The Arts & The Big Break: Part 2 with Krys Marshall | The Arts & Everything

Description

A last‑minute audition. A life‑changing call. Seven years on a hit sci‑fi series. On paper, it sounds like the classic “big break” story for a working actor. But UNCSA alumna Krys Marshall (“For All Mankind,” “Paradise”) sees it as something more complex.

In Part 2 of “The Arts & The Big Break,” Krys joins UNCSA Chancellor Brian Cole to dig into what actually turns a job into a career: years of preparation, the confidence to trust your training and the courage to walk away from a “good thing” when your gut says it is time for a new chapter. She shares how a quick read for a new sci-fi drama became a defining role, and how a risky “no” later opened the door to a bigger “yes.”

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

How a last‑minute audition led to seven seasons on a hit Apple TV+ series
The mindset and preparation behind landing “For All Mankind”
Why agency, boundaries, and saying no are essential to long‑term creative careers
The role UNCSA and conservatory training played in building her resilience and self‑trust

This conversation offers candid insight for emerging actors and artists who are navigating auditions, typecasting, and the pressure to seize every opportunity while still honoring their own path.

"The Arts & Everything" is a UNCSA Media podcast hosted by Brian Cole and produced by Maria Wurttele and Sasha Hartzell. Executive producers are Katherine Johnson and Kory Kelly, and Louie Poore is the associate producer. Creative Design is Alli Myers Gagnon and Digital Strategy is Natalie Shrader. Music was composed by Chris Heckman and performed by Chris Heckman, André Vasconcellos, Miah Kay Cardoza and Gabe Lopez.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Brian Cole
In the arts, there's this idea of the big break. That one moment where you're in the right place at the right time. When you meet the right person, land the perfect role. When you get called up to stand in for somebody in that big performance. A moment that changes everything. It's sort of a fairy tale in the arts industry. But like all fairy tales, it's at least somewhat rooted in truth. The question is, how much truth? If you pull back the curtain on these big moments, what do you find? Welcome to the arts and everything. I'm Brian Cole, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Today, we have a two-part episode looking at the arts and the big break. And we ask, are big breaks just the natural culmination of years of putting in the work? Or is there also a little luck involved? I'll be speaking with two actors and UNCSA alums whose careers you likely already know. They both have big break stories, and they both push back, in their own ways, on the myth that the big break comes to you. Here's part two. Krys Marshall is quickly becoming a household name. She rose to fame in the Emmy-winning series For All Mankind as astronaut Danielle Poole, and now plays Special Agent Nicole Robinson in the Emmy-nominated series Paradise. On paper, Chris's big break moment looks classic. A last-minute audition, a life-changing phone call, and a role that turned into seven years on a hit series. But Chris sees that moment differently. For her, it's not about being discovered. It's about preparation, agency. and trusting your gut. So just to start off, if you think back over the arc of your career, is there a moment where you feel like there was this big break where things changed, you know, because of an opportunity or because something changed?
Krys Marshall
I think that there is sort of this myth that it's important for me to dispel, which is the idea that You know, you're an actress and you're just pumping gas and you're humming a tune and along comes Steven Spielberg, who's like, you kid, you've got it. And so I think that that idea of being discovered or having a big break, I think it's very beautiful, but it's also sort of fantastical. And it takes the onus and the responsibility out of the hands of the artist and into the hands of the cosmos. So I think that two things can be true at the same time. obviously. There has to be opportunity. There has to be chance and luck and these things that are sort of, you know, the perfect place at the perfect time. But there's also got to be the true talent and craftsmanship and boring, uninteresting 10,000 hours that are put into it that put you in a position so that when opportunity is arriving at the precipice of preparation, then you're actually ready for that big fat moment. But that being said, to answer your question and not be obtuse, you know, I just felt like I was very much like a journeyman actor. My IMDb credits are just like, waitress one, eight different times. But what felt like that big fat moment for me was getting For All Mankind. I'd actually gone into our casting director's office for a totally different show about lesbians in their 20s. And as I was leaving, Junie, our casting director, stopped me and said, hey, do you have a second to read this thing about NASA? And I was like, well, that's a crazy request. Just like, would you quickly do this brain surgery? So I said... Yeah, sure. And at the time, there was no script for me to read. There was just 10 pages of sides. That was all a bunch of like astronaut jargon. I'm like, this is completely overwhelming. But I stepped outside and took a good 10 minutes to look over the material. And this is what I mean when I talk about like the boring hours logged, you know, the hours of breaking down script about character analysis and things that our deans are drilling into us for four years straight. And so I just picked apart, like, the things that I knew to be true about her, which was that I knew the story took place in the sort of late 1960s civil rights era. I knew that she was a black woman heading into the NASA program, which at that time, you know, didn't exist. I don't know what it's like to live in segregated communities, but I know what it's like to feel like an outsider. I know what it's like to feel overwhelmed, to feel like I have to impress. And so I took the bits and pieces that I could cherry pick about me and threw them in there because there's no way that I have. The time to do the things that we would do in school of hours and days spent preparing. And, you know, does she move like a gorilla? Does she move like a monarch? You know, like there isn't room for all of that. I'm grateful for my School of the Arts experience for reminding me, like, wherever I go, there I am. I can bring Chris with me. And so I did the best I could to look over these sides in the 10 minutes that I had. And then I came back in and just did it and played with it. and probably got 60% of the lines right, but just sort of played in the story. And I felt good and left. And that evening, I went to an acting class. And in LA, you know, there's a lot of charlatans who have a lot of ideas about how acting should be done. And this time I was auditing the class and we had some fluff scene from like a Grey's Anatomy or something like that. And this teacher was just reaming me about how... I'm not going to make it if I don't do this, if I don't do that. And, you know, you really, I know you're here to audit, but you need to get in my class as soon as possible. And for $1,200, you can take my four-week intensive. Of course. And I'm just there on the verge, you know, lip quivering as this asshole tells me how I'm not going to make it. And then during the break, I check my phone and I see I have 11 missed calls.
