Camille Mitchell is a renaissance woman who loves the road she’s travelled as much as she loves the place she is today. The daughter of actors Cameron and Johanna Mitchell, she has spent her entire adult life honing her craft and absorbing life’s lessons while constantly evolving. To describe her as ageless, however accurate, would be downplaying her magnetic presence with simplicity. Her persona has manifested into more interesting television acting roles offered now than at any other point in her career. Not bad for a mature actress who loves the outdoors and understands the value of physical literacy and a healthy lifestyle. The University of British Columbia graduate would have been a doctor if acting, writing, and directing weren’t in the cards.
Charles Joseph Mitchell,
at the Leo Awards in 2018.
Photo: Camille Mitchell Collection
For the interview, the West Vancouver resident was resplendent in classic styling with well-coiffed, blonde shoulder-length hair. She describes her home as living in a cool, funky 1928 cottage with a big apple tree and an ocean view. Vibrant and fit, the multi-talented actor talked about her philosophy on life, what motivates her and, her next projects.
As Camille reminisces about her mother, a reflective smile lights up her face, “My mother went on to become an incredible businesswoman in an era when women did not become executives, but she was an extraordinary person.”
“I’m a big believer in how important family is,” she says. “My father was from a very poor family; he was one of seven children raised during the depression. He used to have to wear his sister’s clothes to school because they couldn’t afford clothes. And so, his high school teacher sent him to New York with $50. It was all the savings she had but she felt he was such a talented young actor that he would do well.”
The teacher was right.
“And I learned a lot from him,” says Camille. “In his own way, he was a fascinating guy, a very eccentric man.”
Camille was born after her dad finished filming How to Marry a Millionaire with Marilyn Monroe. The Hollywood star sent her baby booties.
“I think both my parents had a real, deep love and respect for artists and that seems to be lacking somewhat in our world now… because we need artists,” she adds. “We need people to dream for us, and it’s not all about money.”
Camille spent the first 10 years of life in LA, until the family moved to Vancouver, which always felt like home. Growing up in an acting household, she says, “At home, we were constantly doing shows as kids. I had three older brothers; we were always doing skits, and my parents, my grandparents, they always expected us to perform. I remember my father saying, ‘I want you kids to learn some lines.’ I think I was four. I think my brother, Chip was six. And I remember going, ‘Oh my God, these lines.’ It was already in my head.”
“I used to skip school as a kid,” she continues. “I was always pretending to have a stomachache so I could watch old movies on TV. And I was in love with theatre. I was very idealistic as a teenager. And I felt I could save the world if I went into medicine, not realizing how bad I was at the sciences required. So yes, I did get into pre-med, my marks were good enough. But the course load was insane, and it really wasn’t my aptitude at all.”
Camille’s path into an acting career was forged at 18.
“They suggested I take an acting class at UBC, and I just fell in love with it. It was taught by a wonderful director and acting coach, Stanley Weese. He incorporated everything I loved about human psychology, the arts, theatre, humour, drama. There’s something I still really love about the rehearsal process in theatre. You close the doors, and you try to recreate, and you get to fail, and you get to make mistakes and you get to try new things. And it’s always in the comfort of a trusted space with people you trust.”
While at UBC, Camille got her equity card in Stephen Sondheim’s Company.
She talks about her early days of her work on stage, the era, getting into character, the costumes and describes what it was like back then: “I remember reading a biography of the actress Vivien Leigh, and she said she only got into acting because she loved wearing costumes. When I started in theatre, it was a different time. Everyone was doing period pieces. Everyone was doing the classics. So, costumes definitely were required, which was fabulous.”
To hone her craft in theatre, Camille attended drama school in London, England for two years, and later moved to Toronto and started working.
“It was very exciting. It was also such a different time because in those days theatres across the country had a lot of money and they would pay for your accommodation. You could make a very nice living and you’d work with directors from Broadway or the West End of London. There was no TV or film here in Vancouver and not very much in Toronto either. Really, the only way to make a living as an actor was to be in the theatre. And that was fine with me; I just loved it.”
Camille’s philosophy on life is, “Ninety-eight percent is just showing up because if you don’t go, nothing’s going to happen. Dolly Parton, I love, says, ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get.’ People can always say no. And another one from a wonderful director, Christopher Newton, used to say, ‘With good manners, you can get away with anything.’ And I love that because I love good manners.”
Life has had its share of challenges for Camille, yet there’s nothing she hasn’t overcome.
“At that time, there weren’t understudies,” she says. “If you got sick, you still went on. It took a lot for any theatre to let you out of performing. I was doing Merchant of Venice in Toronto and I’d gotten a terrible eye infection and I ended up playing Portia with an eye patch. Because there was no understudy for me, they wouldn’t cancel the show and the show must go on.”
“But it also teaches you an incredible discipline about showing up, being on time is five minutes late and being five minutes early is being on time and learning your lines and learning your blocking and being part of a team, an ensemble, where you are treated with respect, you respect your fellow actors, and your director is the captain of this particular ship you’re on.”
“Life is a funny thing; when you least expect great things to happen, it’s amazing what comes around the corner.”
“We’re all just doing the best we can, but it really strikes me how important it is to be generous to other people, to give them the benefit of the doubt, just as a life lesson, to wish people well, because in some ways it’s a long life; in other ways, it’s a short life.
“Another big lesson for me is just as a woman, I never thought I could say, ‘Let me think about it’ in terms of the business aspect of it. Take the time and get the information. But in terms of other stuff, there are sayings I love that I put on my fridge, like, ‘Life Can Only Come at You One Day at a Time.’”
Camille typically finds herself writing every day.
“A big part of it for me is meditation, getting out into nature and journalling every day. If I can do those three things every day, I find I’m happier, healthier, and life is better for me.”
Like fine wine or vintage Port, Camille is getting better with age. More leading acting roles is evidence enough.
“There seems to be more interesting roles for me. I think it’s because, after a certain age, people don’t really know what to do with you anymore.” She laughs, “The world expects less of you as you get older, I think, which is very freeing. I read an interview recently with Judi Dench, someone asked her when she would retire. And she said, ‘Never.’ And she said, ‘Why should I retire?’”
What is next for Camille?
“It makes me very happy to work with young people. I’ve had the pleasure this year of working with some extraordinary young talent on two new shorts. One is, The Architect’s Dream, written and directed by Francesco Papetti and produced by my son, Charlie-Joe Mitchell, an extraordinary director in his own right, which recently screened at the 2021 Rio Grind Film Festival here in Vancouver.”
“The other is, Call Button, written and directed by Rhona Rees about a woman with multiple sclerosis. Both are brilliant, original pieces and will be featured on the 2022 film festival circuit, and I’m so excited about them.”
She concludes by revealing another dimension to her talents, saying, “Also, I recently took on the recurring animated role of Elde Faery on Peacock’s Supernatural Academy, which should be airing in 2022 and is really fun.”
SNAPSHOT
If you were to meet your 20-year-old self, what advice would you give her?
“I would tell her to trust herself and her instincts, to go big or go home – and that everything always works itself out.”
Who or what has influenced you the most? And why?
“Having a child radically changed my life and all for the better. Parenting is the best job in the world. It invites you to evolve as a human being unlike any other rite of passage. I think most artists have an extended adolescence. Raising my son made me grow up and become a bigger person.”
What does courage mean to you?
“I believe that optimism and hope, especially in dark times, take tremendous courage. To quote the amazing Susan Jeffers, to me it means, ‘feeling the fear and doing it anyway.’”
How do you keep yourself grounded?
“On an ideal day, with meditation, daily journalling, an hour hike or walking in nature and I can handle pretty well anything.”
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