This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:02] Jennifer Apple: Welcome back to this week's episode of the Empowered Artist Collective Podcast.

[0:07] Jennifer Apple: I am so grateful that you came back. My name is Jennifer Apple, she/her, and I am the executive director and founder of the Empowered Artist Collective, and now the host of this podcast.

[0:20] Jennifer Apple: This week I get to talk to a dear friend of mine and a grad school classmate, Adrianna Mitchell.

[0:28] Jennifer Apple: We talk about what it means to be an artist, what is inspiring her at the moment, where to seek out inspiration. Adrianna shares some insane booking stories that y'all will not believe are real, the importance of planting seeds throughout those.

[0:44] Jennifer Apple: We talk about expansion and perspective on a micro and macro level in ways I didn't anticipate. Tools that are helpful to ground oneself when it comes to auditions and finding creativity and learning how to embrace the journey over anything else.

[1:01] Jennifer Apple: A quick content warning. We do discuss the passing of Regina King's's son. I am so excited for you to listen to this episode. Enjoy.

[1:12] Jennifer Apple: Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to this episode of the Empowered Artist Collective Podcast.

[1:19] Jennifer Apple: I have one of my favorite people, a very dear, dear, dear friend of mine, a grad school classmate of mine, and just an awe overall wonderful person and incredible artist and actor. And um, I'm so excited that y'all are gonna be here for this conversation with the incredible Adrianna Mitchell.

[1:38] Adrianna Mitchell: Hello.

[1:39] Adrianna Mitchell: Hi guys.

[1:40] Adrianna Mitchell: Hello, hello.

[1:41] Adrianna Mitchell: I'm happy to be here.

[1:42] Jennifer Apple: Yeah, we're I'm stoked to have you here. Um, okay, again, I don't like to do introductions, so I'm gonna throw it over to you. Tell the listener who you are today and anything you want to share.

[1:52] Adrianna Mitchell: I like this question, who you are today. Um, because it makes you think about the present moment. Um today, I'm Adrianna sitting in my apartment that I actually like. I'm in an apartment that I like. So that's a good part of my life right now.

[2:07] Adrianna Mitchell: I am an actor, I am a closeted writer. Um, you need to oh I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna call you on that right now. Y'all, she's she's not the closeted uh writer. Like I've literally seen and heard your writing firsthand.

[2:21] Adrianna Mitchell: No closets here. Maybe like maybe like you're sitting in the closet, but I'm gonna say there's no door in it. Like at least like no door to the closet.

[2:26] Adrianna Mitchell: It's a sliding door.

[2:30] Adrianna Mitchell: There we go. Then I come out and I go away.

[2:32] Adrianna Mitchell: Okay, fine. Um, so I'm a sliding door closeted writer.

[2:36] Jennifer Apple: You're the first one.

[2:36] Adrianna Mitchell: Uh I am a director that I I fall into directing. Um, and I want to be more intentional about directing, but I've directed a few things. And then um I'm aspirationally a producer of my own projects. So that's what I hope to do aspirationally and what I currently do.

[2:53] Adrianna Mitchell: Um, I do a lot of theater, I do television. I've lived in New York too long. And um I'm from Atlanta, Georgia. I went to Spelman College. Whoop whoop. Um, love my Spelman sisters. I went to ACT.

[3:09] Adrianna Mitchell: Um, in my heart, I'm a Bay Area resident, even though I'm not from there. I feel like that was my heart home. And so I don't live in New York. I live in the Bay. I I live here.

[3:20] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah, in my mind, I love Oakland. I love it. And I can't afford to live there. I don't know. I love Oakland. And I love that whole experience of living there despite the many things that are wrong with the Bay Area, aka the homeless, aka the prices of everything.

[3:36] Adrianna Mitchell: But I just was very happy. I feel like I'm a California resident inside my spirit. Isn't that crazy to think about that being a thing that we did? Do you ever have that experience where you're like we moved out to San Francisco for three years?

[3:49] Jennifer Apple: Yeah.

[3:49] Adrianna Mitchell: And at the time, when we lived in San Francisco, that was the longest place I had ever lived away from home. Because when I was in New York, I was only here for maybe 14, 15 months.

[4:04] Adrianna Mitchell: And had tried to get into graduate school. And then when I got in, I moved. Cause I was like, I don't even really, I was bopping around. And so I really coming back here mechanically, like forcing myself to come back was like, okay, I have to come back because work is there.

[4:19] Adrianna Mitchell: But I really had a hard time leaving. It was a very emotional thing getting me to leave. I just literally was like, okay, I just booked a flight and I'm leaving. And yeah, it was very weird.

[4:28] Jennifer Apple: Well, guess what? Flights exist and you can always go back.

[4:31] Adrianna Mitchell: I always find a reason to go back. I'm always there, at least once a year. I could find a reason to go back, whether it's a wedding or go see someone's new house. Brianna, my cousin, has a house out there.

[4:41] Adrianna Mitchell: She owns a house in Oakland. And I'm so proud of her. She's a homeowner. And so I'm like, oh, find a reason to be out there, you know.

[4:46] Jennifer Apple: Yeah, you know, Rachel, my friend Rachel also has a house out there in Oakland. And I was like, when I went to see it, I was like, oh, adulting.

[4:54] Adrianna Mitchell: Adults.

[4:55] Adrianna Mitchell: Oh. Ownership.

[4:57] Adrianna Mitchell: Oh. Wow. That's so real for you.

[4:59] Adrianna Mitchell: For you.

[5:05] Adrianna Mitchell: Um, that's me. I love it. Um, well, I'm I'm really pumped to just see where this conversation takes us. And before we kind of dive on in, you have been a part of EAC.

[5:16] Adrianna Mitchell: We've had you on for um our balancing your creative life panel, which clearly is apropos given all of the incredible hats that you wear for yourself. But before we even go there, I'm curious how you define artist or creative or like the the hat that people assign people like ourselves.

