We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christy Lee Hughes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christy Lee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
During pandemic, it was important to me to stay creative as much as possible. After reading plays in my living room, I decided to adapt both Guardian and Asking For It into short films, as a first time director. They are meaningful to me for different reasons.
With Guardian, I flipped the gender of the lead character, a guardian angel from Gabriel to Gabby. Especially during such a challenging time in our world, I believe comedy heals and restores. The story is also about addiction and the damage dysfunctional relationships can cause both parties involved, and most importantly, highlighting the power of forgiveness when someone truly apologizes and tries to change their behavior.
Asking For It is a satire about reporting a crime and not being believed by people in positions of power. Asking For It is super meaningful to myself and all survivors. I wanted to shed light on this important issue plaguing our society for myself and all survivors of assault. I also flipped the gender of the characters because the police officer was originally published as male and the victim was female, but we live that narrative all day in real life, and we are just over women on screen as victims. This film is meaningful as it demonstrates how ridiculous it is that victims have to jump through so many hoops to prove they are telling the truth, and the irony of the one reporting the assault becoming the suspect on trial instead. Too often, survivors experience this retaliation, and it has held many back from coming forward with their experiences.
Bringing both of these stories to light have been important to me, and seeing the audience reaction has been a gift. I’m grateful to both of the playwrights for allowing me to make these plays into films and to change the gender of the lead characters, in an effort to bring more roles for women on screen as fully developed, flawed human beings.
Christy Lee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As an actor and a filmmaker, my goal is to always be authentic in storytelling. It is very important to me to honor the writer’s original work and intentions. I have a strong background in comedy and improv, so I use my strengths often in my work, whenever possible.
As an actor, I feel a calling on my heart through my performance as a way to connect with other humans. I’m drawn to stories with intriguing writing and flawed characters. I’m a natural leader so I gravitate towards roles that fight for justice. I believe in honoring my raw thoughts, vulnerability and empathy on screen through characters I create.
I don’t like to wait for others to see my value and natural talents, so I greenlit myself.
I create stories, projects and characters that I believe the world needs to see and feel.
I have developed discernment, so I trust my instincts and keep moving forward through the obstacles, and rejections.
I think most people would be surprised to discover that I don’t look like what I’ve been through.
I’m grateful for my struggles, as they have made me resilient.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson I learned was that I am enough. A few people throughout my life tried to help me see this, but it took years for me to start to actually believe it. I think society and especially social media can cause us so much anxiety, stress and comparison, and it’s not healthy. Social media isn’t the full picture, it’s a filtered, curated snippet of someone else’s highlight reel that we should not ever try to compete against.
Comparison is the thief of joy, so when I find myself doing that, I switch my thoughts to gratitude for my blessings and send others love. There’s an abundance for all of us, and I’m truly happy when my friends and others succeed at their dreams and find their passion.
What I want to tell anyone reading this, is that you are enough, just the way you are right now. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, because that is a lie.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Through performance and storytelling, I find joy in connecting with others. I love to hear feedback from the audience in the theater after the show or film, and I love to hear how my character or story affected them. Most importantly, I love hearing when someone tells me that my work made them think differently, feel happy, laugh or cry. It means that I did my job, and let them know that they are never alone in this journey. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.christyleehughes.com
- Instagram: @christyleehughes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ActorChristyLeeHughes?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Twitter: @ChristyLeeH
- Other: IMDb https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1817455?ref_=hm_nv_usr_prof&mibextid=Zxz2cZ
Image Credits
Headshot image : Alecia Tang