Madonna in her "Give Me All Your Luvin' " music video
Photo: Interscope

On Friday (February 3), Madonna dropped the highly anticipated video for her lead MDNA single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'." Directed by Megaforce, the clip is a feast for the eyes, specifically those who only have eyes for the Queen of Pop.

Featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. in cheerleader uniforms, the clip is full of various references to her past work. It's funky, surreal and a touch tongue-in-cheek. Only a few hours into the premiere, her fans had already formed their opinion about the video. So, what are they thinking?

"Congratulations, Madonna. Thank you for you are always beyond the edge," Fabio Pamplona wrote on Madonna's Facebook page. But, he wasn't the only Madge fan putting his two cents in on her site.

"Great and funny video. The song didn't grow on me yet, but it's a fine pop gem, indeed, like the ones Martin [Solveig] usually does!" Alex Meyer added. "But, can't wait for hearing the tracks with William [Orbit]!"

Jennifer Sargent-Ormston had quite a lengthy response to the video. "LOVE IT!!! It was fun! I also like your hair like that, both ways.. and I thought the old school touches of yourself was a smart idea - or maybe you did it naturally? Even the album cover is your old school ways, and I thought it was smart," she wrote. "I hope you do well with this album. I like that it's dance as well. People respond well to FUN! Good luck with the superbowl, just kick ass and don't be nervous - just do your 'thang'!"

Charlie Richey added, "The vid is super fun and the song super catchy!"

Fans have also been taking to several of Madge's biggest fan sites to praise the Queen's latest video offering. Giannis Mdna Haralabidis noted on Madonnarama, "OK MADONNA IS OFFICIALLY BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER."

"Wow shes back and the fever is running through my veins," Richard Wilson wrote on Madonna Tribe's Facebook page. Meanwhile, another fan noted that visually the video couldn't have been more intriguing.

"Well, she said different than what's going on in music today, and she did," Trace Jenkins said. "Art direction in the video is amazing."

What did you think of the "Give Me All Your Luvin' " video? Leave your comment below!

• MTV Rough Cut: Madonna

• Madonna

Channing Tatum
Photo: Getty Images

This year is shaping up to be a huge one for Channing Tatum. With five movies set for release in 2012 — the next being "The Vow" with Rachel McAdams on February 10 — it's makes sense that Tatum is about to reach a pretty big milestone in his career: hosting "Saturday Night Live" for the first time, alongside musical guest Bon Iver.

MTV News caught up with star during rehearsals on the "SNL" set, where he seemed to be a little anxious taking on his newest role as host.

"I'm more nervous then I could probably tell you," Channing admitted. "It happened so sort of constant and fast, you don't really get a chance to think about it all too much. Like, you go home, you think and think and think, then you pass out and your alarm goes off, and then you come and do it again."

The "SNL" cast is trying to put Tatum's nerves at ease. "They take care of you so much, so they really set you up to succeed," he said. "Everyone is so at the top of their game as far as writing and acting, and this is a machine like I've never seen before. I wish movies ran this efficient; we would make them better."

Tatum, who revealed that his favorite past "SNL" castmembers are Dan Aykroyd and Chris Kattan, got some unusual advice on what he should do Saturday night from onetime host Kelly Ripa.

"She said to put Vaseline on my teeth because she said your mouth goes dry when you say your name and your lips are stuck to your teeth," Channing said. "If I can remember it, I'll do it, but maybe I'll Vaseline the lips instead of the teeth."

Are you excited to see Channing Tatum host "Saturday Night Live"? Let us know in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "The Vow."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

Madonna directing "W.E."
Photo: The Weinstein Co.

In addition to her heavily hyped performance at Super Bowl XLVI this weekend, Madonna has been busy writing and directing her second movie, "W.E.," which follows the real-life love story of American divorcée Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII during the '30s, as well as a parallel story of a fictional American woman set in 1998 who became obsessed with Simpson's story.

