by June Portnoy

Bucks County native Michelle Jones recently received her first starring role in “Luminosity,” a 42-minute independent film that examines how life continues after death, taking a close look at how one life can make a difference to many people.

Michelle’s character, Emma, struggles with moving on and letting go after her brother dies of cancer.

The film, shot this past June, is the third film in a trilogy written and directed by Brandon Taylor, co-partner of Hollow Tree Films. Although each film has a different cast, they all share the theme of coping with life after death.

Michelle, currently a senior at East Stroudsburg University, appeared in every scene of “Luminosity” with the exception of one.

“Michelle was wonderful to work with,” says Brandon. “She went above and beyond what I asked of her, and was able to convey the many emotions that I wanted to see from her character.”

“I was able to relate to Emma because she was young when her brother died, and I was just in high school when I lost my father to a heart attack,” says Michelle. “Therefore, I connected to Emma on that level, and had a first-hand understanding of the feelings she was experiencing.

“Emma is very quiet and has a hard time expressing her feelings,” explains Michelle. “She doesn’t have many lines. Instead, her feelings come out through her expressions, gestures and actions.”

Michelle looks forward to seeing the completed version of “Luminosity,” which Brandon is currently editing.

Michelle, born in the Oakford section of Trevose, has come a long way since she began acting at the young age of 10 at Tawanka Elementary School in Feasterville. Her first show was a children’s production in which she didn’t have any lines.

“I was just told to threw flower pedals everywhere,” says Michelle.

She began performing in musicals at Poquessing Middle School in Feasterville when she was in sixth grade.

“The first line of my first show was, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got a zit,’” laughs Michelle.

During high school, Michelle’s family moved to Langhorne. She attended Neshaminy High School, during which time she performed in the school plays “Jekyll & Hyde,” “Thoroughly Maiden Millie” and “Fame.”

Michelle never had any formal training in acting or singing, and admits that she mostly performed for fun.

In fact, after graduating from Neshaminy High School in 2009, she entered East Stroudsburg as a secondary education chemistry major. However, she realized pretty quickly that she was unhappy with this major. While taking an acting class during her freshman year, Michelle discovered that her true passion was acting.

“My acting teacher, Dr. Margaret Ball, forever changed my life,” says Michelle, explaining how her teacher’s enthusiasm and ability to teach the specific techniques of acting motivated her to change her major to theater and speech pathology.

“My mother persuaded me to take a dual major, so I’d have something to fall back on if I can’t find a job in theater,” says Michelle.

Since declaring her new major, Michelle has performed in fewer musicals and focused her attention on more dramatic acting roles.

This past November she played the part of a woman about to be killed, in a short horror film entitled “Animosity.” She has appeared in several college plays, and from April 30th through May 5th, she will appear in “Top Girls,” being presented at her college.

To date, Michelle cites her role in “Luminosity” as her greatest acting achievement because it was her first lead role.

“Performing in this film helped me recognize that I have the ability to portray a starring character in a film,” says Michelle. “It was a real boost to my confidence.”

Upon graduation this May, Michelle plans to move to New York with the hopes of getting an internship at a theater company.

Brandon plans to test screen “Luminosity” in April and then submit it to various film festivals with the hope of finding distribution for this film. To see a trailer of “Luminosity,” visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlapV-xRSw4.

For more information about Michelle, visit her website at www.michellejones.com.

PHOTO CAP: Michelle Jones