[5:40] Jennifer Apple: I'm curious how that quote unquote label resonates with you.

[5:46] Adrianna Mitchell: Oh, I love it. I love it because I feel like it's it's not just like you're not an artist if you're not working on a thing. I feel like it is um a like divine connection to your creative energy, right?

[6:01] Adrianna Mitchell: I feel like I wake up with like visceral impulses to be creative, right? I feel like I can trace that energy back to being a child where people were like, we always knew. She was always she was walking around in mom's shoes, she was drawing, she was telling, like I would be on the playground writing children's books.

[6:25] Adrianna Mitchell: Like people were playing kickball and sliding and swinging, and I would be sitting here with my crayon. I was making, I was writing, and so they were no closet writer, no closet writer. No, that's what's crazy. I gotta get back to that because I was clearly a writer when I was a child.

[6:38] Adrianna Mitchell: That was the first thing that I did, um, even before I knew what acting was. So I just think anybody who has that impulse to create something or to like express themselves artistically, which means that you're not thinking about it logically, you're allowing your subconscious or your muse to inspire something on a page in paint in talking to yourself, and I but you know, talk to myself and create scenes whatever it is, like dancing in the middle of the day, like that is a very alive in me, regardless of whatever resume thing people know or don't know.

[7:18] Adrianna Mitchell: And so I feel like that's what being an artist means to me. And what is so funny is that my mom is an accountant and she thinks that she's not creative, but my mother made a I'll never forget it. My mother made my sister wanted a Barbie cake, and my mom didn't want to go and buy a Barbie cake, so she grabbed one of my old dolls, she folded the legs and wrapped the legs so that the cab, you know, these are the old Barbies that were super flexible, yeah.

[7:44] Adrianna Mitchell: They could bend backwards, you know. And then she's made a butt like one of those like pound cake, you know, the the round one with the little bun cakes. She stuck the Barbie doll in the middle so that the torso was flowing into the cake, and then the cake was the gown, and so she and then she iced the cake, and I said, Mother, you are creative, and she's like, No, no, no, no, no.

[8:08] Adrianna Mitchell: I'm an accountant, and you like to be all in your feelings, and I don't want to. And and I'm like, Okay, mom, but she's creative, and she's an artist, but she just doesn't, you know, and then my father used to like freehand Spider-Man, and he doesn't draw at all anymore, and he's in in banking and governmental stuff, and he's an entrepreneur and all these other things.

[8:27] Adrianna Mitchell: But he used to like draw Spider-Man, and I found small drawings at my grandmother's house. I was like, This is really good. So I just think it's that in the just creative energy, and I think everybody has it, and people just do different things with it, or they let it die, or they or you know, I think it's I think it's a part of all of us, you know.

[8:44] Jennifer Apple: Yeah, what is inspiring you right now?

[8:47] Adrianna Mitchell: Oh, what's inspiring me right now? I would have to say, like, thinking about like just thinking about how the world works on like a metaphysical or like uh beyond what I can understand sort of way.

[9:03] Adrianna Mitchell: And I kind of like that because you know, when you're in New York in the winter, everything that's around you feels annoying. Um, but I think like we've been watching a lot of stuff about the universe, or like I really like went and read a deep dive about E equals M C square.

[9:21] Adrianna Mitchell: Like I never really understood what that meant, but it was like literally why I'm telling you I'm crazy, I'm crazy. But think about it, right? What it's basically saying is that energy equals mass moving at the speed of light squared.

[9:33] Adrianna Mitchell: So that says that anything that has mass, like my chapstick has mass. If I could make if I could make this chapstick move at the speed of light squared, it would become pure energy.

[9:46] Jennifer Apple: Yeah, I totally hear you.

[9:48] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah, it's wild, but I'm but why is this inspiring you right now? Like, let's be clear. This has been around for a while.

[9:55] Adrianna Mitchell: It's yeah, it has, and I've never taken any interest, but like I'm really into it, I was like, wow, or like I watched this video, it was so beautiful where he was talking about how humanity couldn't even existed a few billion years ago because there wasn't enough, like iron only came into existence when stars exploded, and stars had to, you know, expand to explode to create iron, and iron is flowing in our blood.

[10:24] Adrianna Mitchell: So we literally have the thing that can allows our blood to flow came from stars exploding, and I'm like, oh my god, or like thinking about the beginning of photo, I don't know why, I don't know why that's my jam right now, but that's my jam right now.

[10:37] Adrianna Mitchell: I'm even getting emotional about it. It's my jam right now. I'm like, wow, the world is so interesting, and I'm just a little bitty baby spec, but I also inside of my baby spec is a whole universe of things that are really cool.

[10:54] Adrianna Mitchell: It just makes me feel important.

[10:56] Jennifer Apple: I love it. No, I'm not judging it at all. I'm just in awe that this is where we took it. Like I was picturing you saying something totally different, and then all of a sudden you're pulling out some physics, and I'm like, and where I know.

[11:09] Adrianna Mitchell: This is what I'm into right now.

[11:13] Jennifer Apple: Good, good. Honestly, I feel like inspiration and finding inspiration anywhere these days is a feat. And if you can find it in these small things that are perhaps different than what you initially or usually go for, then like hear hear.

[11:31] Adrianna Mitchell: You know, read some books about physics, Adrianna. Go for it.

[11:35] Adrianna Mitchell: I don't know if I could do that, but like I'll watch a documentary. We're watching, you know, things about the universe. Like, I remember, you know, like I went, I think one time I was in Los Angeles.

[11:45] Adrianna Mitchell: I went to what is it, the exploratory, what is the thing? The Griffith Griffith Observatory.

[11:51] Adrianna Mitchell: And they have one of those like seven dollars, so you pay seven dollars and you go into the IMAX surround thing, and they do like a little universal travel thing, and I was just like, this is an emotional experience.

[12:04] Adrianna Mitchell: This is this is cool. So that's my jam right now. Cause then you know why? And I'll connect it back to what I think might be relevant.