Brian Cole
Wow.
Krys Marshall
It's everybody who works with me. And it's like, where the hell are you? So call us. back.
Brian Cole
Oh my gosh.
Krys Marshall
So I step out and my manager is like, they want you. They put in an offer. You're going to start in two days, like get to a computer. We got to send you the docu sign. And you know, there's this multi-page contract that you need to go over. Come on, come on, where are you? And I'm like, I'm in class. And they're like, I'm learning to act. Exactly. And they're like, we'll get out. So I sneak back in, I grab my purse. I'm like, sorry. Goodbye. And the next day I was on the Sony lot doing a costume fitting. And the day after that, I was on set for a show that I would then do for seven more years. And so, of course, there's still pain in my heart feeling like, oh, gosh, did I take that from someone else? This is the part you don't have control over. And there have been many times where I have been so close and the hook was pulled out of my mouth and I felt like, oh, my God, that wasn't fair. But things happen the way that they're meant to. And so. I think just coming back full circle to preparation and the arduous, uninteresting parts of pulling apart material, building character. You're doing all that so that when opportunity is presented to you, and it is quick, fast, and in a hurry, that you're ready.
Brian Cole
Yeah. Yeah. I think the idea of being ready, that's everything.
Krys Marshall
Yeah.
Brian Cole
I very much respect the context you gave initially about the idea between a big break and the work it takes. The idea of these. big moments, these big breaks, fits a big romantic narrative for the artist and the career. But then when you're describing that moment where you're looking at your phone in those subsequent days, I imagine that definitely felt like a moment. And I can hear it in your voice when you describe it.
Krys Marshall
Yeah. And I also didn't know then what I know now. Initially, the role was meant to just be a three-episode guest star. And in the first episode, I think I maybe had three or four scenes. But I was a steward of those scenes. I didn't see them as like, oh, I'm just playing this little small part or I'll only be here for three episodes. I mentally was like, I'm in this world. I am in 1968 Houston, Texas. I'm believing in this world. I'm living in this world. I've always been like a desperately inquisitive person. And on set, I like to sit with the ADs and ask them like, OK, so when we turn around, what is it that we're picking up this time? And I see, you know, talking to the DP and saying. Okay, I heard that you're going to swing from a 60 to an 80. Like, what exactly does that mean? At that point, I'd never been on a show for a long enough time to really feel like I had a rapport with the crew where I could, you know, feel comfortable enough to ask questions. It helped me kind of cheat code my way into feeling more at ease on set. So I didn't behave like a girl who was just there for three episodes. I behaved like a girl who belonged as a part of this family. As time went on, they kept writing more and writing more and writing more until... I became the second lead of the show.
Brian Cole
Wow.
Krys Marshall
I sort of hung in there like a virus.
Brian Cole
A happy virus. Well, as you said, you didn't know then what you know now, in terms of certainly what the experience has taught you, but didn't know that there was going to be more than three episodes. You didn't know that the show was going to go on to be the huge success it was. I mean, it's such a great show. When you look back on knowing what you know now and what this experience has taught you, what are kind of the unexpected challenges that have come from from this kind of success?