The film has received some early awards-season love, including a Golden Globe win for Best Original Song and another Globe nomination for Best Original Score, but judging by its 17 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, the magic of the romance seems to have been lost on critics. Read on as we sift through the "W.E." reviews:

The Parallel Storytelling
"Madonna and co-screenwriter Alek Keshishian try to fuse the threads of two very different tales, set several eras apart, to provide elucidation on the nature of love. But there's not much illumination to be had. There is, however, plenty of pretentious folderol. Clothes, jewelry and expensive trinkets are fraught with superficial symbolism. The more intriguing of the two stories centers on the 1930s romance and marriage of chic American divorcée Wallis Simpson and Great Britain's King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne to marry her. (The title stands for Wallis and Edward.) ... Jumping forward to 1998, the second story is about Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish) and her fascination with Simpson. Married to a self-absorbed and abusive psychiatrist, Wally roams New York City in a state of gloomy reverie. She forges an unlikely bond with Evgeni (Oscar Isaac), a guard at Sotheby's, where she goes often to look at the royal paraphernalia about to be auctioned. The disparate strands of the two stories never make much sense the way they're braided together. Presumably, the more Wally learns about the sacrifices Wallis made, the more she is emboldened to follow her heart and leave her own unhappy marriage. Yet what she uncovers about the Duke and Duchess is not always pretty." — Claudia Puig, USA Today

Madonna as Writer/Director
"The upshot is that instead of a film about a love that conquered a king and nearly undid a kingdom, Madonna has come up with a female friendship movie, which would be fine if she weren't busy trying to prove her art-film bona fides. At her entertainer best, Madonna distilled ideas and emotions into solid pop gold, transmitting a worldview through songs, music videos and her shape-shifter persona. The movies, by contrast, have largely defeated her both as an actress and as a director. As a mystical female friendship movie, 'W.E.' has its pull, but it never coheres, shredded by its editing and its pretensions, like Mrs. Simpson dancing to the Sex Pistols with a woman in African tribal regalia because, I'm guessing, Madonna likes the way Sofia Coppola used New Order's music in 'Marie Antoinette.' " — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

The Chick-Flick Factor
" 'W.E.' (which interlocks with 'The King's Speech' — Bertie pops up in a couple of scenes here just as David appeared in that one) is very much a woman's picture. The men, except the Sotheby's security guard, mainly serve as obstacles or targets. That viewpoint is daring and kind of refreshing; a recent study noted that some two-thirds of the dialogue in Hollywood movies is spoken by men (in my experience, that is a reversal of reality). In the Wallis portions, Madonna presents a frank, unashamed defense of gold-digging, though she does unconvincing penance for this in the Wally story, in which the bride proves lonely and bored in her Upper East Side castle. After more than 40 years of feminism, the gold-digging subtext remains as central to female fantasy as it is in Jane Austen novels, and it's implicit in most of those rom-coms in which, just by sheer coincidence, true love happens with the owner of a chain of bookstores, or the millionaire a gal meets while working the streets. If the woman virtuously chooses love over money, she gets the lucre anyway." — Kyle Smith, The New York Post

The Final Word, Pro-Con Style
"If anyone, Madonna certainly understands the crazy pull of celebrity obsession, and it's an intriguingly romantic premise she presents, interweaving Wally's story with the Duchess', often triggered by the modern woman's handling of certain artifacts belonging to the late, almost-Queen of England, who even begins to appear to her in hallucinations, to offer world-weary advice and/or disapproval. The director tells the Duchess' story with surprising verve, historical accuracy and style, a huge improvement over the nastily cartoonish way the couple was represented in the overrated 'The King's Speech' last year. There are a few clichéd missteps, as when Edward's mother, Queen Mary (Judy Parfitt), clucks, 'This is a pretty kettle of fish!' over her son's scandal, but, for the most part, the historical sequences have a thrilling élan, aided by the crack photography, art direction and especially Arianne Phillips' superbly accurate costume design for this most chic of fashion eras. Taking a cue, perhaps, from Sofia Coppola's 'Marie Antoinette,' Madonna has also effectively interpolated modern pop-rock music along with the usual Deco cocktail standards of the era." — David Noh, FilmJournal.com

