Michelle DeFraites
CM: So you just wrapped up and premiered Project Almanac, how was that for you?
MD: It was so amazing — it was my first big feature film and my first big red carpet and so just getting to be a part of that and getting to have that experience is something that I’ll never forget. It was such a blessing to be a part of. And I enjoyed playing the mean girl, Sarah Nathan. It’s always fun!
CM: Does that bring out a different side of you?
MD: Oh of course because you don’t want to be the mean girl in real life! So you just channel it all into your character!
CM: Tell me about a favorite character that you’ve played before.
MD: I did this really fun spot on the show “House” and I had my arm chopped off and so that was like the coolest thing ever. I had this huge bandage and this green sleeve on my arm so when you watched it back later it’s like I had no arm. So friends and my parents were calling like “oh my God! You have an arm right?!” and I was like “yeah yeah.” But that was really cool, just the special effects that went into that.
CM: What would be a dream role for you?
MD: Oh, that’s easy. One of my favorite movies growing up was Tomb Raider and if they ever rebooted that I totally would want to be Lara Croft. I gotta work on an accent but I would do it, hands down! I love the action, all of that. I admire her so much; I would totally want to do that.
CM: You have a fashion and style blog with T.C. Carter, can you tell us more about that?
MD: It’s a passion project of ours that started because we were just both so in love with fashion. We were sitting around one day and I was looking at all these fashion blogs and noticed all these blogs for guys and blogs for girls, but there wasn’t one that crosses over. I was like, “since we’re both so interested, would you want to do this with me?” And he was like “yeah, it gives us a reason to go out and buy clothes and take pictures of ourselves!” (laughs) So we did it and it’s just gotten a great response because you know, we just show our personal style but we also show how you can do the current trends if you’re a guy or a girl and it’s all in one place. It has reached a great audience so we’re really excited that people are responding well to it.
CM: On your instagram, you have the phrase “only dead fish follow the stream”. What does that mean?
MD: To me it’s just about being yourself and originality, and don’t get caught up in what everybody else is doing. It’s funny you said that because TC actually has that tattooed on his arm right here (points to left forearm). It’s kind of like our thing, and what our blog is based around, just being unique individual and not getting caught up in what everybody else is doing because then you just become like everybody else and float down the stream. Go against the current, go against the current and be different.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSEFHALEY & JOHN HONG
PHOTOGRAPHER ASSISTANT JEFFREY LIN
STYLING BY ROBIAT BALOGUN
MAKE UP BY CHELSEA YUSUF
HAIR STYLING BY CARLOS ZELAYA
INTERVIEW BY JANE HONG