[12:12] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah, I mean, this is we're here is I I think in terms of mindset, I am an actor, I aspire to be an actor, I aspire to do many wonderful things in this specific art form.

[12:26] Adrianna Mitchell: We went to graduate school for it. We we go and see theater, we go to see Broadway, we see things on television. I go when I watch movies, I'm like, I'm always watching what I would love to be doing.

[12:38] Adrianna Mitchell: So, you know, there you can get very one-to-one about that. You can get very like, why am I not here doing that? Or why did this thing that I did not like I, you know, I got into a I got into a mental trap because Snowfall is a um and I was a recurring character on Snowfall.

[12:57] Adrianna Mitchell: I played a character called Tanase um in season four. And I won't say anymore because if you watch the show, you'll watch the show and learn about what Tanase is about.

[13:06] Adrianna Mitchell: But Tanase doesn't show up in season five. We don't know about future seasons, but anyway, and I got into a mental trap and I was like, they didn't bring me back. Why didn't they bring me back? I don't know.

[13:15] Adrianna Mitchell: Was I not good enough? Or did I not did I not make, you know, was I didn't have enough, you know, connection with the lead. It was also a pandemic, and so there wasn't a lot of like, you know, let's go kick it and get a drink after set.

[13:28] Adrianna Mitchell: Like there wasn't any of that kind of stuff. So I feel like they didn't really connect to me and like whatever I felt, right? And then I saw that they did season five and there was a whole premiere, and people look beautiful and they got their makeup done and their hair done.

[13:40] Adrianna Mitchell: And I was like, wow, I was on that show, and we just didn't have a premiere because it was in the middle of 2020. And I was like, oh, I'm so I was robbed of an experience.

[13:51] Adrianna Mitchell: I didn't get to have my first premiere, and now I'm not even on the show anymore. You know, you can go like if you seek suffering, you can find it, right? And I did go there and I was like, and I had to be like, okay, and I had to express it to my partner and be like, okay, I need to say this so I couldn't put it down. And he was like, okay. And then he said, but also this happened, and also this happened. And did you forget about this? And I was like, oh wow. Your mind can do that to you. And so the physics and the metaphysics and the universe and all that stuff is like if I think about things in a macro scale, then I because I won't be so singular. And I feel like I can be singular, especially when you work so hard.

Maybe not all the time, but in spurts, you put your whole heart and soul into things that you think will take you to whatever linear spot you think should be the next step. And you know, and I think it just gives me expansion inside. And I feel like what I what I want for this year for myself and for everyone listening is expansion that you can take your time and that the world is big and life is long and life is short, and there are stars in the sky and there are clouds, and there's, you know, and that sounds foo foo and whatever, but it's just like it really helps me breathe away things that feel like they should matter. You know.

[15:15] Jennifer Apple: Yeah, I think I feel like the word that's coming to mind for me as you were talking is just perspective. You know, just like having a different perspective, or just choosing the, you know, if even if we think about it from a cinematic lens, right? You can have a close-up or you can have a wide shot, or you could have an angle to you can there's so many different ways and perspectives to see a story, and it's just a matter of like which angle you choose to view it from, and especially given the world that we're in currently, and I foresee it happening for some time. It's just this idea, you know, like I I I mean, I guess I haven't thought about it in like the physics way because me and physics have a long and contentious um relationship.

Um, but for another time maybe I doubt it. I'm don't I don't think I'm ever going to talk about physics ever again. But I do I I've been thinking a lot more about this idea of like macro and micro, right? About the world being this really, really, really big place and then our little bubble and by little bubble I mean like microscopic bubble of ourselves in this universe.

[16:24] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah. And yeah, you can get all philosophical about it, but there really is some truth to the fact that it matters to you and it matters really, really greatly because it's your life and you want to live your life and you the way you envision it and manifest it and yada yada yada but you are also a part of this bigger ecosystem. And if you think about any sort of and again science is not my jam, but like if you think about any sort of ecosystem it needs every tiny little piece in order for it to actually thrive not even just survive right. You need all those small little things. And so I think there really is something wonderful about what you're saying about zooming out a little bit more and remembering that the perspective that you have on the world and of yourself in the world allows you to perhaps see things in a way that you might not have otherwise experienced them.

[17:16] Jennifer Apple: Yes. There's a book that says the miracle is in the shift in perception because you can perceive slowly for me. Yes. A miracle happened like the definition of a miracle is a shift in perception meaning you could perceive it one way, and then suddenly you can perceive it a different way, and how that could free you up, or that could change your life, or that could change anything. And so I think, and changing one's perception is a difficult thing because you can get stuck in the way you like to think and the way you want to feel, and the the things that you know, some people get a kick out of it. I get a kick out of complaining sometimes. Like I just gotta complain about it so that I can you know, but I'm like, like that's abundance for me, like being able to say, ah, that's me, and I can put that there.

And then I can also be like, dang, like I'm loved, my mom is fine, just called her on the phone. Like, there's a million things that are beautiful that people don't have. Like, there are people who have Emmys. Like, I think about Regina, Regina King's, who is like she's on my vision board. Like, she has Emmy, Emmy, Emmy, Emmy, Emmy. She's in every amazing black film. She's in her 40s having this like like gargantuan like explosion. She was in the watchman series, like everything she does has been fantastic. And she's also been in this business for 30 years. She was doing John Singleton's first movies back in the 90s. Like, you know what I mean? Like, she's been in this business a long time. And I'm like, she has longevity, but she's also doing like amazing things, and and then her son just died.

And it's just like, I don't know what that could be like to be like, oh, I'm at the top of the world, I'm producing, I'm directing, I have all these emmys, and my son is gone. Like, I just that's just been sitting with me. It's so hard. And I just think that, like, and I and what's so beautiful about that example is that I, you know, as soon as he passed away, there was all of this like footage from Instagram or interviews about how every every moment she got, she expressed how much she loved him and how close they were. So it feels like she didn't miss that opportunity. That like she that and he expressed how wonderful of a mother she was to him, and like they had a beautiful relationship, but like that's gotta be hard for like you to be at the top of your game, have so much going on, and for like the core of your life to like pass away.