"You can't call 'W.E.' a total disaster; it's too pretty, too nonsensical and finally too insignificant for that. Rather, it's a heavily decorated and overly complicated exercise in female narcissism, which in its plotless meandering fashion seeks to draw a mystical connection between an unhappy Manhattan wife and Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough), the Baltimore socialite who married King Edward VIII. Riseborough gives a richly enjoyable performance as the prickly, strange and not especially beautiful American who pulled a king and emperor from his throne, and some of the 1930s scenes are pretty fun, after the fashion of outtakes from 'The King's Speech' turned into music videos or haute couture shoots. Madonna and co-writer Alek Keshishian (who directed 'Truth or Dare' way back in 1991) go right at the historical reputation of Wallis and Edward as Nazi sympathizers, and to the extent that 'W.E.' is an attempt to rehabilitate them at least it has a clear agenda." — Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

Check out everything we've got on "W.E."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• MTV Rough Cut: Madonna

• Madonna

Much like Congress rethought its decision after the outpouring of public anger over the anti-piracy SOPA and PIPA (Personal Information Protection Act) acts, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation had a change of heart on Friday (February 3) after intense criticism for its decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood initiatives.

Komen, the organization behind the popular pink-ribbon campaign, announced on Tuesday that it would stop funding breast cancer prevention, screening and education at Planned Parenthood health centers — a decision Planned Parenthood claimed was in response to pressure from pro-life groups. Over the past five years, PP centers with Komen program funding have provided nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams out of the more than 4 million exams performed nationwide at PP health centers, as well as more than 6,400 mammogram referrals out of 70,000 total referrals, according to PP.

Following the firestorm of controversy over the decision, the founder and CEO of the nation's largest breast-cancer advocacy group said on Friday that the group would work to change the criteria that sparked the outcry.

"We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants," Nancy G. Brinker said in a statement. "We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives."

Brinker went further, acknowledging that the original decision to pull funding was done for "political reasons, or specifically to penalize Planned Parenthood." In the wake of the public furor, Komen's director of community health programs resigned in protest over the decision. In addition, 26 U.S. senators had signed a letter this week asking Komen to reconsider its withdrawal decision.

One of the leading artistic voices of dissent over the initial Komen withdrawal from Planned Parenthood were the Decemberists. The band had worked with Komen since the band's keyboardist, Jenny Conlee, had revealed her breast cancer diagnosis. When news broke on Tuesday that Komen had pulled funding for breast cancer examinations at PP, the Decemberists redirected the funds from their "Team Jenny" T-shirt to PP.

On their website, they explained, "The Decemberists are deeply troubled by Komen for the Cure's recent decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, a vital resource in the battle against breast cancer. Providing cancer screenings to low income women is integral to the prevention and defeat of breast cancer and it is unconscionable that Komen should politicize this very important issue by bowing to the fear campaign being waged against PP by the right."

On Friday, the band added an update to their initial posting, writing, "The Decemberists are pleased that Komen for the Cure reversed their decision."

All-American Rejects' Tyson Ritter in the "Beekeeper's Daughter" music video

It's been a while — like, almost three years — since the All-American Rejects have made a music video, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that, when they got the go-ahead to shoot a clip for "Beekeeper's Daughter" (the first single from their upcoming Kids in the Street album), they decided to go all out.

"This was the first video where, when we got [the treatment], everyone said 'yes' and I said 'yes ... but could we please have some of this?' And I proceeded to sort of expel every fantastic idea I could think of," frontman Tyson Ritter explained. "From, like, a hipster fight — beards versus mustaches, a lot of plaid, had to be like 'West Side Story' — to some she-devils. Everything we could ever sort of think of for a video that was impractical is in this one.

"And the whole thing is floating on a through-line of a man walking through his day, experiencing every random encounter from every random walk of life," he continued. "And at the very end, there's a big parade with Wayne Newton."

And Ritter's not exaggerating either. Because the "Beekeeper's" video — which premiered Friday (February 3) — is most certainly jam-packed with every one of his notions and then some. It's a big, buzzy clip, brimming with dancing she-devils, cheerleaders, cops, ticker tape, a mariachi band and Mr. Newton (to name just a few). And while everything in the video elicits a thrill, it's Newton's cameo that takes the cake.

