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A day in the life with Jasika Nicole

A day in the life of out actress Jasika Nicole means you wake up in Vancouver because that’s where you film your hit show, Fringe.

Today life as Jasika, means another long day at the office but this time with your partner (photographer Claire Savage, pictured below) and friend LB (that’s me) in tow.

Wake up and eat breakfast without cheese. “I really just don’t like cheese,” Jasika says.

Then take out the recycling (“Of course”) and it’s off to the Vancouver Film Studios to film episode 9: #308 “Entrada.”

Upon arrival, we go first to her trailer to drop our things before head for catering – coffee is always a must have for a long day. This is probably one of my most favorite things about working on any set or visiting set – the abundance of food.

After coffee, we go over to hair and make-up. “My hair is difficult to style so I usually will shower and do my hair before going to work,” Jasika says. The wigs are for the stand-ins.

Jasika explains: “A stand in is someone that’s supposed to look like you. They come to the set and stand there while the lights are being adjusted so the actors can go run their lines or get in make up, while this is going on. You want them to have your height, body shape if possible and your skin color, I think, is the biggest thing.

“It has been really tricky for finding a stand in for me here in Canada, because there aren’t many brown people here. It’s a very diverse city, Vancouver, but just not a lot of biracial or black people so I have had an Asain in a wig, I’ve had a white woman in a wig I’ve had a really dark black man , not in a wig but he was bald, which is even funnier and he was really tall, like 6’3″ so he has to spread his legs really far so he looks shorter.”

There is a lot of hanging that happens on set. Jasika passes the time on her iPad.

And more food.

Jasika is warm and funny and everyone – from her co-stars to the people behind the scenes – on set really seem to like her. She is greeted with smiles and hugs from everyone. And subsequently, I was treated with the same kindness, because I was with her. Lance Reddick came by to say hello before they were called for blocking the next scene.

Gavin DeWest, Assistant Property Master, is also a photographer. Jasika and Claire had purchased one of his prints at a recent art show of his.

Then it is off to the set for blocking.

Jasika explains: “Blocking is when the actors and the director come together and they figure out where everyone is going to stand and where they are going to move. It’s different for theatre then it is for television. Obviously in theatre you have several different days of blocking where you are putting the whole show down on the stage and you can start memorizing it as you are memorizing your lines.

“But here, we have about 15 minutes to block a scene. So we go with the director and the director says ‘Let’s just read through the lines’ and so all the actors get together and they read through to hear how it sounds and if anyone in to it is moving they can do that. And you start to put it down and they’ll say ‘Oh I want you to come in from this door when your entrance is’ or ‘I want you to move to here when you say that, because I want the camera angle to be like this.'”

“So, once you go through a couple times with the director and we solidify it, that is when they bring the rest of the crew in and that is when we do “marks,” and so everybody in the crew needs to know where everyone’s going to be. Props needs to know where everybody is going to be so when they have a prop it will be in the right place. Marks needs to know where you are going to be so they can get their cameras together and they can figure out how long their lens needs to be. Sound needs to know where they are going to stand so they can put their booms in. So it just makes sure everybody is on the same page.

“It takes maybe 20 minuits to block a normal scene. Then, after blocking, you go to hair and make up and get freshened up and then it takes about 30-40 minutes to light the area and then you come in and then you start. Most often you will start with a wide shot. It’s a very general idea of everything so that they can cut to it from there and then they start going in for coverage. Which can take forever if you have about four to five people in a scene.”

Time to get into wardrobe. Jasika stopped for a chat with John Noble on her way to be fully transformed into Astrid.

Action!

For all of you Dawson’s Creek fans out there, I have no Joshua Jackson stories or photos for you. However, I did sit in his chair, but it was only for a minute and nobody actually saw it happen, so maybe it didn’t happen.

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