We recently connected with Michelle Colman and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

Looking back, I definitely wish I could’ve started sooner. Acting–and performing in general, have always been a huge part of my life! As a kid, I was always enrolled in dance, choir, and doing church or local plays.

I think I always thought of those things at hobbies, considering I always excelled at school and constantly obtained academic validation. Additionally, back in my small town in Venezuela, acting is never really seen as a viable career, so I never really explored it further.

After moving to the States, I proceeded to graduate High School and attend a 4-year college to earn a Bachelor’s in Psychology, as that is where my heart steered towards academically. I went through my degree faster than some would expect (graduating in three and a half years), but was just one academic quarter away from graduation when I realized I was incredibly unfulfilled!

Despite my huge passion for mental health, I knew one late night in the middle of the summer, that I could not continue my studies and attempt to be a mental health counselor for the rest of my life. It just really wasn’t my forever path. It was then I remembered my love for the performing arts, the only thing that I worked incredibly hard on during my formation years and at the same time found truly fulfilling. I then gave my creative desires the acknowledgment they deserved, and just a month after my graduation in December 2022, I decided to start the professional pursuit of my Acting Career, which I am still after today.

I do not have any regrets in regards to my academic pursuit of Psychology, because I now realize how much my degree allowed me to learn about people–which tends to be really helpful for the development of any characters I have the pleasure to take on. However, I do wish I had followed my creative heart a lot earlier–especially considering the amount of competition of actors in their 20s–and always tend to wonder what might’ve been different if that had been the case.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

From a young age, I find that stories have changed my life. As a big reader and film enthusiast, my perspective is constantly shifting as a result of works I find important. Whether I was able to relate, or whether it was something I needed to hear regarding a world issue or problem, I find that stories are the best way to get to me. Some have saved my life even.

When searching for my artistic purpose, I realized I wanted my works to reach others the way past works have reached me. I’m a very emotional person, and also find I have a very weird brain. This means I’d like to make people sit there and think really hard. I love movies and novels that are not straight to the point, that make you figure things out, and once you realize what it’s about, you’re hit so hard by it it’s consuming. I’d like to help shift someone’s perspective on an important issue; or help them feel seen and heard, letting them know they’re not alone through a difficult experience. That’s what it’s about for me.

I find the beginning stages of an acting career to be very difficult for that reason, because at the end of the day, it is a business. There’s a lot of work you have to do that you do not find particularly meaningful, though I’ve been lucky to participate in a few amazingly meaningful projects already. What I tell myself is that this is a universal experience amongst creatives, and that there’s a lot you have to work to before you can get to the depths of what you’d like to truly work on.

Acting is my best way to tell a story because this is just what I’ve always loved doing, playing pretend. I’ve never felt particularly called to writing–which people ask me a lot about because I read so so much–,or any other behind-the-scenes professions. And again, I truly believe that passion plays an important role in order to be able to stick it out in this industry. For example when acting, I sometimes love standing on the side and seeing directors do their thing, the sound guys, and the gaffers–oh my God, I love seeing anyone mess with lights and shadows and hues! They know every single little detail about what they’re doing and their eyes light up while they’re working, I love it so much, appreciating their way to give to art as well. And that’s what acting is for me, it makes my heart beat with excitement, and my eyes shine when I talk about it; the work is different so my state on set might depend on the character I’m playing, but yeah, passion is the most important thing you need, and finding your purpose in that passion.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’d say my current circumstance is a huge example of my resilience. Let’s just say I’m not at the best place in my life, as I’m consumed by exhaustion and burnout pretty often. We all know that starting an acting career is typically not fulfilling financially, so I currently hold a full-time corporate job that barely pays me enough to live, in order to be able to have flexibility to audition and go to set when I do book a job. After relocating to Los Angeles, in addition to holding my job, I’ve been working really hard for my career: spending countless hours every weekday submitting myself, auditioning, going to callbacks, and updating my materials. I also have to feed myself as well as take care of both myself and of the space I live in, so by the time I’m all done, it’s time to go to sleep, to then wake up and do it all again the next day. It’s hard to rest on the weekends because that’s the little time I hard for my friends as well.

Additionally, I’ve been searching for management and representation, and also working tirelessly to email individuals and obtain referrals from fellow industry professionals when appropriate. And though I’ve been close to signing contracts with good working professionals focused on developing talent, the fact that SAG-AFTRA productions hesitate to work with immigrants who do not yet have a green card or work visa specifically, has unfortunately closed most doors in that department for me thus far, hindering my efforts. This is really discouraging, knowing that despite having proper documentation, unless it’s specifically what they’re requesting, it can be really hard to get work/representation to further advance my career just because of that reason–which also means I’m working tirelessly to resolve that and finish obtaining what they need from me.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Jenna Fischer’s book, The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide, was a big resource that helped push me forward. It was luckily recommended to me by an early acting mentor; and throughout my journey so far, I’ve found a lot of actors don’t know about its existence. The internet unfortunately has a lot of misleading information for aspiring actors out there, and there’s a lot of things that people don’t tell you about the industry. I believe this book to be an amazing resource containing everything you need to know to start, and it’s not trying to sell you a program that is going to cost you thousands of dollars. Thank you, Jenna, for saving my life and many others!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelle.colman?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Other: IMDb page: imdb.me/michelle.colman.padron

Image Credits

Deidhra Fahey Photography, Real Fiction Studios FX, Matthew Mee