Q&A with Award-Winning Actor, Director, and Writer Mike Chmiel
Who in the Entertainment industry wouldn’t love to add those three things as career titles? Some might even call it a triple threat to be able to shine as an actor, director, and writer and bring so much to the table when it comes to projects.
I got a Q&A with Mike Chmiel who has brought many talents to his field. Michael Chmiel is a New York City-based actor, director, producer, editor, and writer. Selected Film/TV credits include Luke Cage, Royal Pains, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, The American West, The Emmy-nominated The Men Who Built America, ESPN’s The Bronx is Burning, Not To Burst Your Bubbles, and Clean Break.
Jackie Sonnenberg: What was the very first play you ever did and what role?
Mike Chmiel: I don’t remember the very first play, I was doing them fairly young, but the earliest that stands out distinctly was in 7th grade I played a rebelling Narnian skunk who got turned to stone by the Witch in “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Good times. The play where I got my Equity card, I was Fred in “A Christmas Carol” at American Conservatory Theater while I was pursuing my MFA.
JS: What did you learn from your first play that has helped you for your next?
MC: From the latter I really learned how to command a space. Obviously in film and television you’re playing very intimate, drawing in, but on a stage that size, over 1,000 seats, and multiple tiers, you really have to learn to reach the nosebleeds physically and vocally while maintaining truth and without pushing. It’s a real balancing act.
JS: Tell us about your inspiration for “Enemy, Mime:”
MC: “Enemy, Mime” was part of last year’s 48 Hour Film Project which I’ve participated in 3 years now. Basically, you have 48 hours to draw random genres and make a film from an original idea, from script to shooting to editing and turn it in within two days. It’s an insane and exhilarating challenge. That particular idea just came to me as I don’t think I’d ever seen a mime used as an antagonist where it’s his invisible props that wreak havoc. Murderous mimes have been used by others, but for some reason they have real weapons, I thought it would be more interesting, and funny, if it all came from his skills as a mime. I’m a big fan, and maker, of horror comedy.
JS: What horror themed projects are your most current?
MC: I just finished writing and directing a short, “Who Shot Ape Lincoln?,” that’s a true crime mockumentary involving breakfast cereal mascots. I’m also working on developing two full length scripts that fall in the horror and horror comedy realms.
JS: What makes a horror themed play different from film or television?
MC: It’s a very different experience. How do you startle or maintain unease in a theater without the benefit of control of a camera’s eye or jump scares… The most entertaining horror themed play I’ve seen was called “Play Dead” many years back. Though I’ve been in a production of Macbeth, which I’d posit is definitely a horror play, and probably my favorite Shakespeare play.
JS: What horror movie would you like to see developed into a play or TV series?
MC: Interesting question. Suspiria is one of my all time favorite horror films and now that I think about it, could make a phenomenal theatrical experience. As for a series, you could do something even more building, claustrophobic, and nuanced when serialized with Rosemary’s Baby I think. Another classic.
Find more of Mike’s work at www.michaelchmiel.com
