During her time in the industry as an actress, Michaela has noticed that films encouraging social and individual change are poorly funded. Those that have the financial support have obligations to turn a profit. As a result, characters lack realism and are manicured to be agreeable and easily digestible. A change in perspective can be uncomfortable at times and unfortunately the entertainment industry’s goals are not parallel to that of individual progressive growth.
Her wish is to nurture an awareness of perspective in hopes that those who empathize with the characters she plays are encouraged to grow within themselves and develop patience for others.
Michaeila’s first on screen acting performance as Lou Marie Fisher was supported by months of preproduction improvisation and character building. Due to that fact, she had the time to curate a past, support it with textural evidence and create triggers that deepened her connection to the world on screen. It had a very serious impact on her personal life as she was unaware that this technique was ‘method’ and endangered her own preliminary sense of self. As a result, she became fascinated with perspective. She was seeing her social life, values, herself through a new filter. She became hyper aware of how our past experiences influence the choices we make. How repeating an action over time can result in an unconscious habit. How we can create emotional bonds with sensory experiences and have it support our self identity.
Furthermore, she began to ask how character building can inform our current understanding of personality psychology and personality disorders? Could she study multiple personality disorder and mirror its progression to create a cartilage structure, creating her own controlled triggers to come in and out of these characters? What is the spectrum of character growth in this vulnerable area of study? Where is the line she would not cross? What is the peak of fictional identity authenticity and at what moment does dominate an actor’s mind?
