information
birth name: Mickelle Virginia Hughes
age & date of birth: 26; December 1, 1985
place of birth: San Francisco, CA
current residence:Los Angeles, CA
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual (openly)
STATUS: single
family: jacob hughes (father), elisabeth hughes (motehr), westin hughes (brother, 23)

credits.

biography
Born and raised in San Francisco, California. Mickelle was the oldest of two kids born to a football coach and public defender. Their family never had much money, but they were happy enough. Her father worked at the high school Mickelle would grow up to attend, earning her the nickname of "coach" all four years of high school. Her family life was good growing up, and her parents are to this day, still happily married. Her younger brother was born when Mickelle was three, and grew up to be kind of a genius. Yeah, don't mention it, she's still bitter he actually understood math and science. Mickelle was a tomboy from day one, and most of that could be blamed on her being a daddy's girl. He taught her how to throw a football before her mother ever got her to play with a doll. She rarely, if ever, went by her full name, instead preferring to be called "Mick" by anybody who knew her. She didn't start to pull away from her 'always wearing torn up jeans and jerseys' phase until high school, when she could actually fill out a bra. Her mother was elated the first time Mickelle actually asked her if she'd take her shopping. Her mother wasted no time in completely embracing her daughter's new found love of fashion, and took complete advantage of it. When Mickelle started to pull away from sports and instead liked the fit of a well tailored dress, her mom finally got to teach her everything from how to walk in heels to how to accessorize. By the time Mickelle started her sophomore of high school at fifteen, she was a completely different girl than the freshman that had left the June before. She walked with an air of femininity to her, which was completely different than the girl she used to be. The downside of it all, of course, was that her buddies (who were mostly all male) didn't seem to know what to do with her anymore. She wasn't the girl they could play mud football with anymore.

Mickelle was accepted into the University of California: Los Angeles straight out of high school. She was a liberal arts major, and really had no clue what she even wanted to do for a living. She'd thought about writing or maybe photography, but nothing seemed to stick more than a few months at a time. It seemed like she just wanted to test out everything before she finally settled on something. It wasn't until she took a theater class her second semester that she got bit by the acting bug, and hard at that. She loved the release of being on stage and delving into characters. Acting wasn't anything that she had thought to pursue before then. The acting bug bit her, and it bit hard, and she immediately started to look for other venues to further her craft. During college, she began to go out on auditions when she could, and in that time she managed to get a couple of plays and some extra work. Nothing spectacular. It was during her sophomore year at UCLA that she would get the opportunity that would change her life. An open casting call led her to Warner Brothers, and she was in round after round of callbacks until she finally earned a role on what would be a critically acclaimed show (albeit short lived), Jack & Bobby. It was the first thing she'd really done, but she was proud of the work she was doing. Working with actors, directors, writers was something she could really sink her teeth into, and she loved every second of it. Her manager and agent pushed her to capitalize on the acclaim she got from her performance and to keep going on that path.

Mickelle's career from that point had been a mix of really great opportunities and passion projects that felt incredibly rewarding. She's never had much of a "direction" with her career. She's not looking to put a dozen awards on her mantle or to become someone so mainstream that she loses sight of how much she loves acting. Mickelle has tried to keep a fair balance between film and television, as she's never really felt like television has been any "less" than a film career. She has always tried to take a project because of the role and the people involved, rather than what it might mean for her career. Television or film, it doesn't much matter to her. Mickelle has always said that she works because she loves it, and it's that old adage that you have to find something that you'd do for free and making a career out of it.

Over the last couple of years, her career has definitely been picking up steam, and she's rolled with it as much as she knows how. A professional camaraderie with an excellent writer landed her a role in the short-lived Kings, which earned her a good professional relationship with a lot of the executives in charge there. She'd been in the same TV "family" with several of them, which served as some sort of a safety net that was rare for an actor. When the pilot for Shameless came to her via her agent, Mickelle wanted it badly. She worked her ass off in the audition process, and when she finally got the call that she got the part after countless call backs and tests, she was a mix of elated and relieved.

Her life has definitely changed since she was cast in Shameless, and all for the better. She's been able to buy a house and has paid off her parents' debt once she could actually talk over their swearing up and down that it wasn't her responsibility or something they wanted. Financial stability was something she never really thought she'd actually get from living her life as a gypsy (aka, actor) but she's so grateful that she can do what she loves and make a living at it. Her goal in her work is to always challenge herself with whatever role she goes after, and always wants to do something different. Personally, the press seems to always bring up the fact that she's openly dated women as though it's some monumental thing. Mickelle has always been very open about her sexuality, while maintaining a certain level of privacy. In her mind, it's nobody's business but her own, but at the same time she doesn't hide anything from her life. She simply likes to focus on her work, and during her time off, on the connections she's formed with the people who mean most to her.