The Bloated Penguin

Welcome to Wednesday. Grab your coffee, sit your ass down at your desk and pretend it’s Friday…. Okay, now that reality has set in, so can that mid week depression. Need a little pick-me-up? Check out Jasika Nicole. Who? I’m not surprised you ask. Jasika Nicole plays Astrid Farnsworth on the hit FOX show Fringe. If you follow the Bloated Penguin then you’ll already know my devotion to this show.

Anyways, back to Jasika, or Astrid. Even though Fringe carries tons of over-arching themes and a web of different stories throughout, one of the big reasons I watch is the comedic timing between John Noble’s character Walter Bishop and Astrid. In Fringe, one of the great mysteries is trying to guess whether or not this is going to be the week where Walter actually remembers Astrid’s name. On more than one occasion he’s referred to her as Astro, Astrix, or Astroid.

Jasika Nicole grew up in the Alabama and after graduating from Catwaba College with degrees in theater dance, voice and studio art she started to get national exposure with commercial work. After a few successful runs of advertising McDonalds, Home Depot and the NYC Lotto she landed a couple of guest spots on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I’m assuming the casting director that works with JJ Abrams saw one of these episodes or possibly caught Jasika on stage during a performance of Believe In Me – A Bigfoot Musical and decided to give her a shot at auditioning for Astrid Farnsworth. The rest is gravy.

So where can we expect to see Jasika Nicole this year? She’ll be playing a small role in the new rom-com She’s Out Of My League opposite Jay Baruchel as well as finishing up the second season of Fringe. Keep your eyes peeled for more interesting news from Jasika and if you’re interested, you can check out her personal site (yeah, I guess I kind of stalked her….).

You can buy some of her art, check out more of her past performances and sign her guest book….