Conversations with Mars (Lindalee) Rose

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mars (Lindalee) Rose.

Hi Mars (Lindalee), please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Burbank, California, in 2008. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been surrounded by entertainment. My mom is an actress and director who owns a theatrical company for children and teens called Shakespeare Kids. My dad is a creative content producer, storyteller, director, and editor. When I was born, he worked at Walt Disney Studios—right across the street from the hospital where I was born.

I grew up either onstage or in front of a camera. In addition to his daily role in Motion Pictures Marketing at Disney, my dad ran an entertainment website and web series called Beyond the Marquee.

When I was just four and a half, my mom suggested that he put me on camera to review an episode of Doctor Who that I had just watched with him. I described Daleks, the Doctor, laser fights, and the TARDIS with so much passion, detail, and four-year-old cuteness that he decided to post the review on his entertainment website and YouTube channel. It caught the attention of one of the show’s executive producers at the BBC, who shared the video with his followers on Twitter. Overnight, it went viral and spread across the internet.

Before I knew it, I was being invited to Doctor Who conventions to interview members of the show’s cast and crew onstage in front of thousands of fans. I was also invited to cover red carpets for children’s television award shows and Disney premieres—and so it began. Soon, I was recording a new Doctor Who review every week and partnering with Chris Hardwick’s Nerdist, whose team flew me to New York and even London to cover Doctor Who events. And I was only five years old.

Eventually, I was making so many videos that my dad created a YouTube channel dedicated to all the on-the-scene adventures I was having. Things really took off from there. I loved being in front of the camera and performing in the productions my mom directed through Shakespeare Kids.

After my time as a Doctor Who reporter and reviewer, I was approached by ZAG Animation to become an official junior reporter and brand ambassador for its animated series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir—a role I continued in for nearly a decade. It gave me the opportunity to attend San Diego Comic-Con and other special events, where I conducted exclusive interviews with members of the voice cast for the official Miraculous YouTube channel.

On numerous occasions, I was also invited to join members of the Miraculous cast onstage, sitting alongside the show’s iconic voice actors during convention panels. Those moments gave me an incredible sense of belonging and made me feel that I was more than a reporter covering the series—I had become part of the Miraculous family and its world.

I was also invited behind the scenes at ZAG’s studio to learn how the series was created and share that experience with its audience. Through interviews, studio visits, convention panels, event coverage, and exclusive features, I developed a very special connection with the Miraculous fan community. I helped bring fans together while giving them a more personal, in-depth look at the people, creativity, and magic behind the hit series.

This Labor Day will mark the beginning of our family YouTube channel’s 15th year. It has grown over the years to include my three younger siblings, who report and create content alongside me. I also graduated from high school this year, where I was active in theater and choir, and I’ve continued to sing, dance, and act with a local theater company in our town.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
OBSTACLES/CHALLENGES:

As with any performer’s life, there are always challenges. Competition is probably at the top of the list. There are some roles you just know you would be perfect for—but so do the other 100 people auditioning for them. There’s always a certain amount of tension when you’re competing against your best friends for the lead in the high school musical or auditioning alongside experienced community theater actors you may not know. But it can be equally rewarding to land a different role and discover that it offers just as much opportunity to express your creativity and personality onstage.

COVID was, of course, a difficult period for everyone. We created a lot of content at home for our YouTube channel, but I deeply missed being onstage and performing. It was during that time, in early 2021, that our family moved from Los Angeles to Connecticut. As if living through a global pandemic wasn’t already frightening and nerve-racking enough, I was also uprooted from the only home I had known for 12 years and had to start over on the opposite side of the country, nearly 3,000 miles away. Suddenly, I had a new house, a new neighborhood, a new community, a new school, new friends—and new anxieties.

I started eighth grade here in Connecticut. At the time, there was a trend among kids my age of setting aside their birth names and adopting names that felt cooler or more alternative. That was when I went from Lindalee to Mars. Lindalee became what I called my “dead name” at the time, which was somewhat ironic because I had been named in honor of my dad’s mother, Linda Lee Czarnecki, who passed away before I was born. For the past five years, most of my classmates and people in the community have known me primarily as Mars.