"Yeah, I think [Tyson's] email ended with, 'Oh, and Wayne Newton.' And I thought that was to sum up that this video needs to have all kinds of outrageousness," guitarist Nick Wheeler laughed. "But two days before, we got this phone call: 'Hey, Wayne Newton's going to be in the video.' I have his business card in my wallet."

Speaking of business, now that the "Beekeeper's Daughter" video has been released, there remains one rather sweet sponsorship deal AAR are very interested in securing — one that's a lot tougher to land than you'd imagine.

"This song was dubbed 'Beekeeper's Daughter' because that was the brand of honey that we had in the cabin in the Sequoia Grove National Forest when we first wrote it," Wheeler said. "It's really just our desperate attempt at a honey sponsorship."

"And those are not easy to get," Ritter laughed. "We still haven't gotten any of that honey."

What do you think of the "Beekeeper's Daughter" video? Share your reviews in the comments!

• The All-American Rejects

Katharine McPhee
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Images

It's been a while since we've seen Katharine McPhee in the spotlight. Now all eyes are on her as the "American Idol" alum takes on the leading role as Karen Cartwright in the highly anticipated NBC musical drama "Smash."

But the road to "Smash" hasn't been an easy one for McPhee. After coming in as runner-up in the 2006 season of "American Idol" and starring in "The House Bunny," McPhee has had a rough road on her career path. She was dropped from her record label in 2008 and struggled with getting other movie projects off the ground. But her determination paid off, which is something she could relate to when playing her character on "Smash."

"My character, Karen, is the biggest dreamer of them all, she dreams big. Our show is about dreaming big," McPhee told MTV News at the New York premiere of "Smash." "She has a big heart, she has a lot of drive and she's very determined about what she wants in her career and what she wants out of it and how she's gonna go about doing it, and keeping a real strong moral code. I think she is a little green when you first meet her. She's not quite sure how things go and how things are worked in the business, [and] she learns a lot throughout the course of the first season."

The show centers on the making of a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. In the first episode, viewers will see McPhee's struggle with several auditions before getting a callback to compete against newcomer Megan Hilty's character for the part of Marilyn. But according to McPhee, her audition for the role of Karen was nothing like the one you will see during the premiere on Monday.

"I did have to audition for this," McPhee said. "It was actually one of the more simple auditions I've been through. I auditioned, put myself on tape, flew to New York the next week, was testing for it. I waited two days for Mr. Spielberg to watch the tape and I got the part."

Yes, that's right. McPhee had to audition for Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, who is a producer on the series. So we had to ask: Who is more intimidating to audition for, Spielberg or former "Idol" judge Simon Cowell?

"I would say neither," McPhee declared. "Mr. Spielberg, when you meet him, he is not intimidating at all. He's the most lovely, wonderful, gentle man."

Are you excited for Monday's premiere of "Smash"? Let us know in the comments.

• Katharine McPhee

Wiz Khalifa
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Wiz Khalifa is riding high off of his success, but it isn't all good. On his sophomore album, O.N.I.F.C., Wiz will celebrate his victories, but he promises to give fans the other side, too.

"It's the Only N-Word in First Class," Wiz said, breaking down the much-speculated upon acronym when he appeared on "Sway in the Morning" on Shade 45 on Friday (February 3). "It's inspired by Prodigy's H.N.I.C. When he dropped that, I felt like that sounded so strong."

When broken down, the title of Prodigy's 2000 debut stands for "Head N---a in Charge," so for his Only N---a in First Class, Wiz took cues from the Mobb Deep MC. There is a clean version of the album, too:

One Night in First Class. Still, for Wiz the explicit title has so much more meaning. "I was just talking about me being a young rich dude and being black," Wiz told Shade 45 hosts Sway and Devi Dev about his experience in airports. "It looks crazy to them when I walk up to them and show them my ticket or I'm going in priority seating, They're like 'You're sure?' "

On one hand Khalifa is glad that he's made it; on the other, the racism that he's experienced has left a bad taste in the rapper's mouth. "It's a good feeling and then it's like a bad feeling because it's like, 'Damn, why do you feel like that about me,' " he said.

Wiz Khalifa wants to motivate Pittsburgh artists with his success.

