Patricia Rae

We-re super-excited to be speaking today with acclaimed and award-winning actress Patricia Rae; greetings and salutations, Patricia! Before we meander down the proverbial celluloid Q&A pathway, how have the dog days of the summer of 2023 been treating you?

First of all— thank you for having me! I have been keeping myself busy. If you haven’t heard we are in the middle of an actors strike. So I have been actively picketing with a group of motivated Latinas. Our group is called “Latinas Acting Up”. Please come out and join us on the strike line. Also, I have been very busy with my weekly podcast “Believe This” that I co-host with Chris Crim.

Major congratulations on the freshly-minted podcast Believe This which you host alongside the ever-brilliant Chris Crim! For anyone not in the know, can you explain what the Believe This podcast is all about?

Its a weekly conversation featuring spirited, good faith debates on a variety of hot topics, social issues, politics, health and entertainment, from our opposing points of view. Sometimes we agree, and generally we don’t. The point is to create a safe space to have the hard conversations, and still remain civilized.

What are the origins of Believe This? Is there an E! True Hollywood Story you could share with us on how this extraordinary podcast came into being?

Thank you for all the nice praise. I had been itching to do a podcast focused on health, as I am a Reiki healer, but I felt overwhelmed with the competition. Cris, whom I know form Twitter was looking for a co-host for a new podcast, after his podcast “Come Get Sum” and put it out there, literally on the internet. I answered the call. When we were spit balling ideas for the podcast, I mentioned that I felt that we weren’t having honest discussions, on hard topics anymore. And I really wanted to be able to voice my thoughts on subjects that were important to me— without fear of being “unfriended.”

In this day and age of seemingly everyone feeling they need to pick a particular side and the feeling of growing rifts between folks due to political or ideological differences in opinions, what can Believe This do in order to help bring people together versus wedging them further apart?

This podcast creates a safe space to have those sensitive conversations… the ones where we don’t necessarily agree, because we don’t all see things from the same perspective, while allowing for an organic deliberation, free of judgement.

What has your collaboration process with co-host Chris Crim been like on Believe This?

Nothing less than amazing. He is thoughtful, and generous, and very insightful, but most of all he is very kind. We just have a really good rapport. We have fun with each other, and we never get mad. When we don’t agree on a topic, we give each other the respect to have our own opinion. Believe that! Funny thing is Chris lives in the mostly conservative state of Florida and he leans left. I live in the super liberal Los Angeles and my views lean slightly moderate. So we both have plenty of topics that bate us intellectually and emotionally, because of the geography. It makes for really spirited debates in every episode. And sometimes we agree on issues, believe it or not.

Especially when it comes to issues on children, being both parents.

What differentiates Believe This from the Distinguished Competition on the present day podcast scene?

In a societal climate full of discourse, shaming, blaming, and judging, our goal with this podcast was to have civilized conversations on controversial issues, in an effort to expand each other’s perspective. “Let’s agree to disagree.” And have fun with it too. Nobody out there is allowing for this difference of opinions.

Remember debate team? You were encouraged to argue your point, and find the evidence to support it. That’s what we do. We try and validate why we feel a certain way on a subject by supporting it with critical thinking. But let me clarify, that we never claim to be experts on an given subject. We are just really passionate people who need and avenue to express that passion, sans the fear of cancellation.

You’re also a well-respected producer in the ntertainment industry along with being an accomplished actress. Do you have a preference between these two crafts, or is it all apples and oranges, creatively-speaking?

I’m an artist. My purpose in life is to create. I don’t judge myself on the process of how that translates at any given moment. Whether it’s on a canvas, on paper, or helping produce someone else’s vision, or talking about current events on a podcast. I just create because that’s my happy place. We as humans are creative by design. We create life. We create art.

Acting-wise, who inspires you?

The greats. Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Robert DeNiro, Nicholas Cage. Too many to name.

Can you give our ever-inquisitive readers a hint or three as to some of what they can expect with future episodes of Believe This?

As long as there are politics and social issues on the horizon, we will have plenty of fodder… but I’m sure we will get into the primary debates, the Trump indictments; we’re exploring the resurgence of police hirings in LA and across the country, and updates on the SAG/Aftra strike, of course. We are looking into the Bill Gates foundation that is said to be hoarding seeds. We are also planning for a whole health episode. Lot’s of controversial and fun topics coming up! We like to focus on positive stories as well. We just featured an entire “feel good” episode.

Are there some topics that Believe This won’t tackle and attempt to find common ground on, which might be a little too incendiary?

Nope. Bring it. If we edit ourselves in terms of subjects, it would defeat the purpose of the podcast. We want to have the hard conversations, that make people uncomfortable. We encourage our differences of opinions. We recently had an author on, who helped us unravel “Rape Culture”. At the end of every episode, Chris and I encourage our listeners to weigh in and give us feedback at btpod4u@gamil.com .

At the end of the day, what do you hope audiences walk away with after experiencing Believe This?

A broader sense of perspective. I created a space space where I could think for myself and challenge or question the status quo. Our message for young people in particular is this; Think for yourself. Be curious. Ask questions. Formulate your own ideas and don’t be afraid to voice and share them. We need to get away from shaming people for who they are and how the think. That you can believe.