Middle and high school brought their own challenges. Trying to find acceptance and build strong friendships among strangers who would be my classmates for the next five years was an ongoing struggle. Soon after arriving, I landed the role of Mary Poppins in a local youth production of Mary Poppins Jr. That helped rebuild my confidence and put me back onstage singing and dancing, but I was still struggling to adjust to my new surroundings.

Over the next five years, I experienced periods of teenage depression and struggled with my self-esteem, an eating disorder, and some very dark thoughts that left me questioning whether I wanted to continue living. At the same time, I was coping with friendships that came and went, trying to understand my identity, navigating romantic relationships, helping maintain a family YouTube channel, and taking on multiple lead roles in school and community theater productions. It has been quite a roller-coaster ride. I haven’t fully stepped off it yet, but I’m working on myself every day.

Moving to Connecticut has definitely been life-changing. Aside from finally getting to experience all four seasons, I love that we live only about 90 minutes outside of New York City. My mom loves it too because she absolutely adores theater and Broadway. It feels as though we’re in the city almost every week seeing a play, musical, or other production, and those experiences have truly inspired me to keep the arts at the center of my life.

I’m currently taking a gap year before starting college next fall, but I’m actively auditioning for all kinds of roles, both onstage and on camera. I want to keep satisfying that creative desire—that theater bug—and continue pursuing the place where I feel most naturally at home.

Now that I’ve graduated from high school, I’m slowly bringing Lindalee back into my life. It is still my legal name, so it appears on my driver’s license, college applications, and other official documents. But if you ever happen to run into me in public, I’ll happily answer to either Lindalee or Mars.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My personality and positivity have fueled my career for as long as I can remember. I love bringing energy to every role I take on, whether I’m playing a sassy singer onstage or cosplaying as a colorful character at Comic-Con. I research the person or character I’ll be portraying, identify the qualities that make them unique, and then give the performance 200 percent of myself.

When it comes to our videos—whether we’re exploring a theme park, working the press line at a Hollywood world premiere, or attending the opening of a new pop-up experience in the city—I love researching interesting facts about where we’re going, learning about the celebrities we may be interviewing, and finding information I can share that will keep our at-home audience engaged and glued to the video.

I’m also known for being able to jump quickly into almost any situation, on or off camera, and deliver a confident, engaging performance. Whether I’m entertaining an audience in a theater or taking viewers along on our latest theme park adventure through YouTube and social media, I always want the people watching to feel included in the experience.

What I’m most proud of is that I’ve never lost the excitement and joy that made me want to perform in the first place. I believe my positivity, preparation, versatility, and willingness to fully commit to every opportunity are what set me apart. For me, it’s all about the delivery—making sure the audience is entertained, invested, and excited to come along for the ride.

Overall, there hasn’t been a time I can remember when I wasn’t acting, singing, dancing, reporting, or entertaining people. It’s not simply what I do; it’s where I feel most like myself.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Our family YouTube channel, On the Scene Adventures, and our social media platforms are always open to new collaborations. As my siblings and I grow older, we’re working to expand beyond traditional toy-unboxing content and focus more on the larger-scale, on-location experiences we love sharing with our audience: red-carpet events, vacation resorts, theme parks, television and movie promotions, international destinations, restaurants, and more.

I’ve also built a strong following on TikTok through my cosplay and beauty content, so I’m always interested in collaborating with fun brands, featuring exciting products, and working with fellow creators—whether they’re local or on the other side of the world.

And, of course, as they say: please like, follow, subscribe, and share! If you have a collaboration in mind, I’d love to hear from you, so definitely send me or On the Scene Adventures a DM.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onthesceneadv
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sczarnecki/
• Twitter: https://x.com/onthesceneadv
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/onthesceneadventures
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@realemira