We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Bernard. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle below.
Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I began singing when I was 2 or 3 years old. By age 6, I had become the youngest member of the Youth Choir at my temple. Then came dance lessons, jazz and tap, I was never, nor will I ever be, a prima-ballerina! hahaha I also learned that I am not really much of a dancer in general. I am tall and lanky, and far from graceful! As a kid, on the weekends we would spend time as a family with other families, my parents’ friends, who all had kids our age, who loved the arts as well. So all 6 of us kids, (there were 3 families with 2 kids each) would dress up, put on make-up, and create shows. They mostly consisted of made-up plays, lip syncing, dancing, and other variety acts. We would set up chairs, and create an audience seating area and make paper tickets for our parents to watch the performance. It was always fun, and I loved it. I looked forward to it, and revelled in our little fake “spot-light!”
Once I went to Junior High School, that’s when I took everything to the next level. I signed up to take Drama Class and joined the Thespian Troupe, becoming Vice President by my 9th grade year. I auditioned and performed in all of the plays, musicals, talent shows, everything I could be a part of to be on the stage under those glowing lights! In 8th grade, I auditioned for Girls Choir and made it, which was a class I had to take with after-school rehearsals, and performances. Drama and Choral clubs lead to competitions with other schools from all over Miami, I LOVED IT ALL! By the time I entered my 10th grade year, entering High School, I stopped singing and just continued with Drama Classes, Thespians, and plays and musical performances. And at 15, my first modeling opportunity arose, and yet again, the game changed for me…
Michelle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I started modeling at the young age of 15 in Miami, Florida, where I was born and raised. My uncle, who is a CPA, had a school picture of me on his desk and was doing the taxes for a big modeling agency located in Miami Beach. They said I was gorgeous, and asked who I was, how tall I was, and did I ever think about getting into modeling. My uncle called my dad later that night, and here I am, more than 25 years later, still working…
I booked my first job from my very first casting: a runway show at a mall in Plantation, Florida, for Wet Seal, Express, and The Limited clothing stores. I was SOLD, I loved every minute of it! I did a couple of photo-shoots in high school but mostly built my portfolio, nothing really from other bookings. Then, in Tallahassee, while attending Florida State University, studying English Creative Writing with a minor in Computer Science, (FSU- GO NOLES!) I met a woman who changed my life forever and still continues to follow and support my career, Marsha Doll. Marsha owns and operates one of the biggest modeling agencies in not only Northern Florida, but also in the other surrounding southern states, “Marsha Doll Models.” Through Marsha, I began to embrace and appreciate the changes my body was going through from a flat-chested runway and editorial print model to a curvy and beautiful commercial print model. Through Marsha, I gained the confidence to model bathing suits and lingerie, for runway and print, and also began shooting with top-quality photographers, making my modeling portfolio strong and competitive. I started to win awards at modeling competitions in the South-East region and was making enough money to feel like this was something I could pursue professionally once I graduated from college.
When I graduated from FSU, I moved back to Miami, signed up with another modeling agency, and started to go out for commercial work, not just print and runway stuff. Through these castings and “go-sees,” I met Ed Arenas, owner of Unique Casting (now Arenas Casting) in South Beach. After a callback for a Dove commercial in his office, he asked me if I had an extra headshot with me to be submitted for a major feature film shooting in Miami, being directed by Oscar winner Oliver Stone. “Any Given Sunday” changed the game for me! I worked on this movie for 4 months, hanging out on set with Al Pacino and Cameron Diaz, eating lunch with Jamie Fox, playing football with Aaron Eckhart at base camp, and dancing with LL Cool J under his disco ball while he DJ-ed in his trailer. It was all magical, the entire experience was incredibly surreal. Oliver called me one morning at 615 am and asked me if I wanted to play a waitress in a scene working opposite Al Pacino and Jim Caviezel. Ummm, yeah! The location was 1 hour away, I swear I got there in 30 minutes! That is how I became eligible for my Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) Card and officially wanted to be a working actor. I am indebted to Oliver and Executive Producer Clayton Townsend for giving me my start and this wonderful opportunity to work with legend Al Pacino right out of the gate and award winning Cinematographer Sal Totino.
