Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellen Thompson.
Hi Ellen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started out as an actor, performing in community and regional theater while I was growing up in Central Pennsylvania. I went to New York University Tisch School of the Arts and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama, and I moved from New York to Los Angeles in 2003. I pursued acting for nearly two decades while working at day jobs and writing and producing my own projects on the side.
In 2014, I got sick with Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that’s usually transmitted by a tick bite. To say I got sick is an understatement. It took ten months to get a diagnosis, and during that time, the disease spread throughout my body and became chronic. What started as unexplained knee pain developed into pain in every joint, severe fatigue, constant nausea, and a dozen other symptoms. I couldn’t function.
Once I got diagnosed, treatment was brutal, and it took years. I tried to continue acting, but around 2017, I had to quit. It was a blessing in disguise because quitting took away a lot of stress, and I’m happier now. Over the past eleven years, I’ve gotten my Lyme disease into remission three times and relapsed twice. There’s no cure, the diagnostics are terrible, and federal funding for research is way lower than it is for less common diseases that do have working diagnostics and cures, like malaria.
On top of that, there’s a stigma to having Lyme disease. People think it’s not real. There’s a myth that Lyme can’t become chronic because it can be successfully treated if you catch it early enough. It’s like saying, “You could have been cured if you had a time machine, but you’re sick. Ergo, you must be faking it and/or insane.”
Once I discovered how badly patients and their families are suffering with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases—including the rapidly growing Alpha-gal syndrome—and that doctors are telling people who have tick-borne diseases they’re crazy (which happened to me), I had to start advocating. The first thing I did was write, produce, and direct a comedic music video called “Pay Attention (For Lyme Disease Prevention).” It won four awards, and you can watch it on YouTube.
Then I wrote the book and lyrics for “Lyme Disease: The Musical” and produced it at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2022. The production was nominated for five Broadway World Los Angeles Awards and two Robby Awards, and the script was a finalist in the ScreenCraft Stage Play Writing Competition. A video of the show is available on Youtube and Amazon Prime. I also produced the cast album, “Lyme Disease: The Musical (Original Cast Recording),” and it’s streaming on most music platforms.
In 2024, my mother, Victoria Thompson, lost her battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. She was a bestselling author of over fifty novels. When she died, she was halfway through writing a novel in her Counterfeit Lady series, and she had asked me or my sister to finish it for her. I got the job, and “City of Promises” by Victoria Thompson with Ellen Thompson is coming out on July 28, 2026.
“City of Promises” is a crossover with characters from my mom’s Gaslight Mystery series. It takes place in New York City in 1920, and it’s about a former con woman who uses her skills to try to stop an innocent woman from marrying a con man. The publisher just asked me to write another book in the Gaslight Mystery series as well. “Murder on Park Avenue” will be released in 2027.
I also just wrapped a documentary I’m producing, directing, and editing called “The Blue Group.” It’s about my college freshman year acting class thirty years later. I have VHS camcorder footage of us from the 90s that I’m going to work into the film. In September, I traveled to where six of my classmates live now and caught up with them. I think it’s safe to say that none of our lives turned out the way we expected!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road! It’s more like there was no road, and I had to clear the land and lay the asphalt. Being an actor is a struggle, period. For me, the constant rejection wasn’t even the worst part. Trying to make a living while pursuing an acting career and the time and money I spent on classes, auditions, and headshots was what really took its toll.
In my personal life, I had a number of tough losses over the years. My senior year of college, my favorite teacher took his own life. I lost my grandmother. My husband’s brother died of cancer at age 38. I also lost two good friends to cancer and one to a stroke—all of them way too young.
Then I got Lyme disease, and that completely pulled the rug out from under me. I had to figure out who I was if I wasn’t an actor and accept having a chronic health condition. In the past two years, I lost both of my parents. It seems like everyone goes through times when life feels relentless. It may sound cheesy, but everything I’ve been through really has made me stronger.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think I’m known for surprising people. I can’t pick one lane and stay in it. I’m a producer, director, editor, screenwriter, musical playwright, documentary filmmaker, and soon-to-be author.
I’m proud of my Lyme disease advocacy work. I recently joined the California Leadership Team for Center for Lyme Action, a non-profit dedicated to growing federal funding for Lyme, Alpha-gal, and other tick-borne diseases. I’ve been volunteering for them for almost four years, meeting annually with my congressional representatives and asking for more funding. I’m also proud to volunteer for Writegirl, a creative writing and mentoring organization for girls and gender-expansive youth.
I’m proud of everything I’ve produced because producing is by far the hardest thing I do. I think I have a special ability to get things done. It’s easy to want to create something, but to actually take action and put in the time and work needed to complete a project—and then to show it to people—takes perseverance and courage.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’m a big fan of MasterClass. I love the work of Dr. Ramani S. Durvasula, particularly her book “Don’t You Know Who I Am? How to Stay Sane in an Era of Narcissism, Entitlement, and Incivility.” Evy Poumpouras is an absolute badass, and I aspire to be more like her. She tells her inspiring story in “Becoming Bullet Proof: Life Lessons From a Secret Service Agent.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ellen-thompson.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ellenfabulous
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/ellenthompsonofficial
- Twitter: https://x.com/ellenfabulous
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ellenfabulous
- Other: https://linktr.ee/ellenfabulous
Image Credits
Kobe Levi
