The Captivating Michele Abascal
Who are those strange creatures that are chameleon-like and have a multi-colored aura about them? They are incredibly magnetic in that they pull us into their magical universe whenever they choose. Some people call them children when they are young but as they mature and get older and become even more fun, most observers call them actors. Michele Abascal is one of the latter although we can see the childhood magic in her sparkling eyes in each performance she gives.
She was born in Chiapas, Mexico, in a town she says was devoid of any culture. That statement by her was astounding not because of its starkness but because we simply can’t believe that this woman was raised without culture. She is an actress who understands and grasps human feelings immediately and then chews them gently and makes them her own. She can portray any character that she has been given with the ease of putting on a sweater or brushing her hair. If her town was lacking culture her country certainly isn’t. Mexico is one of the most magical nations on the planet. Everything has a meaning in that great and culturally rich land and Michele can see things that only fantasy writers could imagine.
When she was a young girl even though she was growing up not knowing that she could dedicate her life to acting, she began to act anyway. Her index finger was a “magic finger.” That is, it had the ability to transform her into any character simply by pointing it at herself and naming the persona she was to be. She began to breathe acting and she became different people, fantasy creatures, and whatever else she could imagine or glean from books and movies. As she got a bit older the magic finger lost its power and she started to lose the memory of how powerful that finger and all that it brought into her life really was.
When she got older and moved to the city she joined a theater workshop and she rediscovered that what had been a part of her past could actually be her future. She realized that the magic finger was something that could acquire new and deeper dimensions and that its power was always hers for the asking. That magic finger has taken Michele on a journey filled with countless roles in numerous plays and films and this is only the beginning. Her universe is ever expanding and so is her role as a human being. She is fond of a quote that we paraphrase here: “To be a better actor, you have to be a better person.”