Krys Marshall
So something I had not expected at all is, you know, when you're in a school environment. You're going up to do your scene work. And in that moment, your deans or your professors are watching your work expressly to give you remarks about your work. And so there is this sort of one-to-one exchange that you grow accustomed to. And you're at times putting a lot of responsibility on your superiors to guide you. Being on a TV show is the exact opposite. The director is at the same time as he's watching your work. He's also looking at the art department and making sure, wait a minute. In the background, I see a copy of Time magazine from 1981. No, no, no, no, wait. This scene is a flashback scene from 1974. Hey, can somebody fly in and pull out that Time magazine? And so here you are doing the performance of your life, and now it's all going to be redone because there was a magazine in the background that was not the right fit. I did not realize until I got in the business and started to work how little feedback you get. Oftentimes, if you're doing something that works, no one will ever tell you. And if you're doing something that doesn't work, oftentimes no one will ever tell you. They just kind of cut around you or they cut your scene out entirely. And so the director is both on his downtime or her downtime thinking about the prep for the scenes that they have later on this week or for the next block of episodes. At the same time as they're talking to the writer about scene work that's being done tomorrow, at the same time as they're watching. edits from yesterday's dailies that have come in on the iPad, as they're also hearing that the actress is arriving late at base camp. So we're going to have to move around the scenes because she's late to work. And so Chris Marshall sitting here like, did you like the scene? Did you like my choice? I wanted to destroy him. And the director's like, I didn't notice. I'm sure it was fine. Let's move along. And so it took me some time. But I realized that it's up to me to decide that on this take. I'm going to eviscerate him. Now I'm going to try this again where I lure him in. Now I'm going to try this where I submit to him. I am on the hook for offering variations of this performance, variations of how I see her, so that I give the director, I give the editors, I give the post-production team an opportunity to carve out a full fleshed out performance that I have no control over. So I can either... go through the grocery aisle and put in 10 cans of, you know, chicken noodle soup, or I can put in a can of chicken noodle soup and, you know, a bunch of fresh broccoli, a handful of cilantro. Like I'm still at the grocery store. I'm still operating within the realm of the world. I'm not making up brand new lines, but I think this is what smart actors do. And sometimes the director will say, Ooh, a couple of takes back, you know, you did this and it was much more subtle. I love that. Stay in that pocket. Okay, great. But at least I'm giving them options to operate with. And no one, maybe not no one told me, but it just didn't impress upon me how much responsibility I would have for my work until I got out there and had to do it on my own.
Brian Cole
That's a really fascinating insight into the process.
Krys Marshall
Yeah.
Brian Cole
That wouldn't be evident to somebody. Certainly somebody outside of the craft. Are there times in your career where you felt you took chances or took risks that led? to something.
Krys Marshall
Yeah. Yeah. Huge. So when I did season four of For All Mankind, I spoke to my showrunners before the season started. And I said to them, I think that Danielle has to die. And it's like the craziest thing an actor could ever say to producers and showrunners because most actors want to live forever and keep playing on that show. But I felt in my bones, like, Personally, I want more to do. than this story, which I've been doing for many years. And also I think it could be a really cool thing for this world if Danielle dies. We talked about it ad nauseam and went back and forth and spoiler alert, ultimately I did not die. But when the opportunity came for me to either sign another long contract to stay on that show or do something else, I chose to do something else. You know, I was making great money on a show that was well-received, but in my bones, I felt like... I've so thoroughly enjoyed this experience. And I also know that I want something fresh and something new. For such a long time, I assumed that where you meet the fork in the road is a bit more obvious. Like, oh, this job sucks or the folks I work with are mean or this job's out of town. Like there needs to be some reason why I walk away. And it just felt like I was holding on to a divining rod that was pulling me, you know, like a magnetic. pull in a different direction. So of course, I talked to my husband about it. And he's like, you're crazy. Honey, we got bills to pay. What do you mean you want off your show? And also, did something bad happen? I'm like, no, I love it there as I'm crying. I'm like, I love it there. But I feel it in my heart that there's some other thing I want to do. And so I finish For All Mankind season four. And at the same time, my same casting director cast me in a pilot for FX. And I was like, I knew it. I knew something wonderful, magnetic, beautiful would come along. And then I go off to Vancouver to shoot this pilot. And it is so cool and so thoughtful and an amazing cast. And David Cornswet was our lead, along with Lucy Hale. And, you know, everyone's so cool. produced by Darren Aronofsky. And I'm like, I'm right where I need to be. I'm in the nook. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. And we finished the pilot and the writer's strike happens and FX doesn't pick it up. And I felt like I had the ultimate egg on my face. I mean, I had a great job that I left for this magic carpet ride of a pilot that then went nowhere and I've got a brand new baby. And so now I don't have a job. The industry is at a standstill. No one's working, no writers, no actors. I'm an idiot. And so I spent the strike both raising this brand new born and also really lamenting some of my choices and feeling like I really chose the wrong horse. And unbeknownst to me, because of the strike, Dan Fogelman, the creator of Paradise, my current show, which is
Brian Cole
Emmy nominated,
Krys Marshall
was in his downtime watching For All Mankind. and loving my work and saying, man, Chris Marshall is really, really good. I wonder if she's available. Turns out I was. And so when the strike ends, I get a call from Tiffany Little Canfield, who is a School of the Arts alumni, and she says, Dan loves your work and wants you for Paradise. And I'm floored because, you know, now I've got this little baby. You know, I go and I'm terrified because I've not worked as an artist in this new capacity. And thank God it was the most warm and inviting environment to be this sort of fledgling me all over again. This person who is like playing this sexual woman with prowess, but also this gun toting, brains blowing out kind of, you know, Secret Service badass. And all of this in the luxury of getting to work a few miles away from home and see my kid at night and, you know, get. Paid really well to do what I love with a bunch of folks who have more Emmys than I have pairs of underwear. I look back now and that no for for all mankind led me into a bigger no, which was that pilot not being greenlit, but led me to an ultimate yes. That put me on the red carpet at the Emmys two weeks ago. I could not have seen that. There was no way I could have seen that. And so. Some of it is about, you know, the preparation and the big, fat, splashy, hey, you kid, get over here and read this thing for NASA, those moments. But again, it's also about putting a single pearl on the string each time. And so because I both led with my intuition of my bones as an artist saying, I don't know what the future holds, but I know I can believe in Chris. This is the same Chris who I was at 17 right here at South Main Street, this kid. I believe in that kid. And if it's not this, it'll be something else. And so holding on to that little pearl of like, as the kids call it, the Lulu, you know, like that little teeny delusion of like, I'm going to do it. I don't know where, I don't know how, but I'm going to do it. Let me do where I am today in a third season of a show that I couldn't love more if I tried.
