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008 Jasika Nicole on That One Audition with Alyshia Ochse

Jasika Nicole
Jasika Nicole 1920 960 Alyshia Ochse

How To Recover When You’re On The Precipice Of Quitting

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Jasika Nicole fell in love with performing at a young age. She landed her first audition in fourth grade and went on to grace the stage in school and local theatre productions in her hometown. After graduation, Nicole attended Catawba College in North Carolina, where she continued to nurture her passion for the arts by studying Theatre, Dance, and Studio Art. In 2003, Nicole made the decision to leave the South behind to pursue her musical theatre dreams in New York City, where she showcased her talent in Off Broadway musicals and plays. Eager to hone her craft, Nicole made the decision to head west to Los Angeles in search of opportunities in television and film.

Nicole is perhaps best known for her role as Astrid Farnsworth, an FBI agent turned scientists’ assistant, on the hit FOX series Fringe. The cast also included Joshua Jackson and John Noble. She also made her mark on the small screen with large roles in Scandal and Underground. Other television credits include guest spots on Station 19 and Major Crimes to name just a few.

Nicole showcased her talent on the hit ABC medical drama The Good Doctor. She played Dr. Carly Lever, the head of pathology at St. Bonaventure Hospital, who formed a friendship with Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore). Nicole was upped to a series regular for Season 3, which allowed fans to get to know her character on a deeper level as she navigated the ups and downs of a budding romantic relationship with Dr. Murphy. The storyline made television history as one of the first to explore romance between neurotypical and neurodivergent partners, which earned praise from fans and critics alike.

Things aren’t slowing down for Nicole. She can currently be seen as Cherie’s girlfriend Lauren, a fun-loving and self-assured lawyer on the Punky Brewster reboot. The cast also includes Soleil Moon Frye, reprising her role as Punky, Cherie Johnson and Freddie Prinze Jr. The series is streaming now on Peacock.

In addition to her success onscreen, she has also brought her talent in the world of voiceover. Nicole lent her voice to the popular fictional podcast Welcome to NightVale, which followed the story of a small desert town where conspiracy theories run rampant. Recognizing her natural talent in this medium, the creators started another podcast, Alice Isn’t Dead, specifically with Nicole in mind for the role of narrator Keisha Taylor. The podcast gained such a following that it also became a best-selling novel. Nicole is an Audio Book award winner for her narration of the novel. Nicole has gone on to voice other audiobooks and has also voiced characters on several animated shows.

When she is not acting, Nicole enjoys bringing her creativity to other mediums. She loves to sew and makes her own clothes and shoes, which she shares on her Try Curious blog. The platform allows her to document her process of making and share pattern reviews with her readers. She also loves to knit, make pottery, and is constantly looking for new ways to express herself through new projects. Nicole is also an accomplished writer who has had several personal essays published with various outlets over the years.

Nicole also loves giving back. As a proud queer woman, she is a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ community. She supports Project Q, a Los Angeles-based non-profit that aims to provide gender affirming haircuts and a safe space for youth to find their identity.

In her spare time, Nicole loves to travel, cook, bake, and draw to name just a few of her favorite activities. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her partner, Claire.

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“Being an actor feels like such a privilege, but it’s not a privilege if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing.”

“I try to remember that just because it isn’t on my timeline, doesn’t mean that it isn’t going to happen.”

“Actors have totally different ideas and mottos and ways of working and there’s no right or wrong way.”

VIDEOS:

Credits:

  • WRITER: Lizzy Dalla Betta
  • SOUND DESIGN: Zachary Jameson
  • WEBSITE & GRAPHICS: Chase Jennings
  • ASSISTANT: Elle Powell
  • SOCIAL OUTREACH: Bebe Katsenes
036 Robert Baker on That One Audition with Alyshia Ochse

S2 036: Robert Baker
S2 036: Robert Baker 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Find the Humor in the Drama and Kill the Table Read

