Actor and Multifaceted Artist Noël Wells Shares Honest and Thoughtful Insights on Creation, Motivation, and Imagination
Welcome to The Creative Wayfinder’s Compass, a monthly-ish publication for the creative and curious. Each issue features different kinds of artists answering the same 11 questions, offering a window into the instincts, philosophies, and practices that shape their experience. This month, we’re thrilled to share an interview with Noël Wells, a multifaceted artist and creative force whose career moves fluidly across comedy, film, television, voice acting, music, and more.
You might recognize Noël Wells from her season on Saturday Night Live, her breakout role in Master of None, or her award-winning indie film Mr. Roosevelt, which she wrote, directed, and starred in to critical acclaim. She’s also a standout voice actor, bringing life to popular characters like Ensign D’Vana Tendi in Star Trek: Lower Decks and Kelsey Pokoly in Craig of the Creek. Her photography and drawings have been featured in exhibitions and publications, and she frequently shares her illustrative work on social media with the sort of friendly passion and lively curiosity that puts pep in people’s step just from checking it out.
Wells’s 2019 album It’s So Nice! revealed yet another side of her creative voice. The album, for which she wrote music and lyrics to nearly every song, received critical and audience attention and praise for her musicianship.
Her latest single “Show Me (What You’ve Got)!” is an infectious indie dance-pop track that’s been on repeat at The Creative Wayfinder’s Compass headquarters since its release this summer.
Though widely known for her acting performances, Wells speaks here from the deeper perspective of an artist devoted to process. She shares candid reflections on protecting creative instinct, navigating collaboration, and embracing uncertainty as part of the path.
Let’s dive in!
“My biggest creative breakthrough is learning how to not be too controlling over any part of the process, but controlling enough to protect the process, which is a type of discipline and a muscle I had to develop.”
Noël Wells
Who are you and what do you create?
Hello, I’m Noël Wells. It took me years to be able to answer the question “who are you” and “what do you create” without melting down because I felt like it was impossible to answer that honestly without putting myself into a box. I used to tell people, “I don’t do anything,” but sometimes I’m nice and pick a random thing, like being a writer or photographer, depending on what I think will not open up a conversation that will stress me out. In order to grease the social wheels, I’ve finally embraced the idea that I’m an “artist” and I think that covers a lot, but seems serious, so I’ll balance that out with saying I’m also someone who likes to do fun things, and bring fun into the world via writing, acting, directing, drawing, and making music.
What first inspired you to pursue your creative path, and how has that inspiration evolved over time?
I think we are all born creative, but I was left to my own devices when I was a kid, and I got into the arts as a form of entertaining myself. I read a ton and spent a lot of time in my imagination, and I started drawing to pass the time and was pretty good at it. Also, any time I would hear music, I would see pictures in my head, and I wanted to show people. I also would look around me and just think everything and everyone was just so beautiful, and I had this deep desire inside to figure out how to express that. I also think I was always uniquely a performer, and from a very young age, I was always doing bits and goofing off trying to make people laugh, and so a lot of things I do are just to give myself a vehicle to be a ham.
Can you walk us through your creative process? Do you follow specific rituals or habits to get into the flow of your work?
I’ve tried my hand at so many mediums…photography, making music, writing, drawing, filmmaking, etc., and my process is usually “a whim to follow.” I usually find a thread that seems exciting to pursue… but I rarely sit down to track a whim down, the whims usually find me as I’m walking about my day-to-day. Sometimes I walk, go to a coffee shop, and feel like drawing. Sometimes I’m in public and I hear someone say something really funny, and then I imagine a whole scene, or I see something that looks so beautiful I want to take a picture of it, and then that picture can be a whole world.
Anything can spark the whim…and sometimes if the short form isn’t doing it for me, I can put little things in the hopper and sometimes a bigger idea emerges that feels exciting to shape and chase, and if it’s really got legs things kind of coalesce around it and then it has a life of its own, and I’m really just there being a steward of whatever it wants to be (like a script, album, movie.)
What themes, ideas, or emotions do you find yourself returning to in your work, and how have they shifted over time?
I have a dark sense of humor and I think a bit of a strange sense of perception and I stay true to that, even though sometimes the thoughts I have make me uncomfortable because they’re a little “out there,” but as time goes on I see this is literally an artist’s job: to stay true to the way I see the world and not change it to be more palatable. This can be really lonely because if you’re true to your vision, you are tasked with showing things that only you can truly express, and it’s like playing a song no one knows until you play it long enough that other people can hear it. In terms of themes, I think honesty, love, beauty, with a mix of spirituality, irreverence, and absurdism.
What’s been your biggest creative breakthrough, and how did it change the way you approach your art or writing?
