Exclusive Interview: Melissa & Michelle Macedo Explore Identity, Control, and the Quiet Battles We Carry in Their Haunting New Film ‘Thinestra’

Melissa and Michelle Macedo have built their careers on the belief that art can be both a mirror and a catalyst—something that reflects who we are while daring us to feel more deeply. As actors, musicians, writers, and now producers, they’ve carved out a creative path defined by intention and emotional truth. Every project they take on is shaped by their desire to spark meaningful conversations and to explore the complexities that often go unspoken.

Their latest project, Thinestra, becomes a vivid testament to that artistic ethos. Set within a psychological landscape where reality warps under the weight of shame, control, and fractured identity, the film follows a character splintered by her own internal battles—manifested through Melissa and Michelle’s dual performance. Here, Melissa and Michelle step into the role of two halves of one fractured character, delivering a performance that is both conceptually daring and deeply unsettling in the best possible way.

Beyond their work on screen, Melissa and Michelle’s musical background plays a powerful role in shaping their storytelling. Their songwriting often explores the same emotional terrain that Thinestra excavates—duality, internal conflict, and the shadows we learn to live beside. That creative synchronicity between music and film adds an additional layer to their performance, revealing how deeply their artistic disciplines inform one another.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Melissa and Michelle about the creative process behind Thinestra, the emotional depth required to embody two halves of one fractured character, and the timely conversations the film sparks around identity, control, and the battles so many face beneath the surface. We also discussed their collaboration as twins, the role music continues to play in shaping their artistry, their evolution as producers, and the bold new chapter they’re entering as they prepare to release a new EP in 2026.

PC: Horror often pulls you in with the genre, only to open the door to broader conversations that feel very much of this moment. When this project came your way, what was it about this character—and the themes the film explores—that resonated with you?
Melissa and Michelle: I think we all grapple with being overly hard on ourselves and measuring our worth against impossible standards. For many of us, the need to feel in control—whether through food or something else—becomes a coping mechanism. There’s enormous pressure to be perfect, and society often profits from the insecurities that pressure creates.

What drew us to this character, and to the film as a whole, is the way it confronts the intensity of disordered eating and body dysmorphia with honesty and compassion. Those themes resonated deeply, especially because we work in an industry where appearance is constantly scrutinized, and as twins, our bodies are frequently compared to one another. The story opens the door to a broader conversation about control, identity, and the quiet battles so many people face beneath the surface.

PC: You both do such a brilliant job tackling this role, especially given how heavy the material is and how you’re navigating two different sides of the same character. What was the creative process like in finding not only the continuity between them but also the distinctions? And in what ways did your sister’s performance influence your own?
Melissa and Michelle: We approached this role entirely as a team, because finding that balance—one character expressed through two different states—required a shared foundation. From the beginning, we worked with a movement coach to create a physical vocabulary that felt unified while still leaving room for the specific nuances each version of the character needed.

We also made a point to be on set even when one of us wasn’t filming. Watching each other work helped us stay aligned emotionally and tonally, and it allowed us to subtly mirror or counter certain choices so the performance remained cohesive. It was our first time playing the same person, and leaning into that challenge together was incredibly rewarding. Our performances continually informed one another, making the character feel fuller and more grounded than either of us could have achieved alone.

PC: Penny is surrounded by people who support her and hold space for her throughout her journey. Outside of each other, who have been the people in your own lives who’ve shown up for you in that way—those who’ve cheered you on or supported you as you’ve pursued your own paths?
Melissa and Michelle: As you mentioned, our support for one another is really the foundation—we rely on that connection every day. But we’ve also been incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by a wider circle of people who show up for us in meaningful, grounding ways. We have an amazing group of friends, both within the industry and completely outside of it, who cheer us on without hesitation and remind us who we are beyond the work.

We’ve also been shaped by influential teachers and mentors who believed in us early on and helped us grow not just as artists, but as people. And of course, our parents have been a constant source of love and encouragement. Having all of these people in our corner has made every step of this journey feel possible.