Born in Memphis, TN to a guitar player father and an English teacher mother, Robert grew up on a lakeside farm in Eastern Arkansas. Starting out in professional regional theater at age 15, he went on to attend the Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting theater program at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. While performing in numerous school of theater, student, and independent produced plays he began working in television and film during his junior year and continued on through to graduation while producing and performing theater of his own . Robert Baker currently recurs on SUPERGIRL as the comic villain Otis Graves. And recently wrapped recurring arcs on WRECKED, THE SANTA CLARITA DIET and RIVERDALE. He can be seen as legendary Texas ranger “Big Foot” Wallace in the A+E Miniseries TEXAS RISING as well as tragic real-life detective Bryan Ridge in THE DEVIL’S KNOT opposite Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth. His film VIRTUALLY HEROES premiered at Sundance. Other big screen hits include INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL opposite Harrison Ford, LEATHERHEADS opposite George Clooney and OUT OF TIME opposite Denzel Washington as well THE LONE RANGER. On the small screen he is best known for his long recurring arc on GREY’S ANATOMY as ‘Dr. Charles Percy’ and ‘Randal Kusik’ on JUSTIFIED as well as countless roles on shows like Blindspot, The Magicians, Six Feet Under, and Mad Men..

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“Nobody wants to see what you’ve planned. They want to see you exist.”

“Denzel Washington is never going to say the same thing twice.”

“I really try to make it a little different going in everytime, for your own sake. That’s a real trap, trying to replicate what worked.”

VIDEOS:

Show Links:

Credits:

  • WRITER: Erin McCluskey
  • SOUND DESIGN: Zachary Jameson
  • WEBSITE & GRAPHICS: Chase Jennings
  • ASSISTANT: Elle Powell
  • SOCIAL OUTREACH: Bebe Katsenes

RE-RELEASE: T.R. Knight
RE-RELEASE: T.R. Knight 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

GENIUS Character from GREY’S ANATOMY

Among his long career in theater and television, T.R Knight is best known for his incredibly dynamic portrayal as Dr. George O’Malley in Grey’s Anatomy, earning him both a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble and an Emmy Nomination. He performed and starred in The Guthrie Theater’s Amadeus and Ah, Wilderness! Knight guest starred in The Good Wife, portraying Jordan Karahalios, in the CBS drama starring Julianna Margulies as she navigates her career after a political scandal involving her husband. In 11.22.63, the Hulu produced miniseries and adaptation of Stephen King’s science fiction novel, Knight is Johnny Clayton, starring with James Franco and Sarah Gadon, and following one teacher’s journey after he slips through a time portal and desperately attempts to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Knight joined The Catch in its second season, a cat and mouse thriller starring Mireille Enos and produced by Shonda Rhimes, playing the self serving and down on his luck Tommy Vaughan. Most recently, you can find T.R Knight in Genius, National Geographic’s first scripted television show, transforming himself into J. Edgar Hoover.

In this interview we discover how T.R Knight navigates the bouts of unemployment, the nature of creativity, his love of prosthetics and his hobby as a writer.

Tune in

Listen On iTunes

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“I think the goal always was to just work, and work with people I admire.”

“Don’t work with everybody. Don’t take any job. Go for the people that you like their work and try to work with them, especially when you’re young and impressionable.”

“You act twice. Act to be confident, and then act for the audition.”

“The gratitude is everything.”

“So much of it is luck, and I know some people hate using that word when it comes to acting and jobs, but there are so many of us that I just don’t see how being at the right place, at the right time, how that does not come into play.”

RE-RELEASE: Paul Adelstein
RE-RELEASE: Paul Adelstein 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Bloom Where You’re Planted, Keep Moving Forward

Today we chat with Paul Adelstein, from Private Practice, Prison Break, Scandal, and Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, as he lays out his 30 year career for us, sharing some of the most inspirational, motivational, and insightful stories, and how he’s managed to turn countless challenges into opportunities to win.

Beginning in Chicago, he began his career as a member of John Cusack’s commedia-style theatre company. We talk about how the rigor of this group prepared him for anything, and as he shares with us here, there was a lot to be prepared for. From the jobs he’s lost, to the ones that have come to define his career, he’s unappologetically honest about what it takes to persevere and stay focused, even when everything seems to be falling apart. From a pre-audition pep-talk from John Travolta, to a meeting with Shonda Rhimes that lead to a direct offer, his journey proves that things always work themselves out, and often lead to beautiful, seemingly fortuitous, full-circle moments that make an artistic life worth the uncertainty and risk.