And I just was like, just perspective, man, like perspective. Like I wouldn't, I don't if I had to lose my son, I don't think I want Emmy, you know what I mean? Like I and not saying that I would I just think her life is beautiful and I think she's the strong woman, and that's hard, but like you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. So God bless her, God bless, God bless her. I've been thinking about her a lot.

[20:06] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah, I love her. I feel like this is like that example is unfortunately the extreme of what puts things back into reality for many of us. It feels to me that we need these monumental gravity shaking instances to really bring us back to what's important, knowing that what's important can obviously change and shift depending on where one is in one's life physically or emotionally and mentally and spiritually, all of those things. But yeah, you know, I think so often and the the pandemic was the perfect example of that on a macro level, going back to that, like the macro level of really affecting people and really making them take a moment to pause and reflect and think about their lives and what's actually important. But it's just it's it's fascinating, and maybe not in like the positive fascinating way, but fascinating to me that it really does take those core-shaking things to really bring us back to what's important.

[21:09] Jennifer Apple: And I I wonder about the ways in which you have found for yourself to be the grounding tools to bring you back when things feel um like or perhaps when you feel like you have lost that perspective or when it has become so individualized or you just focus so much on your own little bubble. What are some of those things that bring you back to remembering the larger scope besides just these larger traumas or instances?

[21:48] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah. Um I have to say, I mean, I I think it has to do with the people I have around me. You know, I think people really should have boundaries around the kinds of people they have in their lives because they're people who will take you to those places who will encourage that energy. Um I'm really grateful to have, you know, I'm really grateful to have people in my life who remind me and are rigorous about it. And because I'll go there. And um, and that person will be like, are you sure? You know, my father's that way. Um, when we talk, you know, and and it's so interesting because I think is as I become more rigorous with myself about about grounding myself in what is true, um, and not in what I fabricate in my mind.

Um, I'm hoping to be an example for people in my life who raised me and maybe can get a refresher on that, or you know what I mean? So I think the people around me helped me do that, and people who I think are really great examples of that in their lives really inspired me to do that.

[23:06] Adrianna Mitchell: Um I mean I there's something about the rhythm of like auditioning constantly that requires it that you learn where you're like and I think it may be a little easier when you're creating something in the comfort of your home versus going out and having an appointment with someone, meeting someone, getting attached to an experience. Um but I I feel that when you you you pass through so many possibilities and then you're like ah I I dream about that being true and that one I'll get the call about that and they'll say yes to me about that and I'll get a call back and then you have to like kind of let those things fall away because they don't happen and you don't know why. And so I think I think okay, I'll say specifically about being an actor.

Like one of the ways that I ground myself is I always do work that I enjoy. Like I'm like, I have a tape that I'll turn in, and as long as I like it, I'm like that was fun. And sometimes I'm annoyed in the process of getting the tape done, and I only have two days and they gave me all these sides and no script and you know, but then you're like, oh, but we figured it out, and that was fun. Like the puzzle of figuring out what the scene was about, like what was the event of this scene. I figured that out with no script. Wow, look at me. Or I pulled clues from the character description, I figured it out, and then I watch it and I'm like, shit, I'd hire me. Like me. And I watch it, I'll be like, dang, that was funny, that was good.

And I, or like, or you know, like I think one of the most rewarding moments happened. This, like, there's this show called Only Murders in the Building with Steve Martin on Hulu. It's so funny, and I'm still watching it. There was this weird character, again, no scripts. I had no idea what it was about. I was like, she's talking, but really it's one of those scenes where she doesn't really have many lines. Other people are talking around her. And I was like, all I know is that she likes donuts and she likes horses and she loves this podcast that Steve Martin and his friend are creating about murders in the building. So I just put my hoodie on my head and I and I was just like, fuck it. Like, you know, and I was just like, and you could and you see this tape.

I might send it to you because I didn't get it, it's fine. But like I literally was like tying the strings, and I was like, and I was just doing the silliest things. I didn't really care, I didn't know what it was. It was gonna be like an episode of something. Sure, I'll take the money, you know what I mean. And I just was like, Great, having fun doing this, and then I watch it, and every time I watch it, I crack up laughing. Yeah, and then I got a callback for it, but for a different character. Yeah, and I was like, they really saw this, and they were like, I don't know what she's doing. What is this character? She's interesting, call her back. She's not right for this. Call her back for this other character.

And then I did that, and then I did a producer session for it, and I didn't get it because the character that they cast in the part, I don't know why I didn't get it, but she's much older than me, and I and it makes I would be playing her wife or something like that. So I was just like, but that whole journey happened from like a really frustrating scene that I was like, I have no idea what this is about. Yeah, but she's eating donuts. Like, I think that kind of joy talking about what is an artist, like the fun thing about doing a self-tape or an audition, that this is the only time you have absolute creative autonomy over what you're doing.

[26:41] Adrianna Mitchell: Amen. Because you don't get a lot of information. So you really get to stab in the dark and be like, I think this I think this is what this is, and this is what I would do with this until you give me notes. Right. And then obviously we'd love to get a call back. We’d love to go further in the process. But at those points, people tell you what they want it to be. And then you adjust, and that's the great thing about being an artist is well, you're flexible, you can change, and then you get directions from a director if you book the job and all those things. But like that initial creative moment of like, what is this? Yeah, this is what I think this is, and turn it in. Like, I think that it helps ground me that like I can get attached to projects and the hopes about things.

And I like hoping because I enjoy that process for me too. Um, but I also like the creative energy of just like making something and being like, This is my little short film I made today, no one will ever see it. And I did a damn good job. Yeah, look at those tears. She cried. She cried on cue, boom. Or like, look at that. Like it's half the time I feel like so many actors are like, Yeah, the bulk of my acting experience, like I've developed and gotten stronger through creating things that no one will ever see.