Brian Cole
I think that's beautiful. That's a beautiful narrative and story. What is the advice if you look back to Chris? when she was a student here at UNCSA, which is invariably also, what advice would you give to this generation of young actors and artists that we're developing here that are going to join you out in this big, crazy world? What would that be? The advice for yourself or for them?
Krys Marshall
I think that because I live in Los Angeles, there's a real sort of timbre and tone in the atmosphere that the industry is dying. AI is going to replace us. There's going to be a million Tilly Norwoods that are all. little AI robots. And I'll just say to anyone who is listening to this, you're already miles ahead because you're here. You know, these types of institutions, specifically schoolyards, they are so rigorous. The curriculum is so thought out and so beautifully executed that these kids who are coming here are light years ahead. And I think that there is a limiting belief that I held when I was a student. that the folks who make it, they are other, they are outside of me. They've got some it factor and I'll just never have that. And this limiting belief that, you know, that I would never make it. But then there are plenty of other actors who I've worked beside who are good, but they're not earth shattering. And I realized that the kids who I went to school with and the other folks who put time and attention and money and years of service into whittling down their artistry to something that's a fine point. These kids are ready. And a lot of what ends up being the limitation and the obstacle is the belief that they're not. And so when you show up. Whether it's an interview to work as a hostess or it's an audition for a series lead, I'm going to do this the way I like it, the way I feel good. I'm going to remain open and play and have fun. I'm not going to seek validation in this room. I have had a career that's been artistically fulfilling and also lucrative because I continue to operate with a sense of sort of just like childlike belief that it's just going to be okay. And so I think. whoever can hear my voice right now, if you can just hold on to the memory and this exact moment that you already are right where you need to be. You're with good people. You're learning from incredible people. And you're going to get out into this business and continue to do incredible work as long as you stay in it. And I think for me, the moments where I thought, I can't bend, I'm going to break. I got to get out of here. This is too tough. Those were always the moments right before the next windfall. right before some weird residual check came in, or right before some huge job offer came in. And I think just staying in it and knowing that it's a marathon, not a sprint. But I just wish that the little me knew how much I had in me starting off.
Brian Cole
You just made me think of one other question, not to do with this topic, but a lot of the discussion on our campus and the arts industry relates to artificial intelligence. And of course, you know, a huge topic within... the last strike in negotiations. I was wondering, you mentioned these famous stories that we see in the media now about AI characters and the topics that have come up that are concern for the creative industry. As an actor working within the industry in television and film, do you feel that there is this window or opportunity for how generative AI could be used as a useful collaborator within film and TV? I guess I'm asking to speak for you and also just kind of what you perceive within your colleagues and in the world? Do you see it as something to really fight off? Do you see it as something to really just be reused responsibly that has certain opportunities? And of course, your opinion on this could change very much month to month as things evolve. But where do you kind of sit with that at the moment?
Krys Marshall
Yeah. I mean, I think that for me, I feel like I have to focus my energy and attention on the things that I have control over. But I think the overarching fear. that AI will replace us, I think is silly. In this moment right now, Brian, you and I are sitting here talking, and there is, without being woo-woo, there's a kinetic energy between us. It's not the same as if we were in a Zoom. And so when you have a wonderful meal with friends, and you've laughed, and you've eaten, and then you look up and you see it's midnight, and you go, oh my God, what are the time? Jesus Christ, I have work in the morning. That experience of losing yourself in this moment, it's alive, it sparkles, it's got static energy and feels like your fingertips are dazzling. And when you experience that through art, whether it's film or music. The other night we were at a restaurant and they suddenly started to play live jazz. And I thought, oh my God, there's jazz. Like it just shifts. There's a difference between. music that's played on a recording versus a live band striking up. There is no AI replacement for that feeling. of realizing that a band started up in the room that you were in. I think as artists coming back to both preparation and also an internal sense of knowing, we have to know in our bones that we are irreplaceable. We are.
Brian Cole
Another huge thank you to Krys. It was wonderful to have her on campus and sit down with her in our studio. In part one... We heard from Anna Camp about her own rise from Broadway stages to hit films and TV series. Both Chris and Anna shared these moments that define their careers. From the outside, they look like lightning strikes. An off-Broadway show where Mike Nichols happens to be in the audience. A last-minute audition. A gut instinct that pays off. But from the inside, these moments are built. They're built on years of training and a thousand small choices. They're built on discipline and courage and countless hours of work. Like the old phrase says, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. I'm Brian Cole. Thank you for listening to The Arts in Everything. We'll keep looking at these big break stories in future seasons, from filmmaking to music to behind the scenes. Until next time, take care and keep finding the arts in everything. The Arts & Everything is a podcast by UNCSA Media hosted by Brian Cole, produced by Maria Wurttele and Sasha Hartzell. Executive producers are Katherine Johnson and Kory Kelly, and Louie Poore is the associate producer. Creative Design is Alli Myers Gagnon and Digital Strategy is Natalie Shrader. Music was composed by Chris Heckman and performed by Chris Heckman, André Vasconcellos, Miah Kay Cardoza and Gabe Lopez.

