Rachel Skarsten, actress
I tried to do everything but acting but I suppose like most loves of your life it tends to be relentless and eventually you give in ...
After getting her first taste of show business at the tender age of 16 and learning to drive in a Porsche Boxster in the Warner Bros. parking lot, you’d forgive Rachel Skarsten for being swept up in the Hollywood hype. The reality, however, is that the Canadian-born actress is remarkably down to earth. Her uncanny ability to switch from girl next door to vivacious vixen in the blink of an eye and has earned her a swag of television roles and movie appearances, including recently as Christian Grey’s fiery assistant in Fifty Shades of Grey. The Weekend Edition Gold Coast caught up with Rachel ahead of her visit to Australia for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo on April 17–19 to talk narcissistic tendencies and temporary veganism.
The world got to see you in action in television series Birds of Prey and then again in Lost Girl. Do you have any favourite memories from the early days?
I think my favourite memory from Birds of Prey and Lost Girl was definitely the people that I worked with. I was so young, I was only 16 and I had never been to Los Angeles or lived away from home, very much like my character. I was in this new city, completely bewildered and my co-stars Ashley and Dina were so lovely – they were like my big sisters. They’d have me for sleepovers and I’m still friends with both of them. Being there at such a young age was just an insane experience. I remember one day saying to the producer that I was learning to drive and he said that he’d get me a car to practice in the Warner Bros. lot and the next day there’s this Porsche Boxster for me to practise driving in. I was like, “We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!”. So that was my introduction to Hollywood. Working on Lost Girl was so great because it was really just like going to summer camp everyday. I feel like sometimes you have to lie about your co-stars because they are actually dicks in real life but this time, they were just genuinely the best. I still hangout with them and I still love them.
How did your family and friends react when you told them you were going to be in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie?
I think every single one of them screamed, that was the general reaction. I kind of set it up as obviously I’m an actor so I like the big reveal. I called them all and said “Hey, have you heard of that book Fifty Shades of Grey?” and of course they they were all like, “Yeah, totally!” And I said, “Well, I’m in the film.” It’s interesting because it was a controversial book and my close friends and family were all very excited but I was surprised, although in retrospect I shouldn’t have been, but some people were not supportive of it. That was really the first time that I’d ever seen what that was like. People reacting differently to you because of the project that you were in. My mum was so excited, the first thing she asked was if I was having sex in the movie. Once I explained that I was the only one not having sex in the movie, she was excited.
What was it really like behind the scenes of the movie? Any secrets you can share with us?
It was interesting because you could feel the pressure of how big the project was. I think that was the first time that I had experienced that, because most of the time when you do something you don’t know if it’s going to be big or how people will receive it. There’s sort of this freedom that comes with that, where you are just doing what you love and you don’t really think about it. Everything with this movie was shrouded – they hung black tarps everywhere, we had to hand in our scripts at the end of the day and we couldn’t talk about anything. It was very secretive. I couldn’t even tell most of my friends for weeks that I was even filming the movie, so that was very different. I remember calling my mum after the first day and telling her it was the biggest thing I had ever been part of. It was a little scary, it’s kind of like that feeling that you get the night before your first day of school.
Was it hard to resist getting swept up in the hype of the movie?
I think I have now been in the business long enough to know that hype isn’t real. It isn’t tangible. It’s not something to bank any of your own self worth on. I was very excited to be part of it but I tried to remove myself a little bit from the hype because you never know. The movie could have been a total bomb, it wouldn’t be the first highly anticipated movie that bombed in the theatres, and I think also because we filmed it so long before it was actually released that there was this long period of time in between when we finished filming and when all of the publicity started. I remember this one time when I’d just come back to LA and I was driving down the street. This huge poster that had been painted on the side of a building about Fifty Shades of Grey, and my line was the tagline and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a big movie’ and then I thought, ‘Oh wait, I’m in that movie!’. It was so weird. It kind of felt like that throughout.
What do you prefer, television or movies?
You know, they are so different. I love movies because you sort of know from start to finish what you’re going to be part of, you can have a complete preparation for what you are getting into and usually they film in exotic locations and you get to meet all of the people. But there is also something very lovely about a show and getting to develop a character and develop relationships with your cast members and have that kind of family feeling that extends beyond two months of filming a movie. So I quite enjoy both. I think in the past there has been a stigma to television that it wasn’t as good as films, like it was film’s weird younger brother, but now I feel like there is better television being made than film. I’ve been very blessed in that I’ve been able to do both.
