Shifting from comedy to true crime, this Bellingham High School student is back on TV
Going from a comedy television show to a reenactment of a true crime story can be a challenge for an actor, but that’s what a Bellingham High School student accomplished.
Hunter J. Mitchell’s latest work can be seen at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 6, in the season 6 premiere of “People Magazine Investigates.” The show runs on the ID cable channel and can also be found streaming on Discovery +.
The episode is called the Groene Family Massacre, which features Shasta Groene, whose mother, stepfather and two brothers were killed in 2005 in north Idaho and Montana. Mitchell said in an email that he is playing the role of Slade Groene, who was 13 when he was murdered.
Mitchell hasn’t seen the final cut of the episode, so he isn’t sure how much screen time he will have in the episode. His previous television experience was on the ABC television comedy show “Modern Family” in an episode called Pool Party that first aired in 2019.
Mitchell said going from a comedy to a crime drama was a big change, but he had a good experience.
“It was pretty heavy to start with, as it’s pretty dark subject matter and I was having to learn about what happened to Slade and his family 17 years ago,” Mitchell said in an email through a spokesperson. “However, the crew worked really hard to keep the energy light off camera. There were three kids on set, including myself, and I felt like the crew really cared about making sure we were having a positive experience while on set.”
Mitchell, who is finishing up his freshman year at Bellingham High School, has performed locally prior to landing television roles. He started out performing with Ballet Bellingham when he was 8 years old in 2015, landing roles for the Nutcracker production at Mount Baker Theatre. He’s also done commercials on local radio stations and took improv classes at the Upfront Theatre before the pandemic arrived.
The local performances eventually led to a talent show contest in Seattle, which led to the “Modern Family” appearance.
“After Hunter’s first performance at the Mount Baker Theatre, I knew he was a natural performer,” said his mother, Emily Pacheco.
Having enjoyed the television experiences, Mitchell plans to continue keeping an eye out for new roles. Living far away from Hollywood, Pacheco said in a phone interview that the pandemic created some opportunities but also some difficulties in trying to land roles. The pandemic has made trying out for roles more of an online process, which means less traveling. However live auditions can also be helpful, Pacheco said, adding that sometimes there are live audition opportunities in Vancouver, B.C., and Seattle that are now happening more often.
While the television roles are fun, Pacheco said Mitchell would rather stay in this community with his friends. He’s also involved in sports, playing football, wrestling and baseball during the school year.
This story was originally published June 5, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