Description

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

How a last‑minute audition led to seven seasons on a hit Apple TV+ series
The mindset and preparation behind landing “For All Mankind”
Why agency, boundaries, and saying no are essential to long‑term creative careers
The role UNCSA and conservatory training played in building her resilience and self‑trust

This conversation offers candid insight for emerging actors and artists who are navigating auditions, typecasting, and the pressure to seize every opportunity while still honoring their own path.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Brian Cole
In the arts, there's this idea of the big break. That one moment where you're in the right place at the right time. When you meet the right person, land the perfect role. When you get called up to stand in for somebody in that big performance. A moment that changes everything. It's sort of a fairy tale in the arts industry. But like all fairy tales, it's at least somewhat rooted in truth. The question is, how much truth? If you pull back the curtain on these big moments, what do you find? Welcome to the arts and everything. I'm Brian Cole, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Today, we have a two-part episode looking at the arts and the big break. And we ask, are big breaks just the natural culmination of years of putting in the work? Or is there also a little luck involved? I'll be speaking with two actors and UNCSA alums whose careers you likely already know. They both have big break stories, and they both push back, in their own ways, on the myth that the big break comes to you. Here's part two. Krys Marshall is quickly becoming a household name. She rose to fame in the Emmy-winning series For All Mankind as astronaut Danielle Poole, and now plays Special Agent Nicole Robinson in the Emmy-nominated series Paradise. On paper, Chris's big break moment looks classic. A last-minute audition, a life-changing phone call, and a role that turned into seven years on a hit series. But Chris sees that moment differently. For her, it's not about being discovered. It's about preparation, agency. and trusting your gut. So just to start off, if you think back over the arc of your career, is there a moment where you feel like there was this big break where things changed, you know, because of an opportunity or because something changed?
Krys Marshall
I think that there is sort of this myth that it's important for me to dispel, which is the idea that You know, you're an actress and you're just pumping gas and you're humming a tune and along comes Steven Spielberg, who's like, you kid, you've got it. And so I think that that idea of being discovered or having a big break, I think it's very beautiful, but it's also sort of fantastical. And it takes the onus and the responsibility out of the hands of the artist and into the hands of the cosmos. So I think that two things can be true at the same time. obviously. There has to be opportunity. There has to be chance and luck and these things that are sort of, you know, the perfect place at the perfect time. But there's also got to be the true talent and craftsmanship and boring, uninteresting 10,000 hours that are put into it that put you in a position so that when opportunity is arriving at the precipice of preparation, then you're actually ready for that big fat moment. But that being said, to answer your question and not be obtuse, you know, I just felt like I was very much like a journeyman actor. My IMDb credits are just like, waitress one, eight different times. But what felt like that big fat moment for me was getting For All Mankind. I'd actually gone into our casting director's office for a totally different show about lesbians in their 20s. And as I was leaving, Junie, our casting director, stopped me and said, hey, do you have a second to read this thing about NASA? And I was like, well, that's a crazy request. Just like, would you quickly do this brain surgery? So I said... Yeah, sure. And at the time, there was no script for me to read. There was just 10 pages of sides. That was all a bunch of like astronaut jargon. I'm like, this is completely overwhelming. But I stepped outside and took a good 10 minutes to look over the material. And this is what I mean when I talk about like the boring hours logged, you know, the hours of breaking down script about character analysis and things that our deans are drilling into us for four years straight. And so I just picked apart, like, the things that I knew to be true about her, which was that I knew the story took place in the sort of late 1960s civil rights era. I knew that she was a black woman heading into the NASA program, which at that time, you know, didn't exist. I don't know what it's like to live in segregated communities, but I know what it's like to feel like an outsider. I know what it's like to feel overwhelmed, to feel like I have to impress. And so I took the bits and pieces that I could cherry pick about me and threw them in there because there's no way that I have. The time to do the things that we would do in school of hours and days spent preparing. And, you know, does she move like a gorilla? Does she move like a monarch? You know, like there isn't room for all of that. I'm grateful for my School of the Arts experience for reminding me, like, wherever I go, there I am. I can bring Chris with me. And so I did the best I could to look over these sides in the 10 minutes that I had. And then I came back in and just did it and played with it. and probably got 60% of the lines right, but just sort of played in the story. And I felt good and left. And that evening, I went to an acting class. And in LA, you know, there's a lot of charlatans who have a lot of ideas about how acting should be done. And this time I was auditing the class and we had some fluff scene from like a Grey's Anatomy or something like that. And this teacher was just reaming me about how... I'm not going to make it if I don't do this, if I don't do that. And, you know, you really, I know you're here to audit, but you need to get in my class as soon as possible. And for $1,200, you can take my four-week intensive. Of course. And I'm just there on the verge, you know, lip quivering as this asshole tells me how I'm not going to make it. And then during the break, I check my phone and I see I have 11 missed calls.