Let’s rewind a bit. What were you like as a child – were you always interested in performing?
I never thought I’d be an actress. I even left acting after Birds of Prey and went to university for something that has really nothing to do with acting at all, and had all of these different careers that I thought I would do. Looking back, my mum always says that she is not at all surprised. I used to put on one-man plays in my front yard, and on my mum’s side in Canada I have eight younger cousins that are pretty close in age but I’m the eldest, so I would force them all to put on plays with me and I’d get the whole family to watch. So I guess I’ve always been a natural performer, I don’t know if that makes me a total narcissist but I guess now in retrospect I’m not surprised that this is my vocation. Truthfully I tried to do everything but acting, but I suppose like most loves of your life it tends to be relentless and eventually you give in.
If you could give your teenage self any advice, what would it be?
I think it would honestly be to chill out. I was like the girl in high school that sat in front of the class, a super keener that was involved in everything. I had absolutely no success with boys, I had friends but I was not in the popular crowd and I always looked to the future. Sometimes I missed just being in the moment. I try to learn from that and just be in the moment now. But truthfully, even if my 29-year-old self went back to my 15-year-old self and said to chill out, I doubt that I would listen to myself.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your career?
I was really lucky because when I was on Birds of Prey, I saw a lot of my then contemporaries struggle, like Amanda Bynes and Lindsay Lohan. It’s hard. I understand why, this business and this city beats you down, and especially as a young girl there’s so much pressure to look a certain way and be a certain way. I definitely consider myself blessed that I had the opportunity to go to school and also come from a country where everyone played hockey, so I played hockey and that was about being strong and working in a team versus being uber skinny. Then I got to leave and make all those mistakes that every 19 year old makes, but I did it in a much safer, age-appropriate environment. I got to learn all of the wisdom that one needs to learn at that age and then come back to this business with a greater sense of myself and that I’m truly grateful for. I think the main challenge was having left and then coming back and having to work really hard. It had all come so easily the first time around and I had just assumed that it would be the same when I came back. It wasn’t. I couldn’t pay someone to give me a job, I lived in my car for two weeks and I had no money. I became a vegan not by choice but because I couldn’t afford meat and cheese, but I pretended it was by choice because I felt that was cooler. Even that was such a blessing because it really focussed me and confirmed that if I was still interested when it was that bad, then this was what I wanted to do. Now, the fact that someone is flying me to Australia to meet fans for a show that I did and loved is so amazing. I’m so grateful and I think if you don’t have that struggle you don’t appreciate it in the same way.
You have achieved so much in your career and life, what is your proudest achievement so far?
I’m really proud that I went to school. Education is something that is very important to me, I think growing up in places like Canada, the US and Australia we don’t necessarily value that education because it is right here, whereas in a lot of places it’s a privilege. I’m going to Malawi in May to build a school, because I really believe in education. I think that for women especially it’s such a powerful tool and it’s more than just a piece of paper – it teaches you how to think differently and I think it’s undervalued. I didn’t think about it at the time because in my family that’s just what we did but now in retrospect, I feel so blessed that I had that opportunity to get that education and now I feel like in my career it’s like my secret weapon. Because this business is so fluid and material, I could be on top today and then literally never get another job again, but I have a degree and can always go and get a job and fall back on that. I am really grateful for that and I am proud of it.
You’re coming to Australia for Supanova Pop Culture Expo, what are you most looking forward to doing while you’re here?
Basically, just listening to people like you because you have the most charming accent. Honestly you guys can just get away with so much. No one likes the Canadian accent, everyone just laughs at us, but people just swoon for you Australians, myself included. I love travelling, I have this list of all the places I want to go to and Australia has been at the top for a really long time so I’m very excited. I’m very much the type of tourist who likes to go and experience the beautiful adventure that every country has to offer, so I’m just looking forward to experiencing everything that comes my way. Melbourne stole one of my very best friends many years ago, so I’m also excited to see her and see what is so great about this country that she loves so much.