2 minute read
HOLLYWOOD CALLING
BRITISH actress Rachel Warren on mega success, new releases, and the tough road to the top.
They say the course of true love never did run smooth, and as it turns out the course of mega successful careers isn’t that different either.
Despite its glamorous exterior, acting is one of the notoriously harshest of careers to make a name in, with a remarkable only 2 per cent of actors ever even mak ing a living.
For those who do tread that path though undeterred by the knock backs, the low pay and the often farfromglamorous hours the payoff can often be some thing quite extraordinary.
Now 38 and about to star in not only a new Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde remake but also her own series, the actress and producer sat down with the Euro Weekly News to talk US success, the importance of backing yourself, and the long road to the top.
Originally from Buckinghamshire, Rachel told the EWN acting has been practically a lifelong passion: “At five I pointed at the TV screen and I said ‘mummy that’ and I knew that’s what I wanted to do in life.”
“None of my family are in the industry and my parents really wanted me to have an education rather than going straight into acting.
“I compromised and I told them I would get an acting degree, which I ended up doing in London.”
At one point things took a particularly dark turn when Rachel even had to take out a restraining order against someone else in the industry. Those experiences, which would have (understandably) seen a lot of aspiring actors run for the hills, saw Rachel do the opposite, working out how to create her own way within a sometimes brutal profession.
The result was RWI Creative, her own film and TV poster design company, which allowed her to stay within the industry on her own terms while paying the bills and still having time to audition for acting parts.
Rachel told the EWN her big break came with the hugely successful Rise of the Footsoldier franchise.
From there, as Rachel explains, everything else fell into place. She has since starred in The Last Heist alongside Terry Stone and has just shot multiple films, including Dragged Up Dirty due for release in 2024 alongside Nick Moran, Michelle Ryan, Peter Andre, and Junior Andre.
With multiple films under her belt, and often no longer having to audition for roles, Rachel’s star is now rising even higher with a seriously exciting new project in the works; a high concept comedy series that she describes as a “mixture between Fleabag and Bridget Jones.”
Not content with simply reaping the rewards of her own hard work though, Rachel explained she now wants to help other actors, particularly in dealing with some of her industry’s darker sides.
“I wanted to open doors for myself and now for others.
“That is one of the things I am fiercely passionate about; erasing manipulation and gaslighting in the industry and bringing up new and young filmmakers in a safe environment and working with some of the big beasts in the industry.
Rachel’s latest film Ripper’s Revenge, following a journalist who covers the famous murderer’s crimes before finding himself the target of a series of letters from Jack the Ripper, is out now.
