For more than two decades actress Karen Mitchell has been in the spotlight. Originally from Sandringham, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, her profile first began to rise in the eyes of the public back in the 90’s when she won the title of Miss Rye Beach and was a finalist in the Miss Australia Quest pageant.
Her work as a model brought her further attention putting her front and center in ads for companies such as Mac cosmetics, Bessemer, Jodanne Fashion, Avant Garde, Tim Tams, Genie Hourglass, Marvin Clothing, Telstra and many more.
While Karen was already known throughout Australia for her work as a model and theatrical actress, she spent many years focusing her efforts on her real estate company, as well as her roles in the business world working with companies such as Channel 10 in Australia and BMW. It wasn’t until the unfortunate passing of both of her parents, which happened within 12 weeks of each other, that Karen came to the stern realization that life is too short to waste time doing things that you don’t absolutely love– and for her, acting is the thing that makes her heart beat strongest.
“It’s such a rewarding experience to give life to words off a page that an audience can appreciate. I strongly believe that it’s the best way for me to do service to others: serving a story by using my feelings and my understanding of what it means to be human,” says Karen.
Once she made the unwavering decision to devote herself wholeheartedly to acting, her career quickly gained momentum and the range of credits she has come to accumulate since is nothing short of amazing.
Some of her recent projects include playing the starring role of Alexa in the upcoming film “Just One More Day,” Linda in “If I were You” and Tina in “The Margins of Things,” all of which are due for release over the next few months.
Early on in her career she was featured in Stanley Joseph’s (“My Cornerstone,” “Love You Krishna”) feature film “Newton’s 3rd Law” where she acts alongside Mark Duncan who is known for his work in “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Matrix Reloaded,” Mike Duncan from “Java Heat” and “Housos” and Johan Earl from “Theory of the Trojans,” “A Perfect Life” and “Deadly Minds.”
Karen’s inimitable gift for drama has been one facet of her talent that has kept her working non-stop for the last 10 years. In Dane McCusker’s (“Reception,” “Board Games”) film “The Hand that Feeds” Karen took on the lead role of Mum, where she stars alongside James Fraser from Oscar Award winner Russell Crowe’s multi-award winning film “The Water Diviner,” “December Boys” and “The Turning.”
Centering on the dangerous door Facebook opens by allowing strangers into our life, the film’s main story line involves a massive house party which, publicly posted on Facebook, makes it easy for unsavory characters to attend. In the film Karen gives a dramatic portrayal as a mother whose son Gabe, played Fraser, is murdered by one of the strangers in attendance.
In 2014 Karen took on the critical role of Sally in the thriller film “Fearless Game,” where she acted alongside Scott Pirlo from the film “Adore” starring two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts (“King Kong”) and Golden Globe winner Robin Wright (“House of Cards”). Directed by Patricia Guimaraes, “Fearless Game” follows Pirlo’s character Mark Wilson, a businessman who finds himself in a tricky predicament when he cannot remember the previous 48 hours. To make matters worse, his ex-client Victor, played by Jerry Retford (“In the Darkness,” “Abandoned”), has placed Mark in the middle of a deviously twisted game that could cost him his family and everything he holds dear if he doesn’t figure things out quick.
Karen’s character Sally comes into play as Mark’s therapist. Portraying her character with a subtle balance of motherly care and the distance one would expect from a therapist, Karen does a phenomenal job of holding our attention as she tries to help Mark get to the root of his lost memory, and search for the clues that will end Victor’s vicious game.
About playing Sally, Karen explains, “My character is a very smart woman, almost cold but very motherly. Being his psychologist, I help him decipher his dreams and memories so that we uncover what’s real and remember a numerical sequence that allows him to identify the hitman.”
Karen’s passion for acting and dedication to using her craft to do justice to both the story and the characters she plays has been tantamount to her success in the highly competitive entertainment industry. And, the response she’s received from fans around the globe about her work has proven that her performances definitely strike a chord with audiences.