Sharing Joyful Fantasy Stories With Actress And Host Krystina Arielle

What if you could play pretend in fantasy worlds for a living?

Krystina Arielle is an actress, host, table top gamer and voice over artist. She hosts the Lucasfilm webseries Star Wars: The High Republic Show on StarWars.com. Arielle is also currently starring as Judy Gardenier in the Shipwrecked comedy YouTube series Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story as well as Captain Cyla-919 on the Twitch series and podcast Into The Mother Lands, an afro-futurist improv adventure series with an all POC cast. Krystina Arielle joins Forbes to chat about her past, present and future in entertainment.

Goldie Chan: Hello Krystina! What has your career path been?

Krystina Arielle: In one word? Surreal. I moved to Los Angeles from Columbus, Georgia in 2014. In Columbus, I sold cars and was a bartender. I wasn’t sure what I would do in LA, I just joked that I wanted to work on one big sci-fi series that would allow me to go to Conventions free for the rest of my life. I moved in November, met my now husband in December and thought I would settle into life. I worked at a bank and in Real Estate and I just wasn’t happy.

I told my husband after our wedding that I wanted to start cosplaying and working in entertainment. I had my first on set job in the Library Bards “Now You Have The Bridge” Spock video playing Lieutenant Uhura. (Which serendipitously enough ended up being the same set I filmed my first series regular role for “Headless” on). I remember standing on that set and saying to myself “If nothing else comes of this, if I never get another job in Hollywood, I hope that Nichelle Nichols gets to see this and knows what she means to me. A few months later I was working as an assistant to Iona Morris at a convention and at the table next to me… Nichelle Nichols. We were able to spend two days talking and joking. The second day of the convention the Library Bards video was released. Not only did I get to tell her what she meant to me, I was able to watch the video with her. I took that as a “believe in the magic of your own life” moment.

I decided to focus on creating things that I cared about. I started cosplaying which led to appearances with Buzzfeed, Geek and Sundry and Cosplay Culture Magazine. From there I started playing Tabletop Roleplaying Games on a sponsored stream for Dungeons and Dragons. I have been able to play characters on Popular TTRPG Series such as Critical Role and Dimension 20.

I started hosting events and in December 2020 I got the email that changed my life. Lucasfilm was preparing to launch their new publishing initiative, the High Republic, and they were going to be launching a companion webseries called Star Wars: The High Republic Show on StarWars.com. I was asked if I wanted to host and as you do when Star Wars calls I said, “Is this a joke?”

Upon confirmation that it was not, in fact, a joke I said “Yes.” I’m now entering my second year as Host and words can’t express how much I love what I do. We’ve been able to build an amazing Community within a Community in the Star Wars world. In addition to the incredible team I’m able to work with at Star Wars online I also had the opportunity to host at Star Wars Celebration 2022 and to appear as a Featured Background Actor in Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus. Because of the High Republic Show I was also able to film a Behind-The-Scenes featurette of the experience filming Kenobi for Star Wars online. Being able to interview and be featured in scenes with Ewan McGregor, who was such a huge part of my Star Wars fan journey was magical.

I recently branched out into acting with my role as Judy in the Shipwrecked Comedy Youtube webseries Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story. It's a modern comedic retelling of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I'm also going to be playing a character in the new full length feature film “The Disruptors” by Director Adam Frucci. I truly enjoy being able to embody characters and challenge myself. I look at all that I’ve accomplished since I started this journey in 2017 and I know in my heart that there is only more magic and opportunity yet to come.

Chan: What has been your favorite project that you’ve worked on?

Arielle: It’s definitely a tie between the month I spent on the set of Obi-Wan Kenobi and watching Headless go from an idea to a show that now I get to follow along with as people watch and fall in love with the world and characters the the Shipwrecked writing team of Sean and Sinead Persaud have created. They took a chance on me with a pretty great character and I’m truly thankful for that.

With Obi-Wan it was a full circle moment that I never could have imagined. I was able to spend over a month in a Galaxy far far away. I was able to see, not only how the magic is made, but I was now a small part of it. I basically live with the Lin-Manuel Miranda line “God help and forgive me, I want to build something that’s gonna outlive me” from Hamilton in my head. That opportunity was a great brick to add to that foundation of my personal legacy. One day my kids (Luke, Ezekiel and Zoe) can tell their kids that once upon a time, I was moderately to severely cool.

Chan: How would you describe your personal brand?

Arielle: My brand is existing as my whole self because I’m enough. I allow myself permission to take up space, and that’s how I walk into every room or even navigate the social media space. I lead with kindness and try to leave people better than I found them.

I’ve tried to be open about my career successes but also the things that hurt on that road. From my battle with postpartum anxiety after my son to the grief I navigated after losing my step-father, Jerry Gaines, to Covid-19 in April of 2022. I pride myself on my vulnerability because if the things that I’ve been through and shared can convince even one person to keep going then it’s been worth it. One of my hopes is that, through my work, other aspiring or existing Black or POC creatives, know that they are allowed to, not only take up space, but to inhabit those spaces as their full selves.

One of my favorite quotes is from Janelle Monae “Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will LOVE who I am.” We spend so much of our lives being told to shrink so that we don’t intimidate with our mere existence. You are allowed to be confident, you are allowed to not only exist but to thrive.

Chan: What are you currently working on?

Arielle: As of this conversation I’m preparing to record a new episode of Star Wars: The High Republic Show and enjoying seeing the finished product as new Headless episodes air every Monday. This week I'm also preparing to return for my second year as host of the Concept Art Awards with the Concept Art Association.

The time that the people at the organization, like Nicole Hendrix Herman Rachel Meinerding, Phil Boutte, Aldis Hodge and The 9B Collective, put into honoring the Concept Artists that make so many of my favorite things possible is inspiring. Be it wardrobe, lighting, writers and artists there is so much work that goes into making the stories that we love come to life. It's nice to be a part of something that tries to honor that.

Chan: What is a dream project you’d love to work on or a collaborator that you’d love to partner with?

Arielle: I look forward to the day that Kevin Feige or Taiki Watiti call me and say “So we hear you want to play a superhero?”

Chan: What is your favorite part of your community?

Arielle: That we’re all fans, that’s our common ground. I’ve just been fortunate enough to occasionally be in the proverbial room where it happens. But I am truly just a Professional Fangirl. It means a lot to me that each of these communities that I represent are full of people that at their core, have come together because they are so passionate about something. We keep the properties that bind us alive by sharing the love that we have for them and growing a community that just wants to unabashedly enjoy things. There’s something magical about sharing these interests that lets us know we aren’t alone.

Chan: What makes a story come alive?

Arielle: I’ll use Dungeons and Dragons. In this game and other tabletop games we come together with a storyteller, friends, pencils, paper, and dice to tell a collaborative story. Everything is theater of the mind so each person has to engage to help the others succeed. That kind of imagination requires some buy in. As you all join together to improvise an adventure where you’re slaying dragons or finding a quest around every corner you have to start believing in magic. The magic of the imagination. The more everyone involved in the story can truly embody and enjoy what it is that they’re doing, the better the experience is overall.

Chan: Any last branding or career advice for this year?

Arielle: There is something about you and what you have to offer that has gotten you this far. Trust that you are enough and what is for you will not pass you.