My biggest creative breakthrough is learning how to not be too controlling over any part of the process, but controlling enough to protect the process, which is a type of discipline and a muscle I had to develop. Also learning that the easiest way for me to create is to be playful and have fun…and I can be really uptight, so tapping into this energy of play has really done wonders for me. It’s not that there are elements that aren’t “hard work,” but in terms of the creative part, if it’s feeling hard, something has gone off the rails. I think this is not necessarily a breakthrough, but a reclaiming of something inherent to creativity itself that kind of gets covered up by ego, fear, or expectations of how things “should be.”
How do you navigate periods of creative block or self-doubt, and what techniques have helped you push through?
My process differs for which step of the process I’m in, and therefore how to get through the blocks can vary. For most everything that needs a jumpstart, it usually begins with A LOT of day dreaming, wandering around, not knowing what I am doing…Being lost is essential for me, and giving myself permission to just not know what I’m doing usually gets things going. But I think showing up every day is essential, even if it looks like nothing is happening. Then one day, when I’ve caught enough ideas or something really excites me, I eventually have to put on my boss pants and do the “hard” work of focusing to get something more organized together.
I thrive on deadlines because it usually helps me arrive at this focused point, but lately I have found doing a little something on a long goal every single day seems to work too, which I believe is what they call “discipline,” but I am doing it in a way that doesn’t seem hard. However…when I’m actually in the process of executing a bigger project, I become A WORK HORSE and even in the face of doubt, I put on blinders and bulldoze through blocks and hurdles. I think to other people it can seem out of character, because people generally think of me as someone dreamy and airy fairy and a bit lax, which isn’t wrong, but to finish things, I am a bull, and it’s very ‘eye on the prize, let’s do this people!’ But this determination is ALWAYS in service to the project or art that wants to come out, and it is what’s motivating me in the end to get things done.
How do feedback and criticism play a role in your process? How do you decide what advice to follow and what to set aside?
I really hate having my work misunderstood, so feedback can be frustrating, but I hitch my ear to what the project wants to be, or what feels true for it, or following the idiom of the best idea winning. When seeking out feedback, you have to be smart about who you’re asking…people can have great ideas but have no idea what your process is like, and so their feedback is not actionable. Also, some ideas can be great and actionable but are just not right for what something wants to be, and to figure that out, I really try and stay tapped into what the work wants to be and then it’s easy to take what works and leave the rest. Also, feedback can come from ANYWHERE… it doesn’t have to be people you ask. It can be other works of art, it can be nature, it can be something random someone says when you’re looking for an answer in another way.
How do you balance personal creative expression with the commercial or external demands of your work?
I have a bit of a “mass appeal” inclination in me in that I love to entertain, so things work out for me when I’m following my instincts and genuine ideas, but there are ideas I have to sit on because the market isn’t ready for them. It can be extremely painful when you know it really wants to be born and that it will be successful, and yet you feel a bit thwarted by the limitations of commercialism since you know the market doesn’t know what it wants until it has it. But any time I try and reverse engineer a win or success, it doesn’t work. So two quotes come to mind with how I try and handle these circumstances: 1) “The reward for patience is patience itself.” 2) From Quincy Jones: “God walks out the door when you’re thinking about money.”
What’s one of the most challenging projects you’ve worked on, and how did you overcome the difficulties you faced?
I’ve only done two really big projects, and that was my movie “Mr. Roosevelt” and my album “It’s So Nice!” And both of these had similar challenges of dealing with difficult personalities that got involved in the process, and me having to focus on finishing no matter how difficult other people make it. I have been through A LOT of therapy to get very good at communication and to develop boundaries…and I’ve learned a lot about protecting my work through clear and high business standards… and that’s all I’ll say about that.
How do you stay motivated and disciplined, especially during times when inspiration is lacking or inconsistent?
I don’t think you need to be motivated all the time, or inspired all the time, and I’ve learned that rest is often the quickest way to get inspiration back. But sometimes you do have to stir the pot of inspiration, too, and I do this by going to museums, watching great art, and giving myself permission to have fun and explore.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out, or to an artist who’s struggling to find or trust their creative voice?
I think if you look at your work as a process of exploration and a fun riddle to unravel, it will help you take things one step at a time and make the creative process more of an adventure. I also think really being willing to do your work for yourself first and foremost cuts out all the other crap including other people’s judgments and egos and perceptions and expectations. Also keep in mind that if you’re having struggles, setbacks, frustrations, even when it looks like other artists have it easy or things come easily to them, there is often a story behind the scenes of work going under the radar, or obstacles they overcame to arrive at their finish line, so just know that it’s part of the creative process and it will all be part of a great story when you realize everyone experiences it.
Thank you for reading “The Creative Wayfinder’s Compass,” and thank you to Noël Wells for the interview. Her reflections remind us that the most resonant art often comes from honoring instinct over expectation. When you stay true to your vision and voice, you’ll find your path fills with creative ideas and opportunities.
Until next time, have fun creating!
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