King Princess's first inkling that destiny might steer her toward an acting career arrived in the form of a tarot card reading, where a psychic declared, "You're destined for the stage." The second hint was persistent phone calls from a WME agent. Essentially, the signs, both cosmic and mundane, were there in plain sight—she just wasn't quite open to acknowledging them. "For as long as I possibly could, I brushed everyone off," admits the indie pop sensation, Mikaela Straus by birth. "I was fully immersed in music mode."
However, a few years elapsed, along with a minor creative meltdown, and the notion began to seem less like a distant dream. At 26, boasting two albums, a Coachella performance, and a debut on Saturday Night Live, King Princess found herself pondering what the future held.
Raised in Brooklyn, she was enveloped in music from a tender age—her father, Oliver Straus, being a recording engineer who ran a local studio. By adolescence, she had mastered the guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards, penning songs that earned her a spot at USC's Thornton School of Music. Yet, at some juncture, music alone seemed insufficient. What she knew for certain was that she aspired to immerse herself in another creative pursuit.
"I've been pursuing music professionally since childhood, and it began to make me uneasy," she clarifies. "As a musician, you're on a solitary island, baring your soul, and the art becomes your identity. I was a youngster making decisions beyond my comprehension. But with acting, it didn't feel personal. It taught me humility."
Thus, she embarked on an obsessive audition spree. "I received numerous callbacks but no offers, yet it didn't sting like rejection," she recounts. "It felt like I was edging closer." Ultimately, one of those affirmations arrived: a role in the upcoming second season of Nine Perfect Strangers, Hulu's adaptation of Liane Moriarty's novel, set to film in the Alps for its latest psychedelic sojourn.
King Princess was already a devotee of the series ("As a gay person, I'm drawn to anything Nicole Kidman stars in—it's crucial for me to stay informed about our narratives") and mushrooms ("I was in the midst of a six-month microdosing journey, and it was transformative for my mental well-being"), so the project resonated with her from the outset. It resonated even more when she learned she'd portray a queer former piano prodigy who abruptly loses her gift.
Upon landing her maiden acting role, she collaborated intimately with the showrunners, ensuring her character's queer identity and her bond with Maisie Richardson-Sellers' portrayal of her girlfriend resonated authentically. "Maisie and I were steadfast in our desire to depict a raw, gay relationship that felt genuine to our community," she reveals. "And what could be more authentic to the lesbian community than a suffocating, nightmare-like mother-daughter gay relationship? This girl is an extension of me, had I never sought therapy."
Her sole reservations about acting, she confesses, stemmed not from her own performance capabilities but from her encounters with fellow actors. After six years post-college in Los Angeles, she had met enough thespians to give her pause. "I cherish wonderful friendships, but actors are... actors," she says with a wry smile.
However, her tenure on "Nine Perfect Strangers" transformed her perspective. She lauds the elegance of Christine Baranski and highlights her pre-shoot friendship with co-star Murray Bartlett as particularly grounding. "He was like, 'Hey, I dig your music. Let me know if you need anything.' And I responded, 'Actually, I need a lot of things!'" she chuckles.
She queried him about everything, from the inner workings of a set to interpreting her character. Upon arriving in Germany for filming, she reciprocated by introducing him to "The L Word." "He'd never watched it, so I was determined. I said, 'You're basically a lesbian at heart, so we need to binge-watch this,'" she laughs.
While preparing for "Strangers," she was also mapping out her next musical chapter—severing her previous record deal, attending meetings, and commencing work on her third album (slated for release this summer). Acting has now seamlessly integrated into her plans. Soon after returning from Germany, she secured a role in the upcoming feature "Song Sung Blue," starring Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman, set for a Christmas release.
She adopts her stage name, King Princess, for both her musical endeavors and acting pursuits. What might seem like a branding maneuver is, she insists, more about maintaining creative consistency. "My philosophy has always been that King Princess embodies my most fortified self," she asserts. "I'll crank it up when performing music or tone it down for specific scenes. But amidst it all, I can't help but be myself. I'm King Princess on stage, I'm King Princess on set, and I'm King Princess scooping up dog poop in the park."
