We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Frances Michell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Frances thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I am a firm believer that in life you have to take risks… right? whatever you want to have in life, it has to scare you- that is when you know you are in the right path. My entire life I have felt a different from all the rest – felt like I never “fit in” – but what even is that? I think any teenager can relate, that when we are in highschool and sometimes before or even after that we want to feel like we are a part of something. But now, the older I get, the more I relize that I see beauty in things that are different. That is inspireing.

I love taking risks. I think it all started, or I trully touched on it when I turned 18 and moved to LA from Peru, to do what I love. Telling stories. It was terrifiing. I mean change is scary- even more so when you are alone and have no you know in the same city where you can turn to if you need help… or anything.

But would I change a thing? hell no haha. I found a place that opens their arms to what I always looked for, being different, unique and people that fight for what they what. It also helped me find me. It helped me tap into who I am and work on myself. Now, I love going outside of my comfort zone that is where you have room to grow. I mean, we are ever evolving, who I am today, I might not be tomorrow and I find that beautiful.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

What a tought question hahaha. Well, lets start at the basics. My name is Frances Michell and I am a 24 year old Peruvian actor. I come from a small town called Arequipa, where I went spent my life there. Growing up, there was not a lot of art in the city, but I am really lucky and thankful to my mom that always pushed me to love art. I remember her and her friends gathering together and paiting at the back yard of my house. When I was around 14, I would arrive from school and spend 4 hours paiting with my mom, listening to music before I even (if i ever did) getting started on my homework.

Also, I found the beauty of storytelling through dance. I spend my life on and off ballet. I danced roughly untill I was 16. Even though I was not going to become a professional dancer haha I did it because I loved it. That lead me to storytelling. Understaing that you can say so much with just your body, I just found it incredible. Also, I love writing- ’till today, I try to have a little notebook with me at all times writing things that inspire me. Trying to understand why people act the way they do is just so interesting.

I moved to Lima, just turning 17, where I studied Performing Arts and later made the jump to LA.

I started to undertand that all of the things that I have written for years in my little notebook had the potential to grow into something much more bigger than me.

Now, I am really excited to have finished my first feature film directed by the wonderful Amy Nigro, who I am also really lucky and greatful of being able to call her my friend. The entire team put their heart into this project – and you can really feel it. And now, seeing it come to life it is just mindblowing. We are all really excited to everyone to be able to see it.

I also can’t wait to have the opportunity to be able to work with her again. She is just pure talent.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

There is a lot of things driving my creative journey, but I think one of the most personal ones is a constant search of who I really am. Every project that I dive myself into, I always find something that relatable. even though at first glance I might not think I have anything in common with them. I always find something that drives me. That is the reason why I love to tell stories that are different. I like to give voices to characters that are not perfect, but human. I think it is not only my way of healing and understanding that in every stage of my life I am not alone, but hopefuly I can make feel someone less alone in whatever they are going through.

Also, I would love to make some change in the industry. I think it is important to have good leadership to be able to break barriers with stories.

Finally, I also want to enjoy every second of it. The good, bad and all the in between. I mean… Magical things happen when storytellers come together to create something they believe in. Getting to be a part of that is delightful.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think it is important to acknowledge the challenges new artists in whatever field they are on go though. It is a competitive market, and unfortunately, I think we, as a society have become too comfortable commenting on other people’s life, starting from their appearance. It has become too easy to criticize eachother. I think we need to start by being more forgiving. We are not robots, and we all make mistakes. And also letting people grow and evolve. We are not the same as we were yesterday.

Also, being interested in art it is so important. We need to be more open to different stories and views. We are all inspired and inspiring in so many ways. By letting artists create, putting all of the “good” but also the “bad” in stories, songs, paiting or whatever form of art they do, will just bring new light to so many. Art does not only fuel creativity but it also an influnece and a reflection of the culture and/or community it emerges from. It makes us think, undertand and learn.

We also live in a world where social media is one of the main ways people get recognition. I think it is a double edge sword. But we have to put in the work to make it a positive place, where we can all connect. Let’s start applauding peoples wins.

At the end of it all, I believe we need to be more open. Just imagine a world where people opened more their hearts- it would be beautiful, not perfect, ’cause nothing is, but we would see the beauty within the cracks of it all.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/francesmichell/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesmichell/

Image Credits

Brett Richards
Criptofasia – Diego de la Vega
Avril Michell
Amy Nigro & Mitali Khare