Regardless of where you are on your journey, whether you’re at a peak, or feel stuck in a valley, today’s conversation is for you. Full of encouragement and optimism, this bird’s-eye-view of a career is a reminder that things are always working out for good. Your good and for the good of great storytelling.

Tune in

Listen On iTunes

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“It’s all storytelling. Whether you’re acting or writing or directing. It’s all service of the story.”

“Bloom where you’re planted, keep moving forward.”

 

078: Paul Adelstein
078: Paul Adelstein 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Today we chat with Paul Adelstein, from Private Practice, Prison Break, Scandal, and Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, as he lays out his 30 year career for us, sharing some of the most inspirational, motivational, and insightful stories, and how he’s managed to turn countless challenges into opportunities to win.

Beginning in Chicago, he began his career as a member of John Cusack’s commedia-style theatre company. We talk about how the rigor of this group prepared him for anything, and as he shares with us here, there was a lot to be prepared for. From the jobs he’s lost, to the ones that have come to define his career, he’s unappologetically honest about what it takes to persevere and stay focused, even when everything seems to be falling apart. From a pre-audition pep-talk from John Travolta, to a meeting with Shonda Rhimes that lead to a direct offer, his journey proves that things always work themselves out, and often lead to beautiful, seemingly fortuitous, full-circle moments that make an artistic life worth the uncertainty and risk.

Regardless of where you are on your journey, whether you’re at a peak, or feel stuck in a valley, today’s conversation is for you. Full of encouragement and optimism, this bird’s-eye-view of a career is a reminder that things are always working out for good. Your good and for the good of great storytelling.

Tune in

Listen On iTunes

 

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“It’s all storytelling. Whether you’re acting or writing or directing. It’s all service of the story.”

“Bloom where you’re planted, keep moving forward.”

 

Leven Rambin on That One Audition with Alyshia Ochse

066: Leven Rambin
066: Leven Rambin 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Our episode today is a must listen for actors who want to learn how to orchestrate a career. This is an conversation about empowering yourself as an artist, about staying power, about the necessity to invest in yourself, and the importance of having a vision of where you want to go in your career and how to align everything in your life around that vision. Our guest today has fully arrived as an artist and is here to stay!

Leven Rambin is an award winning actress and director originally from Houston, Texas who trained and taught at Playhouse West in New York City. Leven began her career at just thirteen years old on the set of “All My Children” as Lily Montgomery. Since then she’s worked on dozens of films, including “The Hunger Games,” “Chasing Mavericks,” “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” and “Two Night Stand.” Most recently she starred in Ramaa Mosley’s independent film “Lost Child” as an army veteran who has returned to her home in the Ozarks to find a young, mysterious boy in the woods. She is currently working on the film “London Calling” with Ron Perlman and Malcolm McDowell and “The Dirt,” which follows the origin story of Mötley Crüe. Her television credits include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “One Tree Hill,” “Scoundrels,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” “The Tomorrow People,” and “Private Practice.” Leven joined the cast of “True Detective” in the shows second season before portrating Chloe Jones on Hulu’s “The Path,” starring alongside Aaron Paul and Michelle Monaghan. She is currently leading WGN’s crime drama “Gone” with Chris Noth and Danny Pino. “Gone” follows Leven Rambin’s character Kick Lannigan, a survivor of a famous child-abduction case, after joining a special task force dedicated to solving missing person and abduction cases.

Tune in

Listen On iTunes

 

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“Invest in yourself, have a vision of where you want to go, operate from that vision. I’m constantly evolving and becoming what it is that I still want to become.”

