From Rose Bruford to The Witcher: Christelle Elwin reflects on finding her voice and preparing to release her first short

Christelle Elwin is an actress, Rose Bruford alumna and facilitator for the College’s BA Acting programme, bringing her industry experience back into the classroom to support the next generation of performers.

Her screen credits include her notable role as Mistle in Netflix’s The Witcher and the TV movie The Rats: A Witcher Tale. Christelle’s screen credits also include The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, Death in Paradise and Sky’s Bloods. Alongside her screen work, she has performed on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the acclaimed 2022 production of Much Ado About Nothing.

Continuing to expand her creative practice beyond acting, Christelle has recently written, produced and stars in her first short film Masc, partly shot on campus at Rose Bruford College. The film was shortlisted for Slick Films Fund‘s First Time Filmmaker Longlist 2026, marking an exciting new chapter in her journey as a storyteller and creative artist. We caught up with Christelle as she completed filming.

You’re back at Rose Bruford filming scenes for Masc, the short film you’ve written, produced and are starring in. What inspired the film?

The inspiration for Masc is a version of me, my life, and confusion around identity: how presenting that in the world affects relationships. Obviously there are exaggerations, I don’t want people to think it’s exactly me, because it’s not me now. But I feel like a lot of people, especially young people, might be confused about their identity and this story is about helping people discover those uncomfortable conversations that we have to have with ourselves.

What does it feel like to return to Rose Bruford as a professional artist and to make a film about identity in a place that was so important to your own?

There was definitely a sense of nostalgia! It was massive coming back to the place that was so important in nurturing my identity to make a film about identity. I didn’t know myself like that in the first year, but I wanted to gain confidence as an actor, writer and performer and I’ve now gained those things. When I first got the green light, I got down on my knees in my bedroom and honestly shed a tear. The speed that at which Rose Bruford got back made me feel like this place champions me in every way. It’s a really beautiful relationship and connection.

How has being an actor shaped the way you approach writing and creating your own work?

I don’t feel super precious about or so tethered to the words, I don’t have so much of an ego over my writing so it feels like other people are able to affect the writing and can say “maybe we steer in this direction” or “let’s try this angle”, which is great, because it changes and develops.

What have you learned from stepping into the role of writer and producer, as well as performer?

It helps you to understand everybody else’s job and understand your role within that, what’s required of you when you’re joining other creative teams. When you’re writing you think, “can we actually do that?” within the budget, and practically. It really helped me grow creatively to have people say “no, I don’t think that works” or “no, that’s a bit on the nose”. Having to discuss your creative ideas back and forth is fantastic, you relinquish a bit of creative control and let the thing grow and blossom through new ideas and you might not have if you were just doing one thing. It does come with taking down your ego a bit, but it allows you to think about what’s really serving the story in the moments that you’re creating. I honestly think every actor should try writing or producing at the same time.

Why do you think it’s important for artists to create their own opportunities?

It allows you to be seen in the way that you want to be perceived and received. You can take part in projects that have an idea of you and how you want to be portrayed, but having ownership of your work, your path, means showing the world what you can do in all ways rather than being limited to the way someone else wants you to be.

What first drew you to Rose Bruford when you were choosing where to train?

The first thing I saw when I got to Rose Bruford was the green grass and trees around and I thought ‘Oh my God’: Three years of oxygen! It’s so open and there’s so much space. Everywhere else where I was doing the rounds of auditions I was going back to dark rooms. No matter how hard or intense your day, walking in nature makes you feel like you can breathe, getting to leave the rehearsal rooms and grounding yourself back in real life. There’s something beautiful about being able to do Shakespeare outside too.

Then tutors really made me want to come, they were so welcoming. There was a relaxedness which I loved and there wasn’t a sense of hierarchy. In other places I’d felt like I was being pushed and tested. When you do that you don’t get people’s best work. You get nervous, tense work. I still hold that dear now that I’m on the audition panel, I don’t want you to be nervous, you’re not meant to be scared. It’s about what you want too: where do you want to go.

How did your training at Rose Bruford help you discover your own artistic voice?

They throw everything at you so you get to discover what fits you. I discovered Absurdism. It was my best performance and it stays with me to this day and I don’t know where it came from, but that’s where I flourish. It’s influenced my writing, and influenced Masc. Absurdism with a touch of realism. How I write is real, but how I edit it might not be so real. The beautiful thing about the genre is that although it’s absurd, it always contains truth.

I also gained a relationship with Bruford, and am happy to this day to rep the school. This school gave me the training I needed, I didn’t lose my personality and they challenged me in all of the areas I needed to be challenged in. I think I am the person I am because I choose to go to Rose Bruford.

What did being part of a creative community at Rose Bruford give you?

I gained creative friends on the same vibe, same wave. You are around a bunch of creatives all the time. At the time all the courses were on campus and some people are walking around in clown outfits, some people are doing cartwheels in the courtyard, there was so much happening all the time, you got to flourish in whatever weird and wonderful craft you were engaging in. Going to see everyone perform and knowing there are different means to do your craft.

What advice would you give to students starting drama school this year — and to those graduating this autumn?

I think you have to go in with a goal. Keep focused on what you want from your training and what the school can do for you. Try to be open and generous, stay resilient and try as much of everything as you can.

Stay focused on yourself and don’t worry about what other people have, that’s nothing to do with you. When you’re in rooms later and there are people that look like you and you need to be focusing on how you can give the performance that you want to give.

Know that drama school is not just a means for agents and getting signed. I feel like people can compete with each other as soon as third year hits and that’s not actually very useful and just because you’re not signed doesn’t mean anything. So don’t let that affect your confidence as an actor. Come for the training and the training itself.

What excites you most about the future of the performing arts, and where would you like your own creative journey to take you next?

People have the ability now to create their own stories – now that things are more online – and have more of a control over their career.  I also like that now you can be a multidisciplinary artist. I feel like there was some judgement before, that if you act you can’t also go and sing: you’re confusing people. But now people are out there on Tiktok, acting and singing and leading films and it’s just seen as art. I feel like it’s come at the right time for me. I love the music industry too, and spend my free time singing, although my first passion is performance and writing.

Personally I look forward to being challenged in more roles that push me in directions I didn’t realise I could go in. There are things you do or take part in that give you a totally new perspective. I’m lucky that I’ve been able to do such different things and now feel excited to be able to produce more – this side-quest has made me so happy, it was such hard work and I didn’t know it was something I would do. It’s talking, liaising, getting people on board and finding passionate people. Finding people who are like me – so really I could have done that straight away, but now I’m here. I’ve got the ball rolling.

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