AE: Have things changed noticeably in your life since the show premiered in late August?
Jasika Nicole: I’m really busy and more people stare at me when I am walking down the street, and so now I don’t know if it’s because they’re thinking, ”Oh, her shoes are terrible,” or, “Oh, what is she wearing,” or, “Oh, I think I recognize her.” That’s the biggest difference that I’ve noticed.
And I’ve gotten a lot more hits on my website, where I have my own illustrations. I get a lot more people writing and commenting on the comic and saying, “I really appreciate what you’re doing,” which is nice. I just feel like I’m getting more written support.
AE: What drew you to be part of Fringe?
JN: I guess that I’ve always been completely enthralled with horror. I was watching Freddy Krueger movies when I was 5 and 6 years old, which is probably not a good thing, but whatever, that’s what was happening in my life at the time. So I grew up with this tendency to be really into ghosts and spooky things, and experiences that you couldn’t explain, and I was obsessed with
Unsolved Mysteries when I was little, and I would watch it every Wednesday night that it came on.
And so from that, I think there’s a really strong connection to that kind of a background — that kind of mysterious bent on television writing — because there isn’t a whole lot of that out there. And I think what else drew me to this right now is because so many of the shows that are on right now aren’t about this sort of thing.
I think a lot of it is about escaping from the reality that we as a country are in right now. But this show is really nice because it offers an alternative to the escape that
Sex and the City and shows like
Gossip Girl give you.
AE: So rather than an escape, you see Fringe as an alternative to what’s been a dominant theme in programming?
JN: I think so. It’s certainly not completely realistic. The science that we’re talking about, it’s made up. But I think the premise of it is that this is all stuff that very well could happen, could be happening, or could have happened already because it’s all based in science. It’s all based in information that exists in the world that nobody else really knows about, and what happens when that information gets put in the wrong people’s hands, and what does that mean for us as a world, and what does that mean for us as an individual, and as a society. It’s definitely fantastical in what’s its dealing with, but I think there’s a lot of reality rooted into it.
AE: Are you filming now in October?
JN: Yes, we are starting Episode 9, I believe, this week, and of course we got picked up for the back nine episodes. So in January, we will finish our 22-episode season. We’re not even quite halfway through yet, which is really exciting. I can’t wait to find out what else is going to happen!
AE: Where do you film?
JN:We film in Long Island City in Queens, at Silvercup Studios East. It’s very close, which is wonderful. I didn’t have to move away from New York City.
AE: What do you like most about Astrid, your character?
JN: I love that she is smart in all the ways that I am not smart. I am super creative and that’s where I feel like all my talent kind of rests — within drawing, within communicating and using words. That’s where I feel most comfortable. And Astrid very clearly feels comfortable on the complete opposite end. She’s really OK with being in this lab and learning all this stuff from this relatively crazy man who’s teaching this to her, and she’s just soaking it all up.
I don’t know if I would have the same response if I was Astrid and thrown into this lab where there are all these dead bodies and really, really weird and scary things are happening. I guess I just appreciate that she’s brave in that way and she’s smart and she understands all these really wild concepts because I never would.
AE: Can you reveal how your character is going to grow?
JN: She definitely starts to become more involved as the other members of the team become more involved. Instead of it just being very textbook, and then trying to figure these things out separately from what’s happening, they’re all kind of knee-deep in everything that’s going on. So I think you get to see her be a little bit more vulnerable. You get to see Astrid as being a more human character with flaws and with emotions that you didn’t really get to see before. It was slow to build up, but now that it’s happening, it’s really satisfying for me.
AE: What is it like working with Anna Torv [who plays Special Agent Olivia Dunham]?
JN: She’s awesome. I really like the way that our characters are eventually going to connect in the show. I think that she’s really smart and she’s funny, and I love watching her in this show. I think she is so good. And this is a lot of pressure. I would imagine that this would be overwhelming for anybody to do.
You’re in a new country, and you have to speak without your native accent. And then you have to know all of this dialogue and work with all of this scientific lingo. That’s a huge deal and she does it with such grace and such good energy that it’s absolutely mind-blowing to me.
I think she’s just absolutely amazing and I’m so excited to get to work with her.
AE: Now, would your character and hers be connecting in the way that might be of most interest to the AfterEllen.com audience?
JN: No, no. [Laughs.] That won’t be happening. Not that I know of, but of course, there is a Season 2, so who knows? But it’s more like she just looks up to her so much and they actually have a really nice conversation about how Agent Dunham’s character, she gets scared, and she has anxiety, too.
She just doesn’t show it, but she has a little bit of a heart-to-heart with Astrid’s character. It comes out really nicely, I think.
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Jasika Nicole (Astrid) Talks About "Fringe" & Life
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