Estelle Bajou is a French-American polymath who works as an actor, composer, writer, visual artist, and therapist. She holds a BA in Theater and Creative Writing from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, which she earned at age 19, an MFA in Acting from The New School, and a Masters in Social Work from Hunter College.
Praised by critics as a “first-rate young actor” (NY Times), and “excellent at bringing a humanity and honesty to complex characters" (Huff Post), Bajou’s acting credits include Broadway's Once and “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO), feature films like Charming the Hearts of Men (opposite Anna Friel), Spielberg’s The Post, and Chaplin of the Mountains (filmed in Iraq), award-winning shorts like Glimpses and Lullaby for Ray, and plays at Edinburgh Fringe (Won: The Stage’s Award for Best Acting), 59E59, The New Ohio (Won: NY Innovative Theater Award), American Repertory Theater, NJ Rep, and three national tours. Member: SAG-AFTRA, AEA.
Described as “elegantly constructed” (NY Times), and “terrifically effective” (American Theater Web), Bajou’s composing has earned several accolades, including a Drama Desk Award nomination alongside one of her heroes, Philip Glass. Her credits include The 1619 Project (Hulu), Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” (PBS), feature films such as Roll Bus Roll (a Jeffrey Lewis doc), 7th Secret, Fireworkers, and Beneath Disheveled Stars, award-winning shorts like klutz. and Glimpses (Won: Best Original Score, Garden State Film Fest), and plays at Labyrinth Theater Co, Edinburgh Fringe, 59E59, and PS122. Member: American Federation of Musicians.
Bajou’s writing includes a full-length play, Poetry, which was a Finalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition. Her feature-screenplay adaptation of Poetry was a Quarterfinalist in the 2022 WeScreenplay Feature Competition and the ScreenCraft Film Fund, and received an Honorable Mention at the 2022 Big Apple Film Festival. She co-wrote, produced, and stars in the feature, Person Woman Man Camera TV (Official Selection: 2022 Cinequest Film Festival), which won Best Production at the 2022 Harlem Int’l Film Festival. Her poetry received a 2022 Best of the Net nomination from Heavy Feather Review, 2023 and 2021 Pushcart Prize nominations from This Broken Shore, and is featured in Broad River Review, California Quarterly, SWIMM, and elsewhere. Her debut poetry collection, I Never Learned to Pray, was Longlisted for the C&R Press Poetry Award and is available from Main Street Rag. Member: The Dramatists Guild.
As a psychotherapist, she takes a person-centered, trauma-informed approach to supporting people as they navigate challenges. As a social worker, she is also committed to achieving ecosocial justice through policy change and advocacy, and is a member of working groups with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, the Green Economy Coalition, and The Sierra Club, as well as being active in her local community. Member: NASW.
Raised in a furniture factory town in the NC mountains, she bears the traces of travel across the Americas and Europe, to Columbia, Venezuela, Turkey, and Iraqi Kurdistan, among other formative places. She now lives in New York City with a bunch of houseplants.