Penelope Mitchell will star as Skye Williams in the new Australian feature The Fear of Darkness, a supernatural thriller directed by Chris Fitchett and produced by Mark Overett. The Fear of Darkness had been previously selected for development through Screen Queensland’s Low Budget Feature Film Initiative as well as being selected for SPAAmart in Melbourne in 2012. Finance for the film is a mix of private investment, Producer Offset, sales guarantee and production investment from Screen Queensland.
The Fear of Darkness will be distributed in Australia through Greenlight Releasing, while Arclight Films will handle international sales. It is expected that the film will release in Australia early in 2015.
Mitchell was born in Melbourne, Australia to a French-born artist mother and an Australian entrepreneur father. She is Rhada’s Mitchell cousin.
She attended Melbourne University, with the intention of becoming a lawyer. During her time there she continued to perform and write prolifically for various publications. Mitchell completed her undergraduate degree in Arts: Media Communication, before finally moving to Los Angeles, where her Australian agent, Joanna Milosz of JM Agency introduced her to Ryan Martin, talent agent and partner at APA.
Prior to moving to LA she has appeared on Australian a number of television shows, including: Toon Time, an Australian kids show, and ABC's Next Stop Hollywood which followed six Australian actors (including Penelope) as they move to Hollywood to audition for pilots. Moreover, Penelope has also appeared in Australian police drama Rush as well as in the award winning TV series Offspring
In Los Angeles, Penelope immediately landed the lead role in the Netflix’ drama series Hemlock Grove and than a reoccurring role in the CW series The Vampire Diaries. Most recently, Penelope also filmed a co-lead role in the feature film: The Curse of Downers Grove ( starring Bella Heathcote, another JM Agency client) which is expected to be released in 2014.
She is currently shooting a feature film Zipper, from producers of The Wrestler, with Patrick Wilson, Leana Headey and Richard Dreyfus.