[27:49] Adrianna Mitchell: Truly. I mean, honestly, like the I was talking to you about this before we started, but like I booked this TV gig and in the process of filming these auditions, I was so frustrated. Like the world at the moment, I was tired, I was stressed. It was like not material that I was like really, really vibing with. I couldn't find me in it. And um, I ended up doing this one take where I just like had a piece of licorice in I had like I was just throwing, I was eating some licorice because why wouldn't this person sitting on her computer doing some like tech shit? Like, why wouldn't she just have maybe she's the person who's just like notching at her desk all damn day and she'd be eating some licorice?

And like once I finally, because I was I couldn't find me in it. I couldn't find my joy in that process. And I was so frustrated, like this is so short. This is so, but I'm putting all this weight on it. And then it was like, you know what? Fuck it. This is what I want to do in this moment. This bitch was gonna have some licorice in her mouth. And once I did it happened, that's I did granted. I sent that and then like a regular one to my manager, and she she didn't send the licorice tape in, which actually I'm so curious. What would have happened had she? I know I was like, these are two short scenes, like you should have just sent both. Granted, I guess it worked, but the whole the reason I think it worked is because I got the licorice energy in my body to then do the tape without it.

[29:17] Jennifer Apple: Exactly.

[29:18] Adrianna Mitchell: And I needed to find that joy of doing something stupid, but also something that felt like me to find me in the whole world. So, like you talking about eating donuts and like putting the little hood and but like that makes sense to me as to why they called you back in because you showed up. You, Adrianna showed up into the tape in a way that like nobody else would have done. Not because you were trying to be interesting, but because that was just the way that you found yourself in this world, and then you got to play. And we forget that. We forget, I know I certainly forget often when you're in the grind of it all, or when you only get so many auditions and you feel the pressure of, well, this one has to work because I only get so many, you know, and it's like actually no this is as you just said like this is my little short film like this is my moment to perform for me to feel that joy that I love with this craft that I so connect to and the craft that I love yeah if I don't take that time to like find my joy in it then like truly who is this for like exactly exactly it has to be for you and also I think it's great when you work with people that you like you talked about who you read with and how he was so great and you have your community of people that you work with then it becomes a fun process then we're like what if I we we have a take we have a take but what if and we just start like throwing things at the wall and it becomes like if it's a scene that we really like we're like oh let me do it again.

Well we already have a take I know but I'm having fun and then we just do it again like because we're having fun or we're enjoying it and I and I I don't want to like completely paint a picture. There's sometimes where I'm like okay I have lots other things to do in my life and other things and I gotta just bang them out and let it go but I think when I when I at my best I really want to try to like this is my creative moment. This is where I get to figure out what this is and maybe it's too much people like don't use props I'm like why I had a tape I just did where again she was at a computer and I was like I think she would be eating popcorn because Deleon was my my roommate was popping popcorn I was like I love how you call him your roommate still when you're not actually roommates but you're down the hallmates anymore.

But like he is my roommate in that and he had popcorn I was like I feel like this is after hours, and this is when she pops her popcorn, and this girl is calling her for a favor. And I'm just over here on the computer, like this is what I found out about this guy. You know what I mean? And I just think those things, whatever you can do to be alive in your auditions, whether in person or not, is the thing. Like that is the thing because people want to be right. And it's like, well, if you're trying to do what you think they want. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? But also everyone else is doing something like that. And people are surprised at how similar people's choices are. People's choices can get very similar.

But I think if you get into a place where you're like, I'm doing this with my perspective, this is my stamp. Then people really see who you are. And then also that you know, that has a ripple effect, right? You're not right for this because I'm clear about who you are, because you've let you've allowed me to see you. Now I've got you in my mind. And I think casting people are really strangely uh categorical that way, and remember people's energies and stuff like that. And then you, you know, you get a call back for something else, and or you get you know invited to do something else, and people know who you are, and I think that's really really like exciting, or like I think like repeat business tells you whether you booked or not, people see what you're doing, and that that's fun.

[32:49] Jennifer Apple: Well, I want you to talk about with that in mind, talk about your Snowfall audition for the listener, because like the process of that audition, because I feel like this is that's the perfect, and also the sh the um show that you just filmed, because like how you got that from the person. I feel like you've had a bunch of Kiss Met audition experiences where you've put in that work, you've shown up, and it's actually manifested itself in very different ways than you would have thought. And I feel like it's an important story, important stories for a listener to hear about how wild a journey this audition process can be when you don't put the pressure on just the single tape and the singled opportunity.

[33:32] Adrianna Mitchell: Absolutely. I'll bring, I'll talk about Snowfall. The first time I auditioned for it, um, I was like, cool. I had no television experience. Great. I'll take for it, tape for it, send it in. And they watched it, they liked it, they got back to me, and they were like, okay, we we might want to use you, and you're pinned. And it was all this like, oh my god, like, should I pack a bag? Like, am I gonna go to LA? Do I have money to go to LA? Because it was a local hire thing. And then they decided that they went for they went for another actress. And I was like, okay, but that's so exciting to get so close and have you know to be keep your phone near you, you know, like that. That buzzy energy. A year later, season three comes out. That character doesn't show up.

[34:19] Jennifer Apple: How long later? Say that again.

[34:21] Adrianna Mitchell: A year later. A year later. Guys, you drop a little seed, it takes some time. A year later, they come back. And at that point, I had done maybe a couple episodes, two or three episodes of the television on other projects, which was great. Get a little experience. I came back. The same breakdown for the same character came up. And I was like, they told me they cast someone. And I went and I looked her up, and she had her, she has the character on her IMDB because they shot, I think, several episodes with her. They just decided that that character didn't, I guess for whatever reason, from what I understood, that she didn't fit in the season arc or whatever. They just decided, I don't know. And I don't know why.