Brian Cole
Wow.
Krys Marshall
It's everybody who works with me. And it's like, where the hell are you? So call us. back.
Brian Cole
Oh my gosh.
Krys Marshall
So I step out and my manager is like, they want you. They put in an offer. You're going to start in two days, like get to a computer. We got to send you the docu sign. And you know, there's this multi-page contract that you need to go over. Come on, come on, where are you? And I'm like, I'm in class. And they're like, I'm learning to act. Exactly. And they're like, we'll get out. So I sneak back in, I grab my purse. I'm like, sorry. Goodbye. And the next day I was on the Sony lot doing a costume fitting. And the day after that, I was on set for a show that I would then do for seven more years. And so, of course, there's still pain in my heart feeling like, oh, gosh, did I take that from someone else? This is the part you don't have control over. And there have been many times where I have been so close and the hook was pulled out of my mouth and I felt like, oh, my God, that wasn't fair. But things happen the way that they're meant to. And so. I think just coming back full circle to preparation and the arduous, uninteresting parts of pulling apart material, building character. You're doing all that so that when opportunity is presented to you, and it is quick, fast, and in a hurry, that you're ready.
Brian Cole
Yeah. Yeah. I think the idea of being ready, that's everything.
Krys Marshall
Yeah.
Brian Cole
I very much respect the context you gave initially about the idea between a big break and the work it takes. The idea of these. big moments, these big breaks, fits a big romantic narrative for the artist and the career. But then when you're describing that moment where you're looking at your phone in those subsequent days, I imagine that definitely felt like a moment. And I can hear it in your voice when you describe it.
Krys Marshall
Yeah. And I also didn't know then what I know now. Initially, the role was meant to just be a three-episode guest star. And in the first episode, I think I maybe had three or four scenes. But I was a steward of those scenes. I didn't see them as like, oh, I'm just playing this little small part or I'll only be here for three episodes. I mentally was like, I'm in this world. I am in 1968 Houston, Texas. I'm believing in this world. I'm living in this world. I've always been like a desperately inquisitive person. And on set, I like to sit with the ADs and ask them like, OK, so when we turn around, what is it that we're picking up this time? And I see, you know, talking to the DP and saying. Okay, I heard that you're going to swing from a 60 to an 80. Like, what exactly does that mean? At that point, I'd never been on a show for a long enough time to really feel like I had a rapport with the crew where I could, you know, feel comfortable enough to ask questions. It helped me kind of cheat code my way into feeling more at ease on set. So I didn't behave like a girl who was just there for three episodes. I behaved like a girl who belonged as a part of this family. As time went on, they kept writing more and writing more and writing more until... I became the second lead of the show.
Brian Cole
Wow.
Krys Marshall
I sort of hung in there like a virus.
Brian Cole
A happy virus. Well, as you said, you didn't know then what you know now, in terms of certainly what the experience has taught you, but didn't know that there was going to be more than three episodes. You didn't know that the show was going to go on to be the huge success it was. I mean, it's such a great show. When you look back on knowing what you know now and what this experience has taught you, what are kind of the unexpected challenges that have come from from this kind of success?
Krys Marshall
So something I had not expected at all is, you know, when you're in a school environment. You're going up to do your scene work. And in that moment, your deans or your professors are watching your work expressly to give you remarks about your work. And so there is this sort of one-to-one exchange that you grow accustomed to. And you're at times putting a lot of responsibility on your superiors to guide you. Being on a TV show is the exact opposite. The director is at the same time as he's watching your work. He's also looking at the art department and making sure, wait a minute. In the background, I see a copy of Time magazine from 1981. No, no, no, no, wait. This scene is a flashback scene from 1974. Hey, can somebody fly in and pull out that Time magazine? And so here you are doing the performance of your life, and now it's all going to be redone because there was a magazine in the background that was not the right fit. I did not realize until I got in the business and started to work how little feedback you get. Oftentimes, if you're doing something that works, no one will ever tell you. And if you're doing something that doesn't work, oftentimes no one will ever tell you. They just kind of cut around you or they cut your scene out entirely. And so the director is both on his downtime or her downtime thinking about the prep for the scenes that they have later on this week or for the next block of episodes. At the same time as they're talking to the writer about scene work that's being done tomorrow, at the same time as they're watching. edits from yesterday's dailies that have come in on the iPad, as they're also hearing that the actress is arriving late at base camp. So we're going to have to move around the scenes because she's late to work. And so Chris Marshall sitting here like, did you like the scene? Did you like my choice? I wanted to destroy him. And the director's like, I didn't notice. I'm sure it was fine. Let's move along. And so it took me some time. But I realized that it's up to me to decide that on this take. I'm going to eviscerate him. Now I'm going to try this again where I lure him in. Now I'm going to try this where I submit to him. I am on the hook for offering variations of this performance, variations of how I see her, so that I give the director, I give the editors, I give the post-production team an opportunity to carve out a full fleshed out performance that I have no control over. So I can either... go through the grocery aisle and put in 10 cans of, you know, chicken noodle soup, or I can put in a can of chicken noodle soup and, you know, a bunch of fresh broccoli, a handful of cilantro. Like I'm still at the grocery store. I'm still operating within the realm of the world. I'm not making up brand new lines, but I think this is what smart actors do. And sometimes the director will say, Ooh, a couple of takes back, you know, you did this and it was much more subtle. I love that. Stay in that pocket. Okay, great. But at least I'm giving them options to operate with. And no one, maybe not no one told me, but it just didn't impress upon me how much responsibility I would have for my work until I got out there and had to do it on my own.
