Mishel Prada Is Done Waiting for Hollywood’s Permission

For much of her career, Mishel Prada has brought other people’s stories to life. From her breakout role as Emma on Vida alongside Melissa Barrera to performances in Riverdale, Gigi & Nate, The Continental: From the World of John Wick, Stone Cold Fox, and most recently NBC’s Brilliant Minds, Prada has built an impressive acting résumé. But this summer, the actor is stepping behind the camera, expanding her work as a producer on two independent films led by Latina filmmakers—a move she says has reignited her creative spark and reaffirmed her belief that independent cinema is “the heartbeat” of the industry.

“I’ve definitely been gravitating toward independent filmmaking right now. I feel like it’s where the biggest creative swings are happening,” Prada says. “There’s such an intimacy to it, because everyone genuinely has to believe in the story.”

As Hollywood leans on franchises, reboots, A-list stars, and “safer bets,” independent film has become a space where actors and filmmakers can take bigger creative risks. For Prada, producing feels less like a pivot and more like a natural extension of the work she already loves.

Prada recently partnered with two Latina filmmakers—Marcella Ochoa and Michelle Salcedo.

“Ochoa has written a lot of horror films for big production companies like Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, so this is an opportunity for her to direct,” Prada says. “We were like, let’s have fun and make a horror. So we set up a taco stand, and we did a big flea market with a meet-and-greet. Don’t tell a Latina she can’t do something, because we’re going to figure it out!”

Prada and Ochoa partnered with Milagros Cinema to screen Obsession to raise funds for Ochoa’s horror movie, turning the event into a community gathering. Shooting begins August 1 in Los Angeles.

“It’s a supernatural mystery,” she says. “I want to keep it a surprise because there’s a twist. But it’s essentially two sisters flipping a house when a home invasion occurs, and it turns into something unexpected. It’s going to be me and Isabella Gomez playing sisters.”

Prada acted in her first horror film last summer, Date, alongside Olivia Rose Keegan. The experience sparked her curiosity about the genre, especially given its popularity with Latine audiences, who make up to 26% of horror movie audiences.

“I’ve never been someone who normally gravitates toward horror, but it really opened up my love for it. So now I’m all in,” she says. “Being able to act and also produce it—that’s what’s been exciting—because it’s also about building something from the ground up with filmmakers whose voices I believe in.”

Prada’s second project, Viable, is with director Michelle Salcedo and stars seasoned actor Debie Mazar. In the short, Prada and Mazar play a mother-daughter assassin duo in a genre piece exploring work, womanhood, ambition, and the expectations placed on women. It shoots in New York on August 12 and 13.

“The other indie film I’m working on is called Viable with director Michelle Salcedo. She’s someone I’ve been really excited to collaborate with as an actor, and now I’m coming into this short as a producer as well,” she says. “It’s been one of the most exciting things, because I want to keep making work at every scale—and I don’t see independent films as a stepping stone. I see them as the heartbeat of cinema. It’s where the biggest creative things happen, where new voices are discovered, and where people can take risks.”

For Prada, producing has meant getting involved earlier in the creative process, helping shape projects from the ground up rather than waiting for the right role to arrive.

“It’s really fun to reach a point in your career where you get excited to work with filmmakers whose voices you believe in, regardless of the size of the project,” she says. “You get to be part of filmmakers taking risks and telling stories in a way you don’t always see in larger productions. Independent cinema is so incredibly special, and it’s the heartbeat of our industry in so many ways. It’s brought an incredible spark back into why I got into acting in the first place.”

While Prada didn’t originate either script, she enthusiastically signed on as an actor, producer, and creative partner.

“I’m helping develop the story and bringing my two cents—or 25 cents—to the table,” she says. “But a lot of it is collaborating with these directors, because she’s written and come up with these stories on her own, and we’re helping to elevate each other in that space.”

Since wrapping Brilliant Minds in February, Prada has intentionally slowed down, embracing a quieter summer spent writing, learning new skills, enjoying time with friends, and giving herself space to explore what’s next creatively. She even traveled to Mexico City to help her close friend, pop singer Empress Of, shoot a music video.

“She has an album coming out in September, so we’ve just been shooting fun stuff for her,” she says. “The album is about her family home that burned down in the LA fires; the album came out of that. She’s one of my best friends, so it’s been about supporting her as this album comes out. It’s such a beautiful album. It’s so personal. She and I have been having a really fun summer—I’ve been calling it the best summer.”

That slower pace has also meant learning to be OK with boredom and not always needing to be productive.

“For me, I don’t know how people can work on so many things at the same time. I think coming off of Brilliant Minds, a lot of it was about finding inspiration and spark through surrender—just allowing my mind to rest,” she says. “At first I thought I had to have a morning routine, but it’s been working out great where I finally was like, you know what? F—ck the morning routine. It’s been the best. The first few hours of my day are literally whatever it is that I want to do.”

Some days, that means coffee and a movie for inspiration. Other days, it’s a morning walk, meditation, reading on the couch, or letting the day unfold without a rigid checklist.

“Maybe I’ll want to go to the gym, but it’s not this structured feeling of, ‘I have to do this thing.’ What’s been working for my brain is realizing that sometimes this 12-point morning-routine checklist makes me feel like I’ve failed. And I don’t know if it’s social media, or if we’re being told these are the things you have to do, but that becomes its own stress—and I don’t enjoy that kind of stress in my life. Stress is going to happen, so I need to give myself the ability to do me.”

The Dominican-Puerto Rican actor is clear that she’s not on board with the optimization culture that has exploded over the last decade, where wellness can start to feel like another form of productivity.

“When I wake up, I’ll usually make something—coffee or tea—and then check in: ‘How am I feeling? Is this a high-energy day? Is this a low-energy day?’ Just giving myself, at the very least, that first hour to ask, ‘What do I actually feel like doing?’ and letting that guide me rather than a rigid checklist,” she shares.

When she’s not working on the films or taking meetings, Prada has been enjoying summer and staying present.

“I realized, too, that I just thrive in summer,” she says. “I’ve really been enjoying it and doing summer activities—whether it’s going to the beach, doing a little barbecue, or hitting up a pool party—so that by the time fall comes, it’s not as much of a shock. Because creativity doesn’t always happen when you’re checking things off a list; sometimes it happens when you’re walking a dog or cooking dinner, letting your mind wander and get inspired.”

Prada recently downloaded an app called Brick that locks her out of social media so she can focus more on being present in real life.

“We’ve become so accustomed to reaching for our phones the second there’s a quiet moment, but I know for me as an actor, observation is part of the job,” she says. “So living your life—people-watching and observing, letting yourself get bored, and being surprised—that’s where you collect the little details that eventually end up in a character or a story. If you’re always consuming, when do you get the time to imagine and really live a beautiful, full life?”

Prada calls this season of her life the season of spark. In it, she’s remembering why she chose acting while trying to live the life she once dreamed of.

“It’s a season of hunger, of appetite—of filling the well,” she says. “Life can be really beautiful when you let yourself fall into that movement and explore. It’s so important to build the life you want, instead of sitting there waiting. It’s about curating a creative life much more intentionally. I know for me, the projects, the collaborations, the directors—I want them all to reflect the kind of artist I’m continuing to become and the life I’m excited to live.”

For Prada, this chapter is less about chasing the next milestone and more about creating the conditions for inspiration to find her. By slowing down, exploring, and embracing the unknown, she’s discovering that a creative life isn’t just something you build through work—it’s something you cultivate through how you choose to live.