I don't, I don't ask questions. I don't know. The character draw came back, and I was like, oh great, I'll audition again, sure. And then they were like, Great, we want you to chemistry read with Damson Idris, the lady of the show. And I was like, cool. And then I actually could not go. And you know, you get in those moments where like, how will I tell these producers no, I'm not coming to chemistry? Because I was in the Florida Keys shooting an episode of uh The Good Fight, which was like super fun and easy and and and not easy but exciting. I had never been flown anywhere to go work, and I was like, I actually can't. But like a couple weeks prior, I was catering. Like I was, I it was the weirdest 60 days of or 30, 45 days of my life.

I was like, I actually can't go to LA because I'm actually here. And they were like, Cool. Uh can you just put the chemistry read sides on tape? And I was like, why would anybody choose someone taping chemistry by themselves at home when you're gonna have people in person chemistry reading with him? Like he'll get a vibe for those people. And I said, Okay, I'm not gonna, I'm gonna trust it, did it, moved on, whatever. I was like, Well, I'm glad they they wanted me to chemistry read. That's cool. Then they were like, actually, we still want to see you. And I was like, When are you gonna be back from work? And I was like, I'll be back on Monday. A couple days later, I flew out to LA, did the chemistry read in person, and they were like on a tight schedule.

Everyone's always on a tight schedule. We need this ASAP, da-da-da-da. We're starting, we're starting, da-da-da-da-da. And then suddenly they had time the chemistry read me several days later. And I went in and I was super excited, and I ordered sushi the day before.

[36:49] Jennifer Apple: I love how that's a key detail.

[36:51] Adrianna Mitchell: Key detail, we are ordering sushi. Per DM for my for my audition. This is nice. And I went in and I was like, you know, I had all these terrible experiences of like in my mind about like there's gonna be producers everywhere, and they're all gonna be looking at you, and the guy's gonna be awful, and you're gonna have to keep up. And it was just like they were chilling on a couch, the light was low. It was the showrunner, the director of the first episode, and a couple producers. Damson was there, and the casting director, cast director was like, Hey, just go and sit and talk with Damson for a little bit so you can meet him before. And I was like, Thank God. And we talked, and he was like, Yeah, you understand this, da-da-da.

Nice to meet you, da-da-da-da. So kind, so polite. And then we went in and we did this scene, and then it was like, Oh my god, Jennifer, it was like the stuff you hope to do. It was like, Oh, we're in rehearsal, we're doing a scene. Get a note, try it this way, do it this way. Great. Go outside, director speech whispers in my ear, okay. But I think it should be da-da-da-da-da. Okay, we go back in, and I'm like, Oh, this is what I do four hours a day in grad school or in class when we work on a scene. We just like try the scene a million different ways, and you get a note from your instructor, or people give you feedback. And I was like, I'm so comfortable in this place because this is me. I know the scene, I memorized it.

I'm getting to know this person, I'm listening and responding, listening and responding, listening and responding. And I was like, that was you go through so many weird hoops, and then you get to a place where you hope that you're doing the thing that feels like the thing that you want to do, and that's what it felt like. And then I walked outside, it's a really sunny day. There was all this beautiful graffiti on the walls over where they have set and trees and stuff, and I was just like, I have a feeling that this is where I'm gonna be working. And I just sat and I said, This is where I'm gonna work. I feel like this is this is where this is my job. Like, I get really attached to places. I think places really have energy, and I I walk into a place and I'm like, this feels like we're all be coming to work.

And that's just Adrianna though. Adrianna is not only does Adrianna feel like places are home, but like Adrianna will move in. Like we used to call Adrianna like the bag lady in grad school. Like she'd come in with like multiple bags to any given place to like establish a home wherever, like you know, truly everywhere. Like all my things. I think you were like I think you were a secret Santa. I think you were my secret Santa. You were you were one of my you were my secret Santa or whatever holiday. For like yeah, for one of our our second our second year grad school. I gave you a full bag of bags.

[39:22] Jennifer Apple: Like you did, and then you gave me like, and then oh, here's a cute type of wear for where you're you know, you do your lunch.

[39:27] Adrianna Mitchell: But here it was inside of a bag, it was inside of a bag.

[39:30] Jennifer Apple: That was literally because you yeah, anyway, because you make places feel like home.

[39:34] Adrianna Mitchell: Yep, carry on. Yep, that's what I do. And then I had that thought, and I was like, it's a sunny day, I'm enjoying myself, this is great. And then Damson came out and he was like, You murdered it, congratulations. And he he he gave me like you know, this sweet little European British kisses, and I was like, Oh, that's so nice, thank you so much. And he was like, Okay, and he knew at that point that I got the job, but he couldn't tell me. And I was like, Oh, well, even if I don't get it, like that was so sweet and so nice, and he didn't have to say that he's no, he's a you know, a star, you know. And I went and the next day I had lunch with my manager and um my agent, and they were like, you know, we're gathering to break brand because you booked the job.