Earlier in the interview, the Pittsburgh spitter told Sway how his next album will differ from his first. "When I did Rolling Papers, I was like, I'm gonna make these big songs, I'm gonna make these big records," he said. "What I did before when I made my music was I just went in there and made music and it was what I really liked and what I felt at the time. I kinda developed a pattern of what I was going towards and that's what I did on this album."

No word on when O.N.I.F.C. will be released, but Wiz says it is pretty much done. He didn't confirm any guests, but he did reveal that he worked with at least one pretty accomplished producer. "I got production from Pharrell on there. I worked with a lot of different people on this one, but I kept the sound really consistent," he said. "I made sure everybody that I worked with and everything that I did, they all came to my world with it."

Catch MTV News' Sway Calloway on "Sway in the Morning," on Sirius XM Radio's Shade 45, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon ET.

• Wiz Khalifa

Madonna
Photo: Getty Images

Madonna debuted her new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," on Friday (February 3) as part of a massive multimedia push ahead of her halftime performance at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Indiana, and has also revealed the track list for her much-anticipated 12th studio album, MDNA.

The Queen of Pop's single was rolled out across Clear Channel's many platforms, a promotional push that the company estimates will reach 150 million people around the world. In addition to radio, the song hit online venues like iHeartRadio.com, Clear Channel's customized online radio service, and 1,600 digital billboards in the United States, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Singapore, Belgium, Finland and the United Kingdom, according to NPR.

"This first-of-its-kind multimedia premiere with Madonna demonstrates the unequalled scope and strength of the entire Clear Channel platform," Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman said in a statement.

The full-length Megaforce-directed video for the track also hit the Web Friday and features Her Madgesty and collaborators Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. taking to the streets in cheerleader-chic attire.

"Luvin' " is a bouncy dance-pop track reminiscent of Madonna's Grammy-winning "Beautiful Stranger." Driven by glittery synths, marching band drums and claps, the song features guest raps from Minaj and M.I.A. and a deep nostalgia streak. With its simple, impossibly catchy chorus and "dance our lives away" message, the song, which was written and produced by Madonna and dance music master Martin Solveig, feels like classic Madonna re-imagined by the production dynamic that brought her widespread acclaim beginning with her 1998 electro-dance album Ray of Light.

On her official website, Madonna revealed the track titles that will be featured on the deluxe edition of her new album, MDNA, which hits stores March 26 and features production work from Solveig and Light producer William Orbit.

The deluxe edition will include 15 songs:

» Girls Gone Wild
» Gang Bang
» I'm Addicted
» Some Girls
» I Don't Give A
» Turn Up the Radio
» Give Me All Your Luvin'
» B-day Song
» Superstar
» I'm a Sinner
» Masterpiece
» Falling Free
» Love Spent
» I F---ed Up
» Beautiful Killer

• Five Key Moments In Madonna's 'Give Me All Your Luvin' Music Video

• Madonna

Adam Lambert
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/ Getty Images

Adam Lambert dropped his new video for his first Trespassing single, "Better Than I Know Myself," on Friday (February 3).

The video takes a look at the two sides of Lambert: a leather-wearing, liquor-swilling bad boy and a sweater-donning, tea-drinking homebody.

During the video, the two personas seem to battle it out in different apartments connected by a clear wall and one oxygen supply.

In the end, as the bad Lambert sets his apartment on fire, killing good-guy Lambert's air supply, the wall breaks down. The good seems to seep into his apartment as he rescues his better half. The video ends with one Lambert, walking down a sun-drenched street, seeming to be at peace with himself.

"It's about the relationship you have with yourself between your dark and light side," Lambert, who will reportedly hit the road with Queen this summer, explained to MTV News. "It's about duality. It's about that balance and finding it and struggling to maintain it and what that means. It's an emotionally complicated video and I hope people are open-minded about it. I thought really hard and long about what was covered in it and what I was trying to say with it."

The video does seem to nod to his "Whataya Want From Me" clip. "It's a cousin to that. ... There is something similar to 'Whataya Want From Me.' I think that domesticated version of myself is my idealistic better version of me," he explained. "It's the me I want to be in my right mind. It's the most happy, content, peaceful, wholesome version of myself."

