FRINGE: Jasika Nicole Teases ‘Making Angels’

FRINGE fans, if you think you were impatient for tonight’s Astrid-centric episode, you weren’t alone.

“I think that I had kind of become resigned in thinking that, you know, oh, Astrid is not going to get a big episode and that’s okay because it’s been such a lovely thing to be part of the show,” Jasika Nicole (Astrid) explained to reporters on a conference call earlier this week. “So anyway, I finally get the script and it is a heavy Astrid episode and not only just one Astrid but two Astrids. And then there’s like all of this emotional turmoil that’s going on within the story. So it was emotional on a lot of different levels.”

With these Astrids meeting, it also meant that Nicole had to act against herself for the first time on the series.

“It was actually pretty overwhelming to play against myself,” she said. “Not only because it was the first huge episode that I had just as an actor. But I was kind of doing double-duty as both Astrids. She’s got these really emotional scenes. So what would normally take us maybe four or five hours to complete took us about eight or ten hours because we had to do it twice, essentially. And there was actually one scene where they’re both Astrids and both Olivias and then Walter and Peter. So, it just took us all day long. Anna Torv (Olivia/Fauxlivia) actually pulled me aside and gave me all these tips on how to do it because she’s the one who plays her doppelganger in most of the show. So it was technically very difficult and emotionally difficult. But it was really, really exciting and totally worth it.”

But what leads to these two Astrids finally meeting?

“Interestingly enough, the reason that alt-Astrid does come to this universe is for selfish reasons,” Nicole teased. “Not in a negative way necessarily, but something personal happens to her and it’s really traumatic. She doesn’t have anybody else to turn to. So her only option is to come here, which I think is pretty incredible. I think it’s very brave because I think there’s a possibility that this Astrid is too afraid to maybe go over to the alternate universe and see if her alternate has a better haircut than her.”

“But I think it was a combination of a lot of things that had me so emotional,” she added. “Not only because it is a really heartbreaking story that is being told with the two Astrids which is about family and loss, and having regrets and feeling confident in who you are and not being able to take that away. But also on top of that just the fact that I’ve been waiting for four years to do an Astrid heavy episode. So, when I finally got it, it was just — it was a little bit overwhelming. You know,  something that you’ve been wishing for so long and you get to a point where you don’t think it’s ever going to happen.”

And in case you were wondering about what the FRINGE team is currently working on, I couldn’t resist asking Nicole what she could share about the episode they’re filming.

“We are currently filming an episode that is going to take place mostly in the alternate universe and there’s a lot of Lincoln on Lincoln happening on this episode,” she teased. “Like a lot, a lot, lot. So I know the fans will be really excited about that because I personally love the Lincolns so much.”

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FRINGE airs Fridays at 9 PM on Fox.

Related:

FRINGE’s Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman: ‘Answers Are Coming Very Soon!’ Plus, Teases For the Astrid-Centric Hour, Episode 19, and More
FRINGE Exclusive First Look Photo: ‘Making Angels’
FRINGE: Joshua Jackson on Peter’s Reunion With Elizabeth, Olivia’s Fate and More

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