VIDEOS:

040: T.R. Knight
040: T.R. Knight 1500 1000 Alyshia Ochse

Among his long career in theater and television, T.R Knight is best known for his incredibly dynamic portrayal as Dr. George O’Malley in Grey’s Anatomy, earning him both a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble and an Emmy Nomination. He performed and starred in The Guthrie Theater’s Amadeus and Ah, Wilderness! Knight guest starred in The Good Wife, portraying Jordan Karahalios, in the CBS drama starring Julianna Margulies as she navigates her career after a political scandal involving her husband. In 11.22.63, the Hulu produced miniseries and adaptation of Stephen King’s science fiction novel, Knight is Johnny Clayton, starring with James Franco and Sarah Gadon, and following one teacher’s journey after he slips through a time portal and desperately attempts to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Knight joined The Catch in its second season, a cat and mouse thriller starring Mireille Enos and produced by Shonda Rhimes, playing the self serving and down on his luck Tommy Vaughan. Most recently, you can find T.R Knight in Genius, National Geographic’s first scripted television show, transforming himself into J. Edgar Hoover.

In this interview we discover how T.R Knight navigates the bouts of unemployment, the nature of creativity, his love of prosthetics and his hobby as a writer. IG: @T.R.Knight

Tune into our Interview on iTunes HERE

 

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“I think the goal always was to just work, and work with people I admire.”

“Don’t work with everybody. Don’t take any job. Go for the people that you like their work and try to work with them, especially when you’re young and impressionable.”

“You act twice. Act to be confident, and then act for the audition.”

“The gratitude is everything.”

“So much of it is luck, and I know some people hate using that word when it comes to acting and jobs, but there are so many of us that I just don’t see how being at the right place, at the right time, how that does not come into play.”

VIDEOS:

013: Alysia Reiner
013: Alysia Reiner 1500 1000 Alyshia Ochse

Alysia is best known for her role as Natalie “Fig” Figueroa, the tough as nails assistant warden everyone loves to hate on NETFLIX’s hit series ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. Alysia won a SAG award as part of the amazing ensemble cast, and you can see her in all 5 binge-worthy seasons. She is currently in production on Season 6 of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK and recently launched her very own eco-friendly fashion label, Livari. Alysia recently wrapped production as both a producer and star of motherhood dark comedy EGG, starring with Christina Hendricks and Anna Camp.

You can also catch her as Sunny in F/X’s critical hit and Peadbody Award winning BETTER THINGS, brought to you by the inimitable Louie CK and Pamela Adlon. And don’t forget to look for her in recent/upcoming episodes of YOUNGER, BROAD CITY and ODD MOM OUT.

Alysia may be all over your streaming shows and on your TV, but she couldn’t get an agent for years and self-submitted and taped for the break role in the Oscar nominated film SIDEWAYS. Listen in to hear her daily practice for being a creative person and how she is mentoring the next generation of female storytellers.

Tune into our interview right HERE

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“Don’t wait, create” CLICK TO TWEET

“Daily practice for a creative person; Do something for the business, something for the artist in the business and something for artist.”

MORE:

003: Damon Dayoub
003: Damon Dayoub 1500 1000 Alyshia Ochse
Damon Dayoub didn’t dream of being an actor, he was working 90 hour weeks in El Paso, TX managing bars and decided he needed a hobby.  That hobby landed him in Los Angeles at the mercy of some of the best casting directors looking out for him.  Damon worked hard on his new found love of acting and started crafting a career by learning some tough lessons, taking chances and being humble.  Many of Damon’s job have been from a few casting elites who have an eye for greatness and trust his instincts.  Damon landed his first TV guest star role on the show, The Whole Truth (2010) casted by Michael Testa.  Damon has also appeared on shows such as, Brothers & Sisters, Single Ladies, Dallas, NCIS, and The Last Ship.
Damon currently plays Detective Quincy Fisher on the third season of Freeform’s Stitchers (also cast by Michael Testa) and will be seen on the big screen later this year in Danger One.

CLICK HERE to tune in!

Resources

QUOTES

“If you don’t care, it frees you up to fail. It allows you to do some really shitty stuff. But in that really bad, messy work, some of the best work you’ve ever done will emerge.”

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ALYSHIA OCHSE

Los Angeles-based actress, bestselling author, host of That One Audition podcast, entrepreneur, & mother.

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