Meet Ashley Victoria Robinson | Actor/Host

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley Victoria Robinson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley Victoria, how do you think about risk?
No risk, no reward! That might seem trite, but I immigrated to the United States as a teenager to pursue my career and passion as a professional creator. All I had was two bags and a plane ticket. I had never been to Los Angeles before. Since then I’ve starred in an international commercial campaign, become an award-nominated stage actor, podcaster, and comic book writer, and travelled across the world to perform.

My best advice to creatives is to always aim high and bet on yourself. Nobody else is going to.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I lovingly describe myself as a “Canadian hobbit”, though I currently live and create in Los Angeles, California. In 2021 I earned my American citizenship, so I’m not only an award-losing multi-hyphenate, but a dual-citizen as well. So much of my creative work is inspired by this intersection of identities.

First and foremost I consider myself a creative. My medium of choice is acting and I love stage acting the most. Despite being raised in a Canadian military family (what is a home town? I don’t know her!), I consider Stratford, Ontario, Canada my childhood home. Stratford is the home of the Stratford Festival of Canada and I had access to world-class theatre, education, and performance opportunities from a young age. There’s nothing that fills my cup more than performing on stage before an audience. I’ve performed on stages in multiple countries including: The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Ottawa International Fringe Festival, and so many more.

My love of stage has manifested as an actor, playwright, director and, recently, co-founder. In 2022 alongside Tiana Randall-Quant and Kendell Byrd I founded the Los Angeles-based queer femme theatre company, Unladylike Theatre. We are a performance collective and our mission is to develop new works and deconstruct classic narratives through futuristic theatre. We staged our debut at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2022 with Alex Kingsley’s “corporeal tragedy”, The Bearer of Bad News.

I am the creator and star of The Red Shirt Diaries (31 episode Star Trek parody webseries), co-host of the award-nominated Geek History Lesson podcast (with almost 500 episodes!). In 2013 I was one of the Top Cow Talent Hunt winners and my first comic book was published by Image Comics. I have since gone on to become a Ringo-nominated comic book writer of the Jupiter Jet series, Science! The Elements of Dark Energy, and my semi-autobiographical superhero graphic novel Aurora & the Eagle. And I have been seen in international commercial campaigns for incredible brands such as: DC Comics, Intel & Twitter.

My love of comic books and all things geeky were something I believed held me back as a child and has done nothing but open doors for me as an adult. Presently, I serve as a video host for ReedPop which includes not only creating projects for The Popverse, but hosting panels for talent like Ewan McGregor, the cast of Our Flag Means Death, the cast of Jujustu Kaisen, and top tier comic book talent across the globe at conventions such as Star Wars Celebration, New York Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, MCM London Comic Con, and more!

What I’ve loved most about all the opportunities I’ve both made and have come my way has been my ability to connect with people all over the world.

Outside of the arts, my work extends to philanthropy as well. Since 2015 I have been the event organizer behind the Jawiin Charity Drive for Service Members which raises funds and goods for Operation Gratitude which sends care packages to American Service Members, wounded warriors, and military families back stateside.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m a travel fiend, so my pitch would absolutely be “let’s drive to LAX and go somewhere exciting!” – haha!

The two places I always recommend folx to hit up when they come to Los Angles is Vasquez Rocks (an iconic shooting location I know most from Star Trek: the Original Series, and where we guerrilla shot an episode of The Red Shirt Diaries!), and Malibu State Creek Park (a.k.a. The M*A*S*H site).

Besides getting into nature and trying to spot as many animal and plant species (yes, I’m that lady taking pictures of crows and flowers you see out there on the trails!), I’m incredibly bookish and a caffeine-fiend which my following recommendations will reflect.

I’ve read exactly 101 books this year (at the time I sit typing this response), and many of the physical copies have come from The Iliad (the best used book shoppe in Los Angeles complete with two resident cats, Apollo and Zeus), The Last Bookstore (the coolest book shoppe in Los Angeles), and Earth-2 Comics. I’m a touch biased with the last one because I worked their for years and they hosted my very first signing – Witchblade #175! I wrote a back up for Ron Marz – who created my favourite Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner! Sooo, we’ll definitely be going on a Friend Moon Shopping Spree at all three of these locations.

When we go to DTLA for The Last Bookstore we’ll simply have to stop at Bottega Louie. They have my favourite breakfast in all of Los Angeles County. AND THE COFFEE IS EXCELLENT! The other café we absolutely will be visiting is Plántate Café in Burbank run by the incredible Nadia Marina (who I actually went to theatre school with!). Their Café De Olla is my favourite drink in the county.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, one evening we’ll be trekking back to DTLA for a drag show at Precinct. It’s the best drag bar around.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Above all the other support and mentors I’ve had in my life, the most credit deserves to go to Jason Inman for always supporting me and never doubting me.

Website: www.ashleyvictoriarobinson.com

Instagram: @ashleyvrobinson (personal), @ashleyvreading (bookstagram)

Twitter: @AshleyVRobinson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AshVictoriaRobinson/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jawiin

Other: Podcast Website: https://www.geekhistorylesson.com/ Unladylike Theatre: https://www.unladyliketheatre.com/ IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5614561/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Jawiin

Image Credits
Getty Images Medua & Blue Swing: GRoW @ The Wallis presents The Wallis Studio Ensemble’s production of RECKONING – A Short Play Festival Geek History Lesson shirt & Jupiter Jet issue 1: Camera Rice Photography Bearer of Bad News poster: b2rianls Ewan McGregor on stage: Illianna Gonzalez-Soto Signing photo includes Jason Inman