And I was like, flew back to New York. And oh no, he asked me, he was like, Why are you going back to New York? And I was like, Yeah, so we'll start shooting soon. And I was like, Well, I guess you'll let me know. But I was going back, and I flew back home and and that was that experience but that took a whole year it was like auditioning someone else got the job did the job booked the job worked the job and then it still came back and so like that really tells me like okay when things are right it's right and then my first day at the table read they were like yeah I remember you from last year several producers came up to me and they were like we we were gunning for you and it just didn't work out but I'm so glad you're here and I was just like okay it was like a really affirming experience and then to add to that I was quickly talk about Harlem's kitchen because that was an another moment yep where I was like wow so Snowfall is happening I'm starting to shoot Snowfall and then I had you know a couple auditions that came in while I was in LA I went with our classmate Leonard and he helped me tape it and I was like whatever I'm I'm playing this character I liked this I liked it and I was like okay cool I'll do it turned it in I had a couple weeks off for Snowfall I'd come back to New York and I go in and I tape for a different character in in the room and I was like and it was the end of the day she was tired I felt like I was great but the energy of the room was kind of like wonky and weird and you know it was five o'clock and people ready to go and I was like okay well you know I did it thank you went back continued shooting Snowfall I get a phone call out of nowhere with like month a month later and they were like you're testing for this part and I was like testing what does that mean I have to do do I need to fly what do I do I have to learn what about you know they're like no nothing like they're like moving quickly they found your tape I was like what do you mean they found my tape that well we you know they they had sent a whole bunch of people to the writer creator and he didn't like anybody or like nobody was the right fit and then they found your tape and I was like did they lose it what happened I don't know for some reason they he didn't see it at first I don't know why you know and then but like where does it go you know what I mean is it like socks in a dryer yeah like where does yeah hello there it is it just like where I like legit though where did we know it like that's actually I have no answer to that question they it was I was passed over and then found that's all I know I don't know what that process actually looks like who didn't send it right who didn't upload I don't know anything this just also tells me that casting is a people process these are people doing people things and I don't you know I have absolute faith and trust that everyone is is is looking for the one and then things happen and so then it was just like oh they found my tape I had forgotten about it and I also thought the tape was okay and then I you know I thought I did a good job at the the casting office but you know it was the end of the day da da da and then it was just like yeah and now my manager was trying to make sure that I could get out of Snowfall to do this pilot real quick and everybody was so amicable everybody really worked it out they were like no we wanted to do that we'll just change they I think they wrote me out of the episode or whatever I'm not sure what they did but they were they were very um accommodating they were like no, we want you to do this.

[43:48] Adrianna Mitchell: And yeah, and then that happened. And then the pandemic happened. And so then it didn't happen. But it was such a beautiful experience. Even in just the meeting of all those people, the creators and the producers, and you know, sitting next to Delroy Lindo reading a script and gave Cheryl Lee Ralph a hug and who she was gonna play my mom. Like all these wonderful things that I people that I connected with in the day, literally the day before the pandemic happened, which it was happening before that, but the day that everybody was like, Oh, this is a thing. The shutdown, yeah. The shutdown was the day we had our table read for that pilot. And then they were like, Okay, we'll see you all in a couple weeks.

A couple weeks turned into a couple months, a couple months kind of turned into a couple years. And um, you know, things happen all the time. People who make pilots and pilots don't go, so it's just kind of like you really do have to be but wasn't there a collaborator on from Harlem's kitchen, yes, that then ended up bringing you in for so what happened was that pilot didn't go, but that showrunner is a dear friend of mine to this day. I love him. He checked in during the pandemic, he would call, he'd email, and he was like, I just want you to know I'm still working hard and I'm pitching our project, and you know, he was he was so excited and passionate about us as a cast and us as a cast with the project, like you know what I mean.

Like he it was amazing, and so we built a relationship, you know, loosely. I hadn't seen him in a couple years, and but we stayed in touch, and then he his other pilot got or his other show and pilot got picked up, which had Brandy and Natori from Power and Eve and all these wonderful people called Queens, and so that got up and running, got picked up to series, and they're doing this show about um it's on APC right now, it just had its season finale. Um, so we hope they get a season two. So excited. But he was he brought me back for an episode of that, and I got to do my scene with Brandy. I got to meet Brandy, and I used to watch her and Cinderella, and she was the most gracious. I think she was probably my favorite work experience.

I think truly, truly, truly, I was in awe at her, just her spirit. And that's why I say people want to be so talented, they want to be this and the third. But what I came in contact with was someone who was like, I respect your process. I want you to know that I'm a warm person, but I we have a very emotional scene, so I'm gonna leave you be. And then she was just like, I think what you're doing is wonderful. Like she was just pouring into me all day. And I was like, oh my god, like whenever I am in that position, that's how I want to be. When it's my set and I'm number one, two, three of on the call sheet, I want to be pouring into everybody who comes onto that set for she only worked with me for a day, you know what I mean?

She didn't have to respond to me or you know, be kind, and she was, and that experience also came out of an experience that happened years prior. And so I think you plant seeds and you don't know when they're gonna bloom. And so just trusting that. And I also think that's a macro micro thing because you can get really microcosmic about well, I did this, this, this, and this, and these things have it come back to me in the way that I think they should. But you have no idea how your name is being floating in rooms, people may be talking about you, maybe on people's walls right now, and they're like, ah, she's not right, we'll get her back, da da da. And you have no idea. And so I really trust that that's happening, and people don't have time to send you an email and say that they're thinking about you for a project, but people are, and that that grows.

And I've been privileged to feel that I've developed that that. That I'm like, okay, people recognize like I'm sending in something to someone who's seen me before and they keep inviting me back, and there's a relationship that I'm building. Um, and people know what I will turn in in terms of auditions and work and that the integrity of a career that is budding is growing.

[48:06] Jennifer Apple: Yeah, and I trust that. I feel like those two little stories are just like, you know, so for me, they're so inspiring when I first, you know, years ago at this point, heard, you know, like as I keep hearing these things about you, and as a friend of yours and somebody who's seen, you know, your growth through time, I just want to like reaffirm also, not that you need it from me, just like how proud I am of you. And I feel like these stories are just are so emblematic of the way in which you have been so consistent in showing up, but again, not even like for the work, clearly, but really for yourself, right? With this idea of like you give all of you and and the way in which you show up is all you can do, and you are doing that consistently, and the ways that it's coming back to you are perhaps in surprising ways and unexpected ways, but it's only because of the way you keep bringing yourself, you know, and I feel like what a wonderful lesson for anyone listening to just the this is a marathon, it's not a spring marathon if you're trying to do this.

[48:46] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah, if you're trying to do this, right?

[48:48] Jennifer Apple: And it's all about collaboration. That is why we're artists. Yes, you know, it's about the people that you were talking about, like the people that we are surrounded by that fill you up and the work that you get to do that fills you with joy, all of that stuff, right? It's like if we forget that this is something that we're trying to do for a long time, and we lose sight of the fact that these little moments are building. These people that we're meeting are building the the relationships, the rooms, all of that is building towards the work that we're trying to continue working towards. Like I feel like what a missed opportunity to really um be present.