Brian Cole
That's a really fascinating insight into the process.
Krys Marshall
Yeah.
Brian Cole
That wouldn't be evident to somebody. Certainly somebody outside of the craft. Are there times in your career where you felt you took chances or took risks that led? to something.
Krys Marshall
Yeah. Yeah. Huge. So when I did season four of For All Mankind, I spoke to my showrunners before the season started. And I said to them, I think that Danielle has to die. And it's like the craziest thing an actor could ever say to producers and showrunners because most actors want to live forever and keep playing on that show. But I felt in my bones, like, Personally, I want more to do. than this story, which I've been doing for many years. And also I think it could be a really cool thing for this world if Danielle dies. We talked about it ad nauseam and went back and forth and spoiler alert, ultimately I did not die. But when the opportunity came for me to either sign another long contract to stay on that show or do something else, I chose to do something else. You know, I was making great money on a show that was well-received, but in my bones, I felt like... I've so thoroughly enjoyed this experience. And I also know that I want something fresh and something new. For such a long time, I assumed that where you meet the fork in the road is a bit more obvious. Like, oh, this job sucks or the folks I work with are mean or this job's out of town. Like there needs to be some reason why I walk away. And it just felt like I was holding on to a divining rod that was pulling me, you know, like a magnetic. pull in a different direction. So of course, I talked to my husband about it. And he's like, you're crazy. Honey, we got bills to pay. What do you mean you want off your show? And also, did something bad happen? I'm like, no, I love it there as I'm crying. I'm like, I love it there. But I feel it in my heart that there's some other thing I want to do. And so I finish For All Mankind season four. And at the same time, my same casting director cast me in a pilot for FX. And I was like, I knew it. I knew something wonderful, magnetic, beautiful would come along. And then I go off to Vancouver to shoot this pilot. And it is so cool and so thoughtful and an amazing cast. And David Cornswet was our lead, along with Lucy Hale. And, you know, everyone's so cool. produced by Darren Aronofsky. And I'm like, I'm right where I need to be. I'm in the nook. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. And we finished the pilot and the writer's strike happens and FX doesn't pick it up. And I felt like I had the ultimate egg on my face. I mean, I had a great job that I left for this magic carpet ride of a pilot that then went nowhere and I've got a brand new baby. And so now I don't have a job. The industry is at a standstill. No one's working, no writers, no actors. I'm an idiot. And so I spent the strike both raising this brand new born and also really lamenting some of my choices and feeling like I really chose the wrong horse. And unbeknownst to me, because of the strike, Dan Fogelman, the creator of Paradise, my current show, which is
Brian Cole
Emmy nominated,
Krys Marshall
was in his downtime watching For All Mankind. and loving my work and saying, man, Chris Marshall is really, really good. I wonder if she's available. Turns out I was. And so when the strike ends, I get a call from Tiffany Little Canfield, who is a School of the Arts alumni, and she says, Dan loves your work and wants you for Paradise. And I'm floored because, you know, now I've got this little baby. You know, I go and I'm terrified because I've not worked as an artist in this new capacity. And thank God it was the most warm and inviting environment to be this sort of fledgling me all over again. This person who is like playing this sexual woman with prowess, but also this gun toting, brains blowing out kind of, you know, Secret Service badass. And all of this in the luxury of getting to work a few miles away from home and see my kid at night and, you know, get. Paid really well to do what I love with a bunch of folks who have more Emmys than I have pairs of underwear. I look back now and that no for for all mankind led me into a bigger no, which was that pilot not being greenlit, but led me to an ultimate yes. That put me on the red carpet at the Emmys two weeks ago. I could not have seen that. There was no way I could have seen that. And so. Some of it is about, you know, the preparation and the big, fat, splashy, hey, you kid, get over here and read this thing for NASA, those moments. But again, it's also about putting a single pearl on the string each time. And so because I both led with my intuition of my bones as an artist saying, I don't know what the future holds, but I know I can believe in Chris. This is the same Chris who I was at 17 right here at South Main Street, this kid. I believe in that kid. And if it's not this, it'll be something else. And so holding on to that little pearl of like, as the kids call it, the Lulu, you know, like that little teeny delusion of like, I'm going to do it. I don't know where, I don't know how, but I'm going to do it. Let me do where I am today in a third season of a show that I couldn't love more if I tried.
