Michelle C. Smith wields lightsabers across the internet, did stunts in Deadpool and teaches people how to do tricks with staffs.
And she's from Vancouver.
Smith has built up a huge social media following (with 1.4 million followers on TikTok, along with hundreds of thousands on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook) thanks in big part to her viral videos of her acrobatic lightsaber-twirling, which have garnered millions of views (along with the attention of many in the film industry).
"On the internet, I've been dubbed the 'lightsaber lady' or sometimes on TikTok they call me the 'lightsaber mom,'" she says.
It's no accident she's ended up here, though.
Child acrobat to Vancouver performer
Smith's path to weapon tricks online can be traced back to when she was five years old in Red Deer, Alberta. She started baton twirling then, as an athletic endeavour, and took to it; by 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 19. At the time, though, she wasn't looking to use her baton skills.
"I was trying to dance for the Backstreet Boys, but by the time I got here they weren't cool anymore, " she says.
Instead, she joined the Underground Circus, where she made connections to the film industry since stunt work and circus professionals have some overlap.
"I didn't know that stunts were a thing until I was meeting stunt people in the industry," she says.
From there Smith made her own way into the industry; at the time she notes there weren't as many resources for people working in stunts, so a lot of it was self-directed. But for someone with plenty of athletic talent and experience, along with time performing, there was a natural progression. And when it came time to learn martial arts, her baton training came in useful.
Blowing up the internet
As she progressed as a stuntwoman and became more confident, Smith found she enjoyed teaching and helping prepare actors for their stunts. She also started posting videos of her training online with staffs.
"Posting on social media was a thing for me; of really owning who I am and what my skills are," she says.
Her baton and weapons skills were unique and garnered her some attention in the industry beyond the usual stunt work. At the same time, her videos were also catching eyes on social media with creative sessions and tutorials.
"I wasn't worried about numbers, just pushing my own creative boundaries," she says. "I used it as a lab."
In 2017 she got a lightsaber to play with (no, not a real one with a superheated blade that cuts through things, but hers does light up), which she added to her video line-up. The lightsaber videos have proven popular, with one going 'mega-viral' and getting millions of views across different platforms. Wired even had Star Wars star Daisy Ridley react to it.
Now her videos regularly get millions of views.
At the same time, she's expanded her tutorial efforts online, "nurturing and cultivating" those who follow her and encouraging those who are learning the skills she's mastered.
"I'm really trying 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 like to, either as a coordinator and fight designer (an area she's working in more these days) or as a performer.
"Where I'd really love to be is to train the actors to do some badass lightsaber fights," she says. "And really help them out with the lightsaber training."
While some lightsaber fights have seemed heavy and slow in the past, she'd like to bring her acrobatic, flowing style to the Star Wars universe.
"It's a big open universe and there's room for choreography," she says. "Especially using the force."
@michelle.c.smith I made 2 of these. Which one do you like better? #saberstaff #lightsabers #michellecsmith #darthmaul #starwars ♬ original sound - Ali Easton
