Michelle C. Smith wields lightsabers on the internet, did stunts in dead Pool and teaches people how to do tricks with staffs.
And she’s from Vancouver.
Smith has amassed a huge following on social media (with 1.4 million followers on TikTok, as well as hundreds of thousands on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook) thanks in large part to his viral videos of his lightsaber acrobatics, which have garnered millions of views. (as well as the attention of many players in the film industry).
“On the internet I’ve been called the ‘lightsaber lady’ or sometimes on TikTok they call me the ‘lightsaber mom’,” she says.
It is not by chance that she ended up here.
Child acrobat at Vancouver artist
Smith’s journey to online gun towers dates back to the age of five in Red Deer, Alberta. She then started to do truncheons with the baton, like an athletic effort, and got into it; at age nine, she was competing nationally. At 11, she was representing Canada on the world stage.
“I don’t know why I started but I did and it became my life,” she says. “It was my priority rather than high school.”
When she finished school, instead of retiring, she decided to take her physical skills to the coast and moved to Vancouver at age 19. At the time, however, she wasn’t looking to use her staff skills.
“I was trying to dance for the Backstreet Boys, but by the time I got there they weren’t cool anymore,” she says.
Instead, she joined the Underground Circus, where she forged ties with the film industry, as stunt performers and circus professionals overlap.
“I didn’t know stunts existed until I met stunt people in the industry,” she says.
From there, Smith made her own way in the industry; at the time, she notes, there weren’t as many resources for people working in the stunts, so much of it was self-directed. But for someone with a lot of athletic talent and experience, in addition to playing time, there was a natural progression. And when it came time to learn martial arts, his batting training came in handy.
Blow up the internet
As she progressed as a stunt performer and became more confident, Smith found that she enjoyed teaching and helping prepare actors for their stunts. She has also started posting videos of her training online with staff.
“Posting on social media was one thing for me; to really own who I am and what my skills are,” she says.
His baton and weapon skills were unique and earned him some attention in the industry beyond the usual stunts. At the same time, his videos were also attracting attention on social media with creative sessions and tutorials.
“I didn’t worry about numbers, I was just pushing my own creative limits,” she says. “I used it as a laboratory.”
In 2017, she got a lightsaber to play with (no, not a real one with a superheated blade that cuts things, but hers lights up), which she added to her video lineup. The lightsaber videos proved popular, with one going “mega-viral” and getting millions of views across different platforms. Wired even got Star Wars star Daisy Ridley to react.
Now his videos regularly get millions of views.
At the same time, she has expanded her online tutoring efforts, “nurturing and cultivating” those who follow her and encouraging those who learn the skills she masters.
“I really try to create my own path,” she says of her education efforts. “I’m creating as I go and it’s going really well considering many don’t know they want to do it until they see it.”
And while she’s never worked on an official Star Wars project, she’d love to do so, either as a combat coordinator and designer (an area she’s been working on more of these days) or as a designer. ‘interpreter.
“Where I would really like to be is training actors to do badass lightsaber fights,” she says. “And really help them with lightsaber training.”
While some lightsaber combat felt heavy and slow in the past, she would love to bring her free-flowing, acrobatic style to the Star Wars universe.
“It’s a big open universe and there’s room for choreography,” she says. “Especially using force.”
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