Michelle C. Smith is one of the entertainment world’s rising talents as a stuntwoman, actor and YouTube content creator. But of course, she didn’t stumble into those creative avenues overnight. Her career path goes all the way back to her childhood and I recently connected with her to discuss how she’s been able to take her energy and her passions—particularly for Star Wars—and turn them into a career.
How has she been able to build her reputation on her own? And what are the things that people don’t see in those viral videos? Get to know Michelle more in our interview, then be sure you head on over to her YouTube channel to explore the wide range of videos she’s produced.
Brittany Frederick: You’ve developed a huge fan following for your YouTube videos, but how did you discover this career path? A stunt career isn’t something that first comes to mind for most people.
Michelle C. Smith: I grew up loving Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. I had [her] poster in my bedroom for years. I thought she was super-sexy and I wanted to be just like her. And then as I got older, I was in baton-twirling as a really high level athlete. I was a dancer…I didn’t really have any idea that there was other options other than, oh, I could become a professional dancer or work for Cirque du Soleil. I guess I could be an actor. I didn’t ever think about stunts. It wasn’t until I had already gotten six or seven years deep into my professional career that I started meeting stunt performers…and then it clicked for me.
There was something about stunts where I was like, “Ooh, I would have to learn martial arts. I would have to learn all these other skills in order to make this work.” And I would be working in film. And that would [take care of] that itch that I was trying to scratch, with trying to do big things with all these skills that I had. I didn’t know until I legitimately started my stunt career that you could be a stunt performer. And the superhero thing just sort of came naturally. I think the baton and the dance really helped, because I’ve been performing my whole life, and there’s this elegance and grace that comes along with the activities that I was doing. [But] I’m not even all the way there yet. I’m still on that path. There’s a badass superhero in me and she’s going to come out eventually.
BF: What’s important, though, is that you’re not waiting for those opportunities to come to you. You’re putting yourself out there with your instructional videos and most recently your Asajj Ventress project. Was it always part of your plan to be a self-starter?
MCS: I didn’t actually plan for social media to be such a big part of my career. It just happened that way. It mostly came out of the fact [that] for as long as I’ve been doing stunts, I’ve been acting as well, and just feeling like I’m being overlooked constantly…It was like 2015, I was working on Deadpool, I was just fooling around on set and happened to put together a little combo and put it online. Suddenly people were like, “Oh, that’s cool. I didn’t know you could do that.” So then I just started posting more videos. A lot of it had to do with me owning that part of myself and not apologizing and being like, “Yeah, I was a baton twirler and that makes me really cool.”
I just want people to have access to these skills, because I know from growing up doing these skills, when people watch it, they’re like, “Oh my God, that’s amazing.” There’s nowhere for them to learn it unless you want to join the sport of baton twirling. I was just like, “I’m just going to put these skills out there, minus the baton, and grab a stick.” That’s when social media started pushing that part of my career forward. And it has been a big part of why I’ve gotten to the place I’ve gotten to.
I’m not playing the game the way they tell you to play the game of how to work in film. I’m like no, I’m going to show you where you need to put me. And over the years I’ve gotten more and more confident with, this is the place that I belong…It’s just about owning your space and owning your career. This is my career. Nobody else is going to tell me what I can and can’t do. It’s going to be me that decides that.
BF: Your videos have been viewed and praised by some pretty big names. How much does that mean to you, beyond simply being awesome? Because there’s a legitimacy that comes with that.
MCS: It’s the ultimate form of validation. Daisy Ridley watched one of my lightsaber videos. They did a whole Wired interview thing on it and it was really cool. She said, “Michelle C. Smith, Michelle Pfeiffer,” and she was talking about how cool it was. It ticked all the boxes for me. (laughs) But it’s the ultimate validation, because these are people that are busy, that are hard to get in touch with, and may not always see some of the viral trending videos that are around. To have these higher-level people watching my stuff, it’s like oh, I’m doing something right.
It’s not just me out there on the internet showing stuff to millions of fans, which is also great. But, there’s something about the feedback of other professionals that is really, really special when it’s in the right place. Sometimes you get ego feedback, and that doesn’t always feel good. But when somebody who is well-known in the industry is watching your stuff and commenting on it, that is like okay, I’ve done something right…and those are the little moments that keep me going.
It’s really easy in the film industry—any industry really—[to be] feeling like you’re battling against the grain and the way things are, and just battling to be seen. Especially when you’re in this mid-level I am where I’m like, “I’m established. I’m here. Just put me in.” How do I break through all the noise and all the barriers that are in front of me? These videos are what is doing that for me.
BF: But I want to call attention to the fact that those videos are the end result of a lot of hard work. Let’s talk about how much work goes into getting to that point, because the flip side of social media is that people don’t always realize the full scope of what you do.
MCS: They see the end product. There’ll be times where that one 30-second video took me hours. Hours. And I always get asked, “What celebrities have you worked with? Who do you know? And how do I get into stunts?” When people are like, “How do I get into stunts? I can do a back flip. I could totally get into stunts.” I’m like, so can every single other stunt performer out there.
I can’t hold your hand and get you in. And then suddenly you’re going to be working. You have to be willing to put in the work, because this career is a long game. You might get lucky and get a gig right off the bat, but then what do you do when that gig ends? How do you build a sustainable career where there’s thousands of people competing for one job? And it’s rough. It’s not for everybody.
BF: You also have to continue to grow and get better. So what would be the next step in the evolution of your career? If you had your choice, what would challenge you the most?
MCS: I want to be a villain. I’m in a space now where I’m moving past big crashy dangerous stunts, because I’m getting older and I’m like, how do I create a more sustainable career? The one thing that I have never done in my career is act in a lead role in a feature. And I want that. I want to really have to challenge myself to bring out my acting chops. It’s just the opportunity hasn’t come up yet.
Every single time I have doubled an actor, I’ve always thought to myself—and sometimes said out loud—that they could have just hired me. In the years past, I was so focused on just getting in with stunts that I never really pushed acting as hard as I could. So that’s where I want to go. I want to play the villain in a superhero [project] like Star Wars or Marvel or DC. I just want to be a gnarly, badass villain, and I will be satisfied with my film career.
Photo credit: Ror Tio/Courtesy of Anderson Group PR. For more on Michelle C. Smith, be sure to visit her YouTube channel.
Article content is (c)2020-2024 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram.
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