Madame Fluttery Is the Message

When I started with Madame Fluttery, a character based on a brimstone butterfly, I had certain ideas about her. I thought she would be a social butterfly, chatting to everyone and anyone, making a big entrance. I used to have a character called Lillie von Lichtenfels, who played a big part in quite a few of my shows, and at times I would take her out on the streets of Hamburg, interacting with people in a way I never would as myself, Anja. For some reason, I thought Madame Fluttery might be similar.

Finding the Name

The "Madame" part I borrowed from Madame Butterfly — Joanne, with whom I run the challenge, suggested it to me. I'm not much of an opera fan, so I had to look the story up, and found it far too tragic for my taste. I didn't want to call her that, and I wanted her to have her own stance on things. But I did like the "Madame" part.

"Fluttery" was something that appealed to me, because butterflies flutter from one flower to the next, never in a straight line. I loved the quality of the flutter — it meant I could embrace both enthusiasm and anxiety at once. That's what the flutter symbolises to me. Some people thought it sounded like "flattery", but that would be a whole different thing altogether.

Building the Foundations

When developing a character, you want something that truly speaks to you, that inspires you and allows you to explore. It shouldn't be too stereotypical. The whole "transformation" theme so often associated with butterflies felt like a trap to me. So I consciously chose to avoid both that path and the tragic Madame Butterfly story.

Instead, I decided on the flutter, and on a costume: a yellow coat, a feather headband (which fit the "Madame" in my mind), and an extendable metal straw worn as a necklace.

I watched quite a few videos specifically about the brimstone butterfly, which were enchanting — for instance, I didn't know that the brimstone butterfly is one of the most resilient and longest-living butterflies. Alongside the flutter, I wanted to incorporate moments of sunbathing, stillness, and drinking nectar with the straw.

These were my foundations: the flutter, moments of stillness, the name, and the costume. A great starting point.

Letting Her Evolve

With the costume in place, I started experimenting with how she would walk and talk. Very soon it became clear that she loved making all sorts of sounds — a "bup" here and there — and that she always started with "Hi, I'm Madame Fluttery" and ended with "Follow me."

These things happened organically; I hadn't planned them. I'm a big believer in allowing a character to evolve rather than over-conceptualising them. This way, you let them develop a life of their own — surprising you with unexpected qualities, insights, and more. Of course, this asks a lot of trust from you. It asks you to surrender any ideas of perfectionism, and any fixed sense of where this "should" go, while you're creating your character for one or two minutes a day, thirty days in a row.

I test-drove Madame Fluttery once or twice before starting the 30-day challenge, and then I let her be. In the beginning, I'd often have a friend with me — I'd hand them the camera, say "film me," and let Madame Fluttery do what she wanted to do.

What's the Message?

One friend of mine, who's also familiar with my other character Dr. Anya, was quite confused — especially in the early days, Madame Fluttery wasn't saying much, and what she did say seemed meaningless, in stark contrast to Dr. Anya. My friend asked me: "What's the message? What's her message?"

I said: "Madame Fluttery is the message."

What I Discovered Along the Way

From the time I started until the end, she evolved quite a bit. While I enjoyed experimenting with different friends filming me, or being part of the film, the most enchanting moments happened when I was with her on my own — there was a special quality to that, which I really came to enjoy. This is how I discovered that maybe she's not the type to go up to random people on the street and talk to them. Although you never know — it might still happen one day.

This is a good way to show that we can have our ideas, and they're valid — but at the same time, we have to hold them lightly, while still holding on to the foundations, like the flutter. This way, we neither lose the character nor push it in a direction that isn't authentic to what wants to be expressed.

Other things I discovered about her later: she loved to chatter, just about whatever was going on in her mind at that moment. She loved doing mundane things — like bringing out the rubbish — in a very unmundane way. She loved to sing things, and when she got very "fluttery" (anxious), she would soothe herself. She never seemed to have a problem with the way she was. She didn't question her flutter, even though it could be enthusiastic and anxious at the same time. That felt genuinely healing to me — embracing two sides of a coin, and having fun with them.

I'm curious to see what other adventures Madame Fluttery will take me on.

Want to Discover Your Own Character?

This is exactly what the 30-day character challenge is built around. You don't need to arrive with a finished character or a clear "message" — what you need are a few solid foundations, a bit of daily practice, and the willingness to let go of perfectionism along the way. We'll help you find those foundations and hold your hand through the process, the same way I did with Madame Fluttery.

If you're curious, have a look at our page. What do you say — are you in?