Ella Hunt
Ella Hunt has been making and breaking waves since she was a little kid. Starring in many popular roles at a young age only ripened her to the acting scene, where she now has a huge part in the show Dickinson, amongst so many other incredible features. She’s appeared on TV, in movies and even has her own hit single from last year. All around, she’s someone we admire from afar and hope to be friends with IRL someday. When she’s not acting, a typical day consists of kittens, sleeping and yoga in the morning or sitting at the piano or writing, if she’s not filming something. Currently based in New York, when she’s off work, a day also consists of skipping around a studio in midtown in delight or scowling behind a sweaty double mask on the subway.
Since she’s constantly moving around, one of the most rewarding things about her current work is when she meets the back of her subconscious mind. She hasn’t always felt like she’s accomplished that when recording music, but at the moment, what she’s doing has been thrilling for her. For her, the process of recording these new tracks reminds her of what it feels like when you turn a coat inside out and realize you like the inside of it better. Right now Hunt is working on shooting the third season of Dickinson, which feels utterly joyous after a year of no shooting. Coming back to a character and a cast that she knows, loves and who she’s grown with too is something that makes her as happy as a clam. For her, it feels like a real gift. She’s also working on getting everything together for the release of the music that she’s been working on, she says that because she’s held onto her music as private expressions of feeling for so long, she’s been delicate and slow with the process of making the artwork for it and thinking through how exactly she’d like to release. It’s all coming together and she’s very excited. Hunt also recently shot the music videos for the project with Naz Riahi directing – another person who really inspires her and she can’t wait for people to see what they’ve made together.
Covid has changed all of us, but for Ella it changed the way she went about her job. For a while Covid meant no filming and no music making with other people, which sent her into a lethargic kind of lowness. After a while of hating and fighting against that lowness, she started to find it very constructive to have time to sit with the music she’s made over the past few years of planes, trains and cars – a life in constant motion. It led her into a new chapter of writing and recording that has given her a sense of reward and discovery. Since she hasn’t seen her family since last July, this whole thing has given her many reasons to cry, but even more reasons to pick herself up and keep moving.
Speaking about things that keep her moving, some people who inspire her are her incredibly talented brothers, William and Arthur. Both artists, she loves getting on the phone with them and hearing about what they’re making and discovering despite the times we’re living through. Some other people who have changed the way Hunt sees herself and the world are Billie Eilish, Michaela Cole and Laurie Anderson. A vastly different group of people who are all creative in their own right. From musicians, to artists to designers, these people all play a pivotal role in the way Hunt sees the world around her. If she could have a dinner party and invite anyone, she’d have a sad girl ghost dinner party with the ghosts of Francesca Woodman, Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. Three icons who only mirror the way Hunt goes about creating music, writing and acting.
For anyone who wants to be Hunt, or do what she does, her best advice (other than eating copious amounts of sugar) is to not try to be anyone else- listen to your instincts and be guided by the people, places and things that make you happy. Ella Hunt is truly a star in every way and it doesn’t take very much to realize that.
Source: Pusspussmagazine.com