The clip was directed by Ray Kay (who also worked with Lambert on his "For Your Entertainment" video), and Lambert came up with the treatment with his "Whataya" director, Diane Martel. "I just think visually [Kay's] so great. He's so great. He creates great pictures," he said, adding a big "thank you" to Martel for her help. "It's a big collaboration of a lot of different ideas."

• Adam Lambert

Alex Russell in "Chronicle"
Photo: 20th Century Fox

With "Chronicle," found footage comes to the superhero genre. It's a fun and exciting take on a story you've probably heard before, and the critics agree. You can check out MTV's review over at the Splash Page.

We've rounded up a mostly spoiler-free sampling of the reviews out there for your reading pleasure. Check out what the critics are saying about "Chronicle."

The Story
"Told mostly (we'll get to that in a bit) through the video-camera lens of a pasty Seattle high school loser named Andrew (Dane DeHaan), the film "documents'' the aftermath of his encounter with a mysteriously glowing space rock. Along with friends and fellow discoverers Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan), Andrew realizes he can levitate objects and possesses super-human strength." — Ty Burr, Boston Globe

The Leads
"From the start, there's an undertow of cruelty to the teenagers' high jinks as they learn what they can do, as when they levitate a stuffed animal to frighten a child. Mr. Trank brings a light touch to these self-discovery scenes — the three are flexing fast-evolving muscles — as well as a creeping sense of menace. In this respect, Mr. DeHaan, whose vulnerability and physical awkwardness here can evoke the young Leonardo DiCaprio in 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape,' is invaluable. Mr. Russell and Mr. Jordan are as likable as their characters, but it's Mr. DeHaan who pulls you uneasily in." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

The Writer and Director
"Sometimes a movie arrives out of the blue that announces the arrival of considerable new talents. Josh Trank is 26, and this is his directing debut. Max Landis, also 26, has written a couple of shorts. His father is the director John Landis, but connections don't teach you how to write." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The Found Footage
"One of the cleverest conceits is the way in which shots are framed so that it really does seem as if we're seeing everything through Andrew's lens. Helped by the keen eye of cinematographer Matthew Jensen, mirrors — really, any shiny surface — help fill in the settings." — Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

The Final Word
"Bolstered by the natural performances of a trio of little-known actors, the very watchable 'Chronicle' keeps us captive throughout." — Claudia Puig, USA Today

• Talk Nerdy

Jasika Nicole on "Fringe"
Photo: FOX

There's a running gag on "Fringe" about good-natured FBI agent Astrid Farnsworth: Even though she spends almost all her screen time assisting and taking care of the delightfully delirious Walter Bishop, the kooky scientist can never quite remember her name. "Aspirin," he's called her, or "Asteroid" or any other number of "A" names.

Sadly, fans can relate to Walter's repeated mistake. Sweet and mysterious though she may be, the alluring Astrid is relegated to supporting status so often that it's far too easy to forget her name. But that all changes with "Making Angels," the new episode of "Fringe" airing Friday (February 3).

Forget Olivia, Walter and Peter — this one is all about Astrid.

Actress Jasika Nicole, who plays Astrid on "Fringe," spoke with MTV News about both versions of her character taking center stage in "Making Angels," the challenges of merging two versions of the same person for the first time and much more.

MTV: We've been waiting forever for the Astrid episode of "Fringe." What took so long?

Jasika Nicole: I've been waiting so hard and long, just like the fans have! [Laughs.] I don't know why it took so long. It would be one thing if it seemed like Astrid didn't have a lot of fan support and people aren't interested, but I feel like fans have been begging to learn and see more of this character. I don't know for the life of me why it took so long.

At the beginning of the season, I called ["Fringe" show-runners Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman] and said, "I want you guys to know that I'm so happy on this show, but I would really, really love to know if there's an Astrid episode coming up. It would really give me something to look forward to." They were super vague about it. And I assumed that whenever she did get her episode, it would be a situation where Astrid figures out [the episode's mystery] at the last minute, or everyone's on LSD and she has to go out and save the day. That would be an easy way out. But I'll tell you, I was really surprised with the episode. It's so beautiful. It's personal, it's sweet, and it's really sad at the same time. I don't know why it took so long. But I think all the support the episode has been getting is going to make them feel really crappy that they didn't do this sooner. [Laughs.]

