{"id":111191,"date":"2026-01-24T16:58:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T16:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/111191\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T16:58:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T16:58:06","slug":"a-bronx-tale-stars-lillo-brancato-jr-and-taral-hicks-reunite-for-fashion-collab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/111191\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;A Bronx Tale&#8217; Stars Lillo Brancato Jr. and Taral Hicks Reunite for Fashion Collab"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> NEED TO KNOW<br \/>\nLillo Brancato Jr. and Taral Hicks costarred as teenagers in love in the 1993 drama A Bronx TaleThe pair recently reunited to model the Sweethearts X J-FROST collection ahead of Valentine&#8217;s DayThe two actors have maintained respect and admiration for each other in the decades since bringing the Robert De Niro film to life<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_2-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Cologero and Jane forever!\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_4-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> A Bronx Tale\u00a0fans were delighted to see that stars Lillo Brancato Jr. and Taral Hicks are back together and bringing that first-crush feeling to a new fashion collaboration. On Jan. 12, Jason &#8220;J-FROST&#8221; Adams teased the <a href=\"https:\/\/j-frost.com\/collections\/sweethearts\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sweethearts X J-FROST collection<\/a> with a video featuring the two actors holding hands while posing together around New York City.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_6-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Hicks, 51, and Brancato, 50, both rocked matching black sweatshirts with heart-shaped candy graphics in the promo. The collection officially debuted on Jan. 16 \u2014 and the two stars gave it their seal of approval.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_12-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;Y&#8217;ALL READY FOR THIS DROP!! MY NEW FAVORITE HOODIE!!\ud83e\ude75\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9c\ud83e\udd0d\ud83d\udc9b\ud83e\ude77,&#8221; Hicks commented on the drop.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_14-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;I love this concept and clothing, Thanks J\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udcaf,&#8221; Brancato wrote.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_16-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> The 1993 crime drama centers on Calogero, who is just 9 years old when the film kicks off. Growing up in the Bronx, the young Calogero (played by Francis Capra) observes his father, Lorenzo (<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tag\/robert-de-niro\/\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Robert De Niro<\/a>\u00a0in his directorial debut), a blue-collar local bus driver, while also admiring the life of local gangster Sonny (Chazz Palminteri).\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_18-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PEOPLE&#8217;s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. <\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_22-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> As Calogero grows up (then played by Brancato), he finds himself caught between the two worlds. It&#8217;s further complicated when he falls in love with Jane (Hicks), a Black girl living in his neighborhood who also finds herself enmeshed in the tension between Italian American and African American residents of the area.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_24-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> The pair, who both got their big-screen debut in the movie, most recently got together in October 2025 to raise money for veterans facing homelessness and addiction.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_26-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> In an interview with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4CFBRUC343s\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Fox 5, Washington, D.C.<\/a>, in December 2025, Hicks opened up about landing the role with only theater experience.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_30-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;Well, I started on off-Broadway in a little show called Mama, I Want to Sing. Well, I shouldn&#8217;t say little. It was a great show called Mama, I Want to Sing. And that led me to audition for A Bronx Tale,&#8221; she explained.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_32-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;I had never had any film experience, and to be on set with giants like Robert De Niro, Chazz Palminteri and even newcomer Lillo Brancato, who looked exactly like Robert De Niro, it was very intimidating,&#8221; she continued.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_34-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Hicks says she believes that prayer and her talents helped her get the role, which opened more doors for her.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_38-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;I was just a girl from the Bronx with no experience. But, you know, I think my belief and my faith in God and my prayers to get the role is really what landed me that role. Faith, faith the size of a mustard seed. I prayed for A Bronx Tale,&#8221; she said.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_40-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;I said, &#8216;God, if this is my path, if this is my journey, this is what I&#8217;m supposed to be doing, then you will make it happen.&#8217; And look, the rest is history. I&#8217;m here. He made it happen. And I continue to just flourish in all the gifts that he&#8217;s given me. and I&#8217;m extremely grateful and honored.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Lillo Brancato Jr. and Taral Hicks costarred as teenagers in love in the 1993 drama&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-111191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-the-bronx","13":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","14":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}