Whether you know her from film or TV, it’s fair to say you’re familiar with Michelle Borth’s work in some capacity. Over the past few years, the actress has built up a name for herself with roles in the likes of The Forgotten and Hawaii Five-0, not to mention the super successful 2019 superhero film, Shazam! Find out more about the actress with these ten quick-fire facts.
1. Dancing Her Way To Success
There’s nothing quite so secretive as a superhero movie. Right up until it’s released to a breathlessly waiting public, the details are kept closely under wraps — sometimes, even from the movie stars themselves. When Borth got the call to audition for the part of Mary Marvel in Shazam, all she was given was three pages of dialogue and the instruction to “dance the dialogue”. With no idea who the character was, or even what movie it was for, she ended up recreating John Travolta’s Saturday Night Fever dance, with a few spins and “fluttering butterfly arm” movements of her own for good measure. It obviously impressed, as three months after leaving the audition, she got the call to say she’d been offered the part.
2. The Power To Be Invisible
Once you star in a superhero film, you need to decide what superhero power you’d have in real life- because make no mistake, you’re going to be asked the question… a lot. Since starring as Mary Marvel in Shazam, Borth has been asked the question a thousand times over, but fortunately, she’s ready to go with the answer. “I want to be invisible because I just want to stand in the Oval Office and I want to hear what happens when no one’s around,” she revealed to Parade. “Genuinely, I would go to Washington, D.C. That’s it. I would use my invisibility power for political good. That’s what I want to do, I swear.”
3. Dog’s Best Friend
Borth has a secret passion- rescuing old dogs. Ever since her first dog died at the grand old age of 17, she’s been working with Care Rescue LA, a nonprofit that connects homeless animals with careers, and has fostered several senior dogs herself. “Ever since I lost mine, it’s kind of a tribute to my first dog, and I love them dearly. I love the old dogs,” she’s said.
4. Dreams Of Olympic Glory
As a child, a career in acting was the last thing on Borth’s mind. Inspired by five-time Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comăneci, Borth dreamed of becoming a professional gymnast. During her senior year at high school, she started to get mixed up in drugs: as a last resort, her parents sent her to a camp where she began taking acting classes as a way to release the emotions that until that point, she’d been channeling into destructive behaviors. The classes proved a turning point, getting her back on the straight and narrow and igniting her Hollywood dreams.
5. Smoking Up A Storm
LA might be all green juices and 24/7 gyms, but Borth has yet to join the legions of actresses living squeaky clean lifestyles. If any guys have romantic intentions on Borth, they have to accept two things. One, her dogs are her life, and two, she smokes. “It’s awful, I hate it and I will quit one day, just not right now, in the middle of shooting,” she told Made Man. “It chills me out. I’d go insane if I tried to quit right now. Some guys are totally turned off by it. If you can’t kiss me we can’t date.”
6. Family Ties
Borth and her two younger brothers were raised in New York City. Her mom, a home improvement business owner, is of Italian origin, and, according to Borth, a real-life superhero. “My mother is my wonder woman,” she told Culturess. “I don’t know how she did it. She has superpowers. Anytime I want to complain about anything, I think about the circumstances my mother was in and everything that she sacrificed for me.”
7. Tying It Down With Warner Bros
After her successful audition for the role of Mary Marvel, Warner Bros didn’t just offer Borth the chance to appear in 2019’s Shazam, they put a giant 5-movie deal on the table. As part of that, Borth will be reprising her role as Mary in Shazam! 2, which is currently expected to hit theaters on April 1, 2022.
8. An Off Centre Debut
In 2002, Borth made her TV debut as Carly in the controversial, short-lived sitcom, Off Centre. For the next few years, she made several guest appearances in the likes of Center of the Universe (2004), Komodo vs. Cobra (2005), Freddie (2005), and Supernatural (2007), before landing what would be her breakthrough role as Jamie in Tell Me You Love Me (2007). Since then, she’s been a regular fixture on our screens, with some of her most notable work including The Forgotten (2009-2010), Hawaii Five-0 (2010—16, 2018—19), and Combat Hospital (2011).
9. Film Star
Since making her film debut as Brittany Jarvis in 2002’s In Your Face, Borth has appeared in supporting and starring roles in almost a dozen features. While not all achieved quite the same level of success as 2019’s Shazam! (three of her early movies, Silent Warning (2003), The Sisterhood (2004), and Rampage: The Hillside Strangers Murders (2006), skipped a theatre release entirely to go straight to video), they’ve clearly been doing wonders for her bank account. By the latest estimates from Married Biography, the actress is worth around $3 million.
10. Superhero Family
Filming Shazam! may have been one of the highlights of Borth’s career, but it was also one of the highlights of her personal life as well. She and the rest of the actors bonded straight away, becoming the same kind of rag-tag family off-screen as they were on. “We’re all in a group chat, we’re all like ridiculous best friends, not kidding,” she told Screen Rant. “Like, it sounds so cheesy but we really are family, it’s really gross.’
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