MTV: You've always been vocal about who Astrid is and what she's about. For the audience, though, we've had to piece things together: You get a bit of Astrid here and there, but she's not at the forefront the way Olivia and Peter are. When you got your episode, did Astrid measure up to your vision of her? How did the episode change your perspective on the character?

Nicole: I think [the writers and I] were on the same page. But before with Astrid, we just got the CliffsNotes version of her. She's kind, thoughtful and a great caretaker. The other Astrid is very smart and she's a little bit vacant in terms of emotional relationships and isn't the best communicator. That was kind of it. You didn't know anything about her family, what it's like when she got home ... it was just overviews of these two characters. But this episode delves into them much more. You see to what extent this Astrid is a caretaker. She does something that's just really beautiful. She's such a sweet, caring, sincere woman. It made Astrid seem like a real person. Before, you see her taking care of Walter. She laugh at his jokes and there's this weird husband-wife, father-daughter thing going on. [Laughs.] But now we get to see her in relation to someone who is not Walter. It's the first time in the four seasons we've really seen her interact with another person and putting herself out there so much.

The alternate Astrid has been a little one-note because you've only seen her at work, very focused on her job. She delivers her information and that's pretty much it. But the truth is, she has a life and she has a family. Something traumatic happens where she comes from in that universe, and she's so distraught and incapable of handling what's going on by herself, that she comes to this universe to seek out our Astrid. That's definitely a side of her you've never seen before. I always wanted to know what she's like in personal situations instead of professional ones. You get to see that. This episode is really about alt-Astrid.

MTV: One of the beauties of "Fringe" is that we get multiple versions of the same character — even though they're literally the same person, they're very different in many ways. With the two Astrids coming face to face in this episode, how do those differences and similarities come into play?

Nicole: What's interesting about having an alternate universe is trying to figure out where your paths went differently. What went on here that didn't go on there? Why aren't we the exact same person? With the Astrids, it's a little different because they're fundamentally different to the core — possibly at a genetic level, if you're of the theory [that alt-Astrid is on the autism spectrum]. That changes your relationships with your family members, which is something that's essential to the story of this episode. Not only are the two Astrids different, they're so different that they have different relationships with the people in their lives. They're the only constant. Everybody around them is different, but this connection that they have is the only solid thing that they have between them. That's going to help the alternate Astrid to figure out what's going on in her life in this crazy, tumultuous time.

MTV: "Making Angels" isn't just the first Astrid-centric episode of "Fringe," it's also your first chance to get in on some of the fun your co-stars have been having: acting opposite yourself for pretty much the entire episode. On one hand, that's got to be pretty cool. On the other, it has to be pretty tricky, right?

Nicole: You're right, it was a double-whammy. It's like you're sticking two days into one. You have to know exactly what you're going to do, you have to know so well how you're going to play those characters in the beginning of those scenes. It takes a lot of foresight. The emotional part is really tough, but then there's the technical stuff. You have to stand and make sure your outline is the same every time. There's a point where [the two Astrids] shake hands, and I could not for the life of me figure out how they were going to make it work. It's too big of a concept for me to grasp. But what was really cool is that they were able to merge the split screens on the monitors in video village, so they were watching it in real time. I'm doing it with my stand-in, but they're watching both Jasikas on the screen.

At one point, we'd been doing this one scene for like eight hours or something. We were tired. It was a big scene with two Olivias in it, two Astrids, Walter and Peter. There's all this stuff going on. We ended up not being able to finish the green screen that night. We had to come back and finish the next day. But they only needed to stick me in the scene. There are four or five other characters in the scene, but they're just filming me in front of the green screen playing off of dialogue that we had recorded the day before. Because we had done it for eight hours, I knew it like the back of my hand. I smiled at imaginary jokes being pulled, I watched imaginary people walking in — it was just so surreal. It's like you're playing a pretend game while you're drunk by yourself, but there are people watching you do it! [Laughs.] Nothing about it makes sense, but the end result is phenomenal.

The new episode of "Fringe," "Making Angels," airs Friday (February 3) at 9 p.m. ET.

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