PC: In addition to the work you’ve both done on screen, you’re also musicians and artists. In what ways has that side of your artistry influenced the work you bring to your characters? And how much do you lean on music when preparing for scenes that are emotionally heavy—while also navigating the film’s darker humor?
Melissa and Michelle: All of our creative outlets really feed into one another. Acting and music are just different ways of accessing emotion, story, and imagination, so nurturing each one naturally strengthens the others. During the pandemic and the strike, music became especially essential for us. It was a grounding force—a way to stay expressive and connected when so much else felt uncertain.

We definitely lean on music when preparing for emotionally heavy scenes. It helps us drop into the right emotional frequency and find the stillness or vulnerability we need. And on the flip side, it can also help us tap into the film’s darker humor—sometimes the right song loosens things up or sparks an unexpected angle on the character.

We actually created a Creepy Christmas EP while working on this project, and a few of those songs made it into the film. That overlap—our music living inside the world of the story—made the character work feel even more personal and intuitive. Music has a way of unlocking something internal, and that’s been invaluable for us as actors.

PC: This film has made its way around the festival circuit, and it’s sparking so many necessary conversations. How has being part of this project influenced the kinds of stories you want to tell moving forward? And what has it been like having those post-screening conversations and seeing the impact it’s had on audiences?
Melissa and Michelle: This project was the first time we stepped into producing together, and that experience really shaped the kind of stories we want to champion moving forward. It reaffirmed how important it is for us to tell narratives that feel honest to the female experience—stories that aren’t afraid to acknowledge the messy, complicated, and sometimes volatile parts of being human.

What’s been most moving is hearing from people after screenings who see their own struggles reflected in the film. When someone tells us they felt genuinely understood or accurately portrayed, it reminds us why we wanted to make this in the first place. Those conversations have been incredibly emotional and validating.

We love using horror as a lens to explore the internal violence of themes like shame, rage, and self-perception. There’s a rawness to the genre that gives permission for those emotions to exist without apology. So many women don’t always feel safe expressing their anger—or even acknowledging it—and we’re passionate about making more films that hold space for that. We want to tell stories that invite women to step into their full emotional range without fear.

PC: You’re all gearing up to release a new EP in 2026, and what’s so interesting about your work is how each project becomes a time capsule of who you were when you wrote it. What does this upcoming EP represent for each of you?
Melissa and Michelle: The Christmas EP we just released really leans into the darker, more complicated side of the holiday season. We loved taking classic Christmas sounds and twisting them into something that acknowledges the truth that this time of year isn’t joyful for everyone. It felt honest, and it felt like our own version of the holiday spirit.

Looking ahead to 2026, we’re making music with Professor C and Lazerbeak, and we also have an upcoming project with ALL MADE UP (Allee Futterer), which we’re incredibly excited about. Each collaboration brings out a different facet of who we are creatively. This new EP is very much a time capsule of where we are right now—as women, as artists, and as people navigating our own evolution. Every track is about stepping into our power, exploring the questions we’re wrestling with, and owning the parts of ourselves that feel newly discovered. It’s a reflection of growth, confidence, and a desire to push our artistry into bolder, more vulnerable places.

PC: If you each had to choose a song from the EP that best encompasses who you are as an artist, which would it be and why? And as a duo, which song feels most representative of who you are together?
Melissa and Michelle: We both feel deeply connected to “Carol of the Bells (Above + Below).” We created it with the incredible team at JENGA Productions—Nicci Funicelli, Shayon Daniels, and Jim Funicelli—and from the beginning, we knew we wanted to reinterpret the song in a way that reflected the duality we’re always drawn to.

We approached it as two halves of the same emotional truth: the “Above” side carries this sense of hope and light, while the “Below” side leans fully into the haunting, shadowy undercurrent that sits beneath the surface. Exploring that contrast—heaven and hell, vulnerability and strength, beauty and unease—felt like an honest representation of who we are as individual artists. We’ve always existed somewhere between hope and darkness, and this track allowed us to embody that spectrum without compromise.

As a duo, “Carol of the Bells (Above + Below)” also feels like the clearest expression of who we are together. It captures the way our voices and sensibilities intertwine, how we balance each other, and how we embrace the full emotional range of the stories we’re trying to tell.

More than anything, we hope people walk away from both the film and the EP feeling empowered—like they can hold the light and the darkness within themselves without fear.

Make sure to follow Melissa (Instagram) and Michelle (Instagram).