Pop-Culturalist.com

With a career spanning acting, writing, producing, and podcasting, Trisha LaFache has established herself as a true creative force. Best known for her standout roles in God’s Not Dead, Jury Duty, and The Big Short, she brings the same passion and artistry to her podcasting ventures, delivering stories that deeply engage and inspire her audience.

Her chart-topping new podcast, UnBorn, explores the bizarre true crime story that unfolded in Avela, Pennsylvania, in 2020. After only three months of dating, Jared and Kristy Akrin married in a shotgun wedding in front of 280 people in a town of just 800. The couple seemed ready to spend their lives together, dedicated to each other and the unborn twins Kristy claimed to be carrying. But Jared would soon uncover shocking truths about his wife, and their fairytale romance would spiral into a nightmare involving theft, fraud, arson, attempted murder, kidnapping, and more.

Trisha brought us behind the scenes of bringing UnBorn to life.

PC: You co-created this with your husband and had been looking for the right project to collaborate on. What made UnBorn the perfect endeavor for both of you, and did you learn anything new about each other as creatives during the process?
Trisha: We were both intrigued by the story—and still are! When we first heard about it, the events were unfolding in real time, and it was also during COVID. A podcast felt like the perfect medium to create something truly unique and personal to us. We definitely learned—and relearned—a lot about each other creatively throughout the process. But we make an amazing team, and of all the projects we’ve worked on together, this one sparked the least arguments! [laughs]

PC: Pseudocyesis isn’t a condition widely known to the general public. How did you approach researching it, and what steps did you take to ensure it was portrayed accurately and thoughtfully in UnBorn?
Trisha: That was incredibly important to us. As you know, we brought on an OB-GYN, a psychologist, a nurse, and a survivor of pseudocyesis to contribute to the show. This was all done to ensure we captured as holistic a view of pseudocyesis as possible. The conversations featured in the podcast were just a fraction of the discussions we had with medical professionals—we kept asking questions and diving deeper. Definitely don’t sit next to us at a dinner party; we’ll put you to work.

PC: How did you approach weaving these insights together so cohesively, and how did that align with the way you wanted to explore this story?
Trisha: In the first round of interviews, we spoke to Kristy’s former best friend, Jenny, last. Everyone we interviewed was incredibly authentic, but Jenny really stood out to me. She was deeply hurt and angry, yet also the sweetest person. I was glad we could include someone whose love for Kristy was palpable—it added an important layer of humanity to the story. That approach really aligned with how I wanted to tell this story. Yes, it’s wild and salacious, but there’s also a genuine curiosity about how this happened and why.

PC: Your creative endeavors span such a wide range of disciplines. Which of your other experiences do you feel helped you build trust with the interviewees on this podcast, creating a space where they felt comfortable being so open?
Trisha: I’m sure my experience as a criminal defense attorney played a big role in that. When I was assigned a case by the government, I had a personal rule: I’d give myself three minutes to earn the client’s trust during our introduction. If I couldn’t do it in three minutes, I’d “give up.” But I never had to give up—and I never lied or was fake. That authenticity has always been key to building trust, whether in law or creative projects like this podcast.

PC: You’re no stranger to this medium or the true crime genre, but UnBorn is vastly different from Heeled. What lessons or experiences from Heeled were you able to bring to UnBorn?
Trisha: I absolutely love how Heeled turned out, and I feel the same way about UnBorn. I’d say I carried all of my lessons and experiences forward. The biggest takeaways were to trust myself, trust my writing, and trust that I know the story I’m trying to tell better than anyone else.

PC: This project has been four years in the making—have there been any early conversations about potentially adapting it into another medium?
Trisha: There have definitely been conversations about adapting it to another medium—so funny you should ask! I’m absolutely open to it and very interested in exploring that possibility!

To keep up with Trisha, follow her on Instagram. Listen to UnBorn today.