When the movie wrapped in May of 1999, I moved to New York, where yet again, another modeling agent changed the game for me! Bob Dean at “Click” opened doors to photo-doubling, look-a-like work, and doing stand-in jobs, portraying some of the most beautiful and famous redheads in the world. I started working with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz and learned about blocking and pre-lighting for big photo shoots. For her famous “Vanity Fair” covers, Annie would set up her studio for 2-3 days in advance before the celebs even walked in the door. Through bookings with Bob, over the years I would double for Julia Roberts, Sigourney Weaver, Susan Sarandon, and Julianne Moore. And here in Los Angeles, more than 20 years later, I am still blessed with this kind of work. Susan Sarandon doubling led to a music video for the famed group “Above and Beyond” recreating “Thelma & Louise” and doubling for Julia Roberts led to 2 “Lancome” Commercial campaigns. These bookings also led to work with other big celebrity photographers such as Josh Olins and Robert Ashcroft.
Being in the right place at the right time, and always saying YES, also led me to book 2 Recurring roles on Prime-time TV as well. I was invited to read for UDK Casting, a huge casting office in Hollywood, in March of 2018, for a new pilot they were casting, and I ended up signing in on one too many sign-in sheets accidentally. This led to being in the WRONG room at the RIGHT time! I ended up doing a cold read for a new Ryan Murphy show, and low and behold, 5 years and 6 seasons later, I am beyond grateful to be on “9-1-1.” I thank Executive Producer, writer, and Show-runner Tim Minear for the opportunity, for changing my life and career, and for his continued support in general! I am also Recurring on “The Rookie” which is now well into season 5. So to say I am grateful and humbled is an understatement. I pinch myself every day for these incredible opportunities..
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
None of this was easy though. For this interview, I have simply condensed the struggles, tears, hardships, and heartbreak along the way. There was a period of 10 years from when I moved out to LA from New York in 2003 up through 2013, that were filled with restaurant jobs, waiting tables, bar-tending, catering, working for event planners, and private chefs, being a nanny, a personal assistant, doing everything and anything I could to pay bills, put a roof over my head and clothes on my back until my real dreams started to manifest. I joined clubs, unions, guilds, and academies, attended events, networked, and hustled.
I pounded the pavement, literally and figuratively, taking head-shots and resumes door to door to casting offices, spending thousands of dollars on postage and printing, sending out mailings, looking for work, and trying to get in the door, any door, for someone to give me a chance, an audition, anything. I was grinding and persevering, day in and day out, with no win in sight. But, I had a dream, and the more no’s I heard, the more doors that closed in my face or were locked, the more I wanted it. I was determined to succeed.
And now, celebrating 20 years out here in Hollywood, I find myself working harder than ever before. The Pandemic set me back professionally almost 10 years, and at home self-tape auditions are the new norm. So, needless to say, coming up on over 550 auditions since Covid shut everything down on March 13th, 2020, I have become a One-Woman-Production-Company! The news and current events have also changed the way Casting Directors and Productions companies approach Diversity in Casting, so, there are less roles for my genre and age range, but this change was needed and long overdue! Now, with both the writers and actors on strike, it’s been a heartbreaking and frustrating summer. I just hope the studio executives that are driving this insanity and unfair wage dispute soon realize the value of our creativity and love for the craft in every and any genre and outlet soon! I want to go back to work and be on set doing what I LOVE to do: entertain!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I am now moving into the next phase of this creative journey. As a holiday gift from my college boyfriend 25 years ago, I received my first journal. All of these years later, I am still writing and I just started my 42nd journal, and I am slowly writing my first of many novels. It took me over 2 years to type up 35 of those journals, and then Covid hit, and I have been lax in my book writing, but have been stellar in my journal writing. I love writing again on a daily basis, sharing how being single and living alone during a Pandemic has affected me mentally, physically, professionally, and financially.
I am beyond grateful for all of the growth I have done, and I know it will affect my future writings and the way I approach sharing my story and then finally publishing my book. I am intrigued and interested to see how this all pans out, and will continue to write and share my journey through Hollywood. There have been many ups and downs, just like every other human being on this planet, but if the changes I have made mentally and physically in my life dealing with past traumas helps one person, or someone feels connected to my story, then all of this will be worth it to me in the end. Being of service, and connecting with others, is one of the many reasons I want to write and share my story.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://michellebernard.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellebernardactor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichelleBernardActor/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellebernard
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MBernardActor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MichelleBernardActor
- Other: www.imdb.me/michellebernard
Image Credits
Shandon Photography Marsha Doll Modeling Michael Bernard Photography