[49:20] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah, the journey is the thing.

[49:21] Jennifer Apple: The journey is the thing.

[49:22] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah.

[49:23] Jennifer Apple: Because you're gonna remember those moments. I'm like, dang, I will sleep on the floor to do that play. And now I'm here. And you get experience. I mean, we talk about that all the time with VAC too. Just like, and we have like art shares, you know, it's like our art and process, right? We taught, we forget that like the process is the creation. You know, it took Hamilton, that's the one that people know. It took Hamilton six years to become the Hamilton that you know it to be now. Six years. That's a long, long time. Forget the time that it took for them to like, you know, for Lynn and whoever to like create the beginnings, beginnings before it even had those six years of development. But like art begins now. You as an artist, right? You are able to start this journey whenever by just sitting on your couch and and mulling over E equals M C squared. And then that allows you to go into your little sliding door closet and you know, like start to write some stuff.

[50:13] Adrianna Mitchell: Yeah, no, but I'm not about it, right?

[50:15] Jennifer Apple: Like, yeah, yeah. Like you're gonna call me next week and be like, I wrote a play. And I'll be like, what's it about? You're like, here's the rule.

[50:22] Adrianna Mitchell: I'm like, listen, I'm I'm I'm there.

[50:24] Jennifer Apple: Um, but I I I think you know, what a these stories that you just shared are so emblematic of those little sprinkles of putting yourself into the world, releasing, giving all that you possibly can, and then trusting in some way, although hard, that like it will come back to you because the people that are meant to will and the opportunities that are meant to will, and they they just will the universe. Who knew that this was gonna get so philosophical?

[50:52] Adrianna Mitchell: I mean, you know me, I love this, but like but that's the secret cause the universe will work. You have to do everything you can, and then you have to release it, you can't be attached to it, which is hard. You have to find whatever your ritual is to release it, so that then it's like you get you can't you can't make a boomerang and then throw the boomerang with your hand, you have to let the boomerang go because the boomerang must fly and come back. And I just think that's that's the sauce. That's like the hack.

[51:18] Jennifer Apple: But you you have no control over the hack, but that's the hack.

[51:23] Adrianna Mitchell: I know, and you have to find how you can finagle that hack for yourself so that you don't want to fully pull out your hair all the time. Um, but like it's just maybe some of the time, and then other times, like you can kindly brush your hair if your hair is brushable, which mine is clearly not, but um listen.

[51:42] Jennifer Apple: Um, I I obviously, you know, can continue talking to you forever as we we are wont to do off this. Um but I I'm so grateful that you are here with us today and talking in such an open and uh thoughtful way about where you are and how things are and the way in which you are pro you are approaching your processing and the work that you're doing, and um, I'm so grateful that you're a part of EAC and a trailblazer for us, and just a trailblazer in your own right and the work that you're doing, and um thank you for all of your honesty and wisdom today.

[52:19] Adrianna Mitchell: Thank you.

[52:20] Adrianna Mitchell: And I have to say that I'm so proud of you.

[52:22] Adrianna Mitchell: I'm so proud of you for creating this podcast and this community, and what you've um as an entrepreneurial creative spirit have established. That's really because there's no path for that, right? I think you create a path for that, and I think there's nobody who's gonna tell you now it's time to start a workshop, and now it's time, you know. You've this is something that's grown that you've that you've made on your own and with your own energy and with your own resources and with your own knowledge and wisdom that you're sharing in a very positive good way. I have a firm belief that everything that is good that you want to do can happen because it is good and and people will benefit from good. And if it is a good thing with a good intention, it can get done. And so I'm really I'm I'm proud of you for that, and I'm and I'm riding into this year with that thought.

[53:14] Jennifer Apple: Yeah, yeah.

[53:15] Adrianna Mitchell: And I I mean, thank you for all of that.

[53:18] Jennifer Apple: I'm terrible at receiving compliments.

[53:20] Adrianna Mitchell: And the only way I can do this, thank you.

[53:22] Jennifer Apple: The only way I can do this is because of people like you, you know.

[53:26] Jennifer Apple: My and it goes back to what you were saying of just like the people that you surround yourself with and the people who lift you up and the people who do affirm you not just to blow smoke, but because they believe and they know and they want to be a part of that journey because they want to make the world a better place. Obviously, that sounds really you know, trite and good shape, but it's true, right?

[53:43] Adrianna Mitchell: It's very real.

[53:44] Jennifer Apple: And so this is just a little of a love fest of pride and joy. And I mean, truly, like if we just think back to like our first day of grad school to now, where I'm like and just like the the lives we've led between in and out that we've watched, yes, that have come and gone.

[54:05] Adrianna Mitchell: Time.

[54:05] Jennifer Apple: Yeah, it's just one it's wonderful to see.

[54:08] Adrianna Mitchell: So I love you.

[54:09] Jennifer Apple: I love you too.

[54:10] Adrianna Mitchell: More soon.

[54:10] Jennifer Apple: More soon.

[54:12] Jennifer Apple: Well, you can tell what a love fest it was to have Adrianna sit and chat and share so openly with me and discuss in this way. I sincerely hope that you were able to glean something from this, whether it was about the way in which you show up in your own creative process, or perhaps just simply thinking about the world and the possibilities that are endless for all of us. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate us, like us, follow us, leave a review, turn on your bell notifications to find out when the next episode comes out, which is weekly, and also as always, invite your friends so you can listen and discuss these episodes together. It's just more fun that way. If you hated it. Don't bother with any of that, just let it slide.

If it's not for you, it's not for you. And in case you haven't done so already, you can find us on Instagram at Empowered Artist Collective, on TikTok at Empowered Artist Collective, and our website at Empowered Artist Collective.com. With that said, welcome to the Empowered Artist Collective podcast. I'm Jennifer Apple, and I so look forward to having you back again next week. Until then.