splurting, and I was like, did we need such a close up?

AB: But also, I was just thinking about the passage of how much time had passed from when he passed out to when he woke up in that web. He really put his body on the line in this particular movie, and I thought his performance was amazing.

RC: The yearning!

AB: You could see it in his eyes, and he was just stoic. He was just looking for MJ the whole time.

RC: But also low-key stalkerish because she doesn’t know who he is!

BC: Well, yeah. When he showed up to her apartment, I was like, that’s trespassing.

RC: I was like boy, just read her the letter! Don’t do this, please. And what did you think of newcomer Sadie Sink?

BC: I just love her. I watched her in Stranger Things, she’s great.

RC: She was so good as Jean Grey, and I love X-Men. I’m not the hugest Marvel girl. I dropped off a little bit, but I’ve watched all the old X-Men films and all the Spider-Man ones. The depth and emotion in her, with her backstory and how they were treated like animals, there’s a lot to unpack there. Very similar to how you’re treated in our world if you’re different.

AB: I’ve never watched any of her stuff before, so this is the first time I’ve ever encountered Sadie. I think I was so drawn to her because she has quite an expressive forehead and eyes. The top section of her face is quite expressive.

RC: Also, her power was so cool. You could physically see her jumping from person to person. It was such a big jerk.

AB: The extras were so good! They just took it full force, and the way they were moving around, I was like, this could actually happen in real life and you wouldn’t notice. So if any telepaths are out there, some of our brains are rot.

BC: You could tell when she was possessing them and how they were able to capture it. Yeah, wow, your IMDB is gonna be crazy after this.

RC: What did you think about Zendaya, our MJ?

BC: One of the wigs she was wearing wasn’t my fave.

AB: It was the second one.

BC: You’re wearing a wig.

RC: Wigs aside, the scene where she was possessed by Jean Grey and Peter Parker thought his MJ remembered him?! You knew it was coming. I was screaming.

BC: The switch she was able to do between MJ and then possessed by Jean.

AB: I’m floored by her. I have no words to describe or encapsulate how well she played that, and keeping it a secret as well. I think that was really hard, especially Tom being her actual husband. I think that that plays such a big part of it. But damn, that twist in the, I’m not gonna say it outright, but the twist in The Punisher’s house was devastating.

RC: It adds such a human quality to it because because there’s a lot of big scenes and set pieces, but I feel like the small scenes actually had the most impact.

BC: I feel like with her character MJ, it’s been very surface level for the past movies, but then this one we’re able to see her depth. People didn’t take her seriously as an actor until this year.

RC: She wasn’t in the first one very much, and they were so little and young, so now there’s all the years of trauma growing up. So there’s that scene in the Punisher’s house, but there was also the Lego scene.

BC: Don’t talk to me about that.

AB: No, no, no, no!

BC: It’s a movie about trauma.

AB: I love that they called back to her first performance though, with the drawing and Lego. I think that that was really special because it really ties their friendship together. Despite obviously having lost it and then coming back together, it’s the small things. You can go a length of time without talking to a person or seeing a person, but there’s always something that ties you together. And I think they really nailed how that chemistry works between the three of them in that Lego scene.

BC: It didn’t feel forced.

AB: They’re just hanging out. I feel like if they were just hanging out at someone’s house, that’s literally what they would do.

RC: The other big plot point is the inhibitor. How much of your DNA can you change before you become a completely different person?

AB: I thought that’s how they were going to write the Hulk out of the MCU, because he becomes a monster, and all that. But I think that’s such a side thought. This whole theme was great because it leans into the whole being yourself, showing your true colors to your friends, being open and honest and authentic, and how you don’t have to walk through things alone, even when they’re difficult. And even when Jean broke her inhibitor, and that’s how she was able to have the release. I think it really also feeds into that like plotline, that theme, that narrative.

RC: And it’s exhausting to try to be something that you’re not. Loneliness is such a big theme as well. He’s trying to do everything perfectly, but his body just says no.

BC: Reach out when you need to.

RC: Everyone needs connection, whether it’s relationships or friendships. It’s so important. The one critique I had was there were the cameos from the other MCU characters. Sometimes you just want more from the character that’s the title character. I know they need the crossover so it can set up the next Avengers. But I wanted more of Spider-Man.

AB: Him and Ned. I think that we, especially in this particular press tour, we’re so focused on like Tom’s and Zendaya. Their relationship is so beautiful and admirable, but I think that this film really leans on Peter and Ned as well, and their connection to each other. I wish we got to see more of that because, the guy in the chair is such an iconic part of the franchise for for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. And with Ned’s aura blow up, he just had an extreme amount of confidence, but at the same time, he was still that little nerdy boy on the inside. I wish that we got to see more of him playing that part out.

RC: He’s such a genuine, friendly character. There’s nothing sinister, he’s just wholesome. I want more of that.

AB: Can they make side movies?

BC: Shorts, like Ned’s Side Quest!

RC: Where does it rank out of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films?

BC: I will say No Way Home, I do love that… but I love Homecoming. This is genuinely really hard. I will say I love how they brought it back to street level with this one and it was grounded in reality. It wasn’t like a portal opens up.

RC: I think this is why I love this one the most.

BC: He’s just a little guy!

RC: I quite liked how depressed he was. Because then he’ll have to get happy. He’s at rock bottom, so he can only get better… we hope.

AB: Him being street level, that is so great.

BC: That is the core of what Spider-Man is.

AB: I don’t think it sensationalizes a multiverse and all of these infinite possibilities. I think it just focuses on the one possibility that sometimes things just don’t work out, and you have to find your way to to deal with it. Things that you thought were gonna be forever fall apart, but it just focuses on you doing the simple things, and I think that’s what is great about Spider-Man, and I think that’s what so many people love about Spider-Man.

RC: Is it worth watching?

AB: I think if you are a Spider-Man fan, I think you’ll be happy.

RC: If you’re a casual fan or a bit neutral?

AB: I think the good thing with Spider-Man is it can stand on its own. You don’t have to watch the other Marvel movies in order to understand it. I think that this one feels like it can create its own line. Obviously it connects to the MCU, but this can standalone. It lives within like the same universe as Homecoming and Far From Home.

I think it does it justice, and I think that everyone should watch it. Doesn’t matter if you’re a Spider-Man fan or you’re not a Spider-Man fan. Even if you’re just feeling like you’re going through something and you don’t have people around you, and that’s literally that’s that’s what it is. It makes me emotional because I was sitting next to my best friend, and we sometimes go periods of time where we don’t talk to each other.

RC: You have that connection.

AB: That drawing scene, she draws in the same style. So it was very emotional.

RC: I feel like that you have those friendships that you can go for years being apart. I’ve lived so many places and overseas for years. But my best friend since I was 14, every time I see her, it’s like nothing’s changed. And I feel like if I even if I forgot my memories and connected with her, I feel like she’s in my soul. You just know each other. You just get it.

AB: It’s part of your DNA.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters now.

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