Brian Cole
I think that's beautiful. That's a beautiful narrative and story. What is the advice if you look back to Chris? when she was a student here at UNCSA, which is invariably also, what advice would you give to this generation of young actors and artists that we're developing here that are going to join you out in this big, crazy world? What would that be? The advice for yourself or for them?
Krys Marshall
I think that because I live in Los Angeles, there's a real sort of timbre and tone in the atmosphere that the industry is dying. AI is going to replace us. There's going to be a million Tilly Norwoods that are all. little AI robots. And I'll just say to anyone who is listening to this, you're already miles ahead because you're here. You know, these types of institutions, specifically schoolyards, they are so rigorous. The curriculum is so thought out and so beautifully executed that these kids who are coming here are light years ahead. And I think that there is a limiting belief that I held when I was a student. that the folks who make it, they are other, they are outside of me. They've got some it factor and I'll just never have that. And this limiting belief that, you know, that I would never make it. But then there are plenty of other actors who I've worked beside who are good, but they're not earth shattering. And I realized that the kids who I went to school with and the other folks who put time and attention and money and years of service into whittling down their artistry to something that's a fine point. These kids are ready. And a lot of what ends up being the limitation and the obstacle is the belief that they're not. And so when you show up. Whether it's an interview to work as a hostess or it's an audition for a series lead, I'm going to do this the way I like it, the way I feel good. I'm going to remain open and play and have fun. I'm not going to seek validation in this room. I have had a career that's been artistically fulfilling and also lucrative because I continue to operate with a sense of sort of just like childlike belief that it's just going to be okay. And so I think. whoever can hear my voice right now, if you can just hold on to the memory and this exact moment that you already are right where you need to be. You're with good people. You're learning from incredible people. And you're going to get out into this business and continue to do incredible work as long as you stay in it. And I think for me, the moments where I thought, I can't bend, I'm going to break. I got to get out of here. This is too tough. Those were always the moments right before the next windfall. right before some weird residual check came in, or right before some huge job offer came in. And I think just staying in it and knowing that it's a marathon, not a sprint. But I just wish that the little me knew how much I had in me starting off.
Brian Cole
You just made me think of one other question, not to do with this topic, but a lot of the discussion on our campus and the arts industry relates to artificial intelligence. And of course, you know, a huge topic within... the last strike in negotiations. I was wondering, you mentioned these famous stories that we see in the media now about AI characters and the topics that have come up that are concern for the creative industry. As an actor working within the industry in television and film, do you feel that there is this window or opportunity for how generative AI could be used as a useful collaborator within film and TV? I guess I'm asking to speak for you and also just kind of what you perceive within your colleagues and in the world? Do you see it as something to really fight off? Do you see it as something to really just be reused responsibly that has certain opportunities? And of course, your opinion on this could change very much month to month as things evolve. But where do you kind of sit with that at the moment?
Krys Marshall
Yeah. I mean, I think that for me, I feel like I have to focus my energy and attention on the things that I have control over. But I think the overarching fear. that AI will replace us, I think is silly. In this moment right now, Brian, you and I are sitting here talking, and there is, without being woo-woo, there's a kinetic energy between us. It's not the same as if we were in a Zoom. And so when you have a wonderful meal with friends, and you've laughed, and you've eaten, and then you look up and you see it's midnight, and you go, oh my God, what are the time? Jesus Christ, I have work in the morning. That experience of losing yourself in this moment, it's alive, it sparkles, it's got static energy and feels like your fingertips are dazzling. And when you experience that through art, whether it's film or music. The other night we were at a restaurant and they suddenly started to play live jazz. And I thought, oh my God, there's jazz. Like it just shifts. There's a difference between. music that's played on a recording versus a live band striking up. There is no AI replacement for that feeling. of realizing that a band started up in the room that you were in. I think as artists coming back to both preparation and also an internal sense of knowing, we have to know in our bones that we are irreplaceable. We are.
Brian Cole
Another huge thank you to Krys. It was wonderful to have her on campus and sit down with her in our studio. In part one... We heard from Anna Camp about her own rise from Broadway stages to hit films and TV series. Both Chris and Anna shared these moments that define their careers. From the outside, they look like lightning strikes. An off-Broadway show where Mike Nichols happens to be in the audience. A last-minute audition. A gut instinct that pays off. But from the inside, these moments are built. They're built on years of training and a thousand small choices. They're built on discipline and courage and countless hours of work. Like the old phrase says, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. I'm Brian Cole. Thank you for listening to The Arts in Everything. We'll keep looking at these big break stories in future seasons, from filmmaking to music to behind the scenes. Until next time, take care and keep finding the arts in everything. The Arts & Everything is a podcast by UNCSA Media hosted by Brian Cole, produced by Maria Wurttele and Sasha Hartzell. Executive producers are Katherine Johnson and Kory Kelly, and Louie Poore is the associate producer. Creative Design is Alli Myers Gagnon and Digital Strategy is Natalie Shrader. Music was composed by Chris Heckman and performed by Chris Heckman, André Vasconcellos, Miah Kay Cardoza and Gabe Lopez.

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