In an interview with Persephone Magazine, Jasika Nicole (Astrid) talks about her role on Fringe, as well as her artistic ventures writing and illustrating comic strips, The Letter Q project and whether coming out has limited her possibilities as an actress.

When asked about Astrid’s backstory and possible future on the show, Jasika reveals that there are no plans to explore Astrid’s backstory in season 4 (although she will have a centric episode), and admits her frustration that her character has not been fleshed out:

Astrid’s lack of backstory has been a sensitive spot for me, and a lot of her fans, for a while now. I am ecstatic to have been a part of the Fringe team from the very beginning, but I have fallen in love with Astrid and I want to see so much more of her. At the same time, it is important for me as an actor to recognize that Fringe is not about Astrid’s character, and that she is on the show to support the bigger story of the three main characters. […] I can only hope that if Astrid doesn’t get much more to do this season, her own spinoff, Farnsworth P. I. will debut on Fox in the next few years to extremely high praise. And John Noble will guest star.

She also discusses her involvement with The Letter Q anthology, for which she was approached to write and illustrate a story:

[I was] asked if I could create a comic that would embody the idea of a queer adult speaking to his/her/their younger self, but in my own words, and a few months later I wrote and drew “J + C”. Sarah  found a publisher pretty quickly and the anthology, with contributions from lots of other super talented artists and writers, is going to come out in the summer of 2012 by Scholastic. […] I am beyond thrilled to have been invited to participate in it. It is probably the piece of work that I am most proud of creating so far in my life.

Finally, Jasika reflects on whether her having come out as homosexual has been limiting her to certain roles or been empowering in her line of work:

I think there is a big difference between coming out after you have been an established actor for a while and becoming an established actor after you have already been out. To be honest, no one ever cared who I was dating before I was on a critically-acclaimed television show, and now that I am, the only people who seem to be very interested are other journalists that are a part of the LGBTQ community.  […] There is NOTHING better than going to a signing and having someone come up to me and say, “Thank you for being out.” I am not out for anyone’s needs other than my own, but if it ends up meaning something positive to someone else, then it’s just a win-win.

It’s great to hear that Jasika feels comfortable in Hollywood, and we wish her luck in her artistic ventures – but we do also share her frustration that there’s not enough Astrid on Fringe!

You can read the full interview with Jasika Nicole here at Persephone Magazine!