Rachel Brosnahan is an American actress and producer. She is popular for starring as an aspiring stand-up comedian ‘Miriam “Midge” Maisel’ in the Prime Video comedy series ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ (2017).
Wiki/Biography
Rachel Elizabeth Brosnahan was born on Thursday, July 12, 1990 (age 30 years; as of 2020), in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
When she was four years old, her family moved to Highland Park, Illinois, where she was brought up. She studied at Wayne Thomas Elementary School, Northwood Junior High School, and then at Highland Park High School. In her junior high school and high school, she used to perform in musical theatre. At Highland Park High School, she was a part of the school’s wrestling team for two years and was a snowboarding instructor at the school. When she turned sixteen, she studied under the director of Wilmette’s Actors Training Center Carole Dibo, who is now her manager. In 2012, she graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a Major in Theatre and a Minor in Psychology.
Physical Appearance
Height : 5′ 3½”
Hair Color: Blonde (dyed Brown)
Eye Color: Blue
Family & Ethnicity
She is British from her mother’s side and Irish-American from her father’s side. She is not religious but she is highly engrossed in the Jewish culture as she lived closer to Highland Park’s Jewish community while growing up and attended many Passover Seders (a Jewish ritual feast), Bar and Bat Mitzvahs (Jewish coming of age ritual for boys and girls), and Hanukkah (a Jewish festival) observances in Chicago’s North Shore. She has dual citizenship of the US and UK.
Parents & Siblings
She is the daughter of Carol and Earl Brosnahan, who was employed in children’s publishing. She has a younger brother and sister named Lydia.
Relationships & Husband
In 2018, she was reported to be married to the actor Jason Ralph. In January 2019, she confessed to having been in a marriage contract with Jason for years before their relationship was made public.
Other Relatives
The American fashion designer Kate Spade (née Brosnahan) is her aunt; Kate is her father’s sister.
Career
Films
In 2009, she made her film debut in the role of ‘Lisa’ in the American horror/thriller ‘The Unborn;’ she was a high school student at the time of her debut.
In 2011, she played the lead role of ‘Alice’ in the film ‘Coming Up Roses’ and went on to star in the films Nor’easter (2012), A New York Heartbeat (2013), James White (2015), The Finest Hours (2016), and I’m Your Woman (2020).
She has also acted in the short films: Adrift (2012), Care (2013), Munchausen (2013), Basically (2014), The Smut Locker (2014), and Fifteen Years Later (2018). In 2015, she made her Norwegian film debut with ‘Louder Than Bombs’ in the role of ‘Erin.’
Theatre
In 2009, she made her stage debut at Steppenwolf Theatre in Deerfield in ‘Up’ in the role of ‘Maria.’ In 2013, she made her Broadway debut in ‘The Big Knife’ in the role of ‘Dixie Evans’ with Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan. In 2016, she portrayed ‘Desdemona’ in ‘Othello’ at the New York Theatre Workshop.
Television
In 2010, she made her television debut with the American series ‘Mercy’ in the role of ‘Samantha.’
She then acted in the television series: Gossip Girl (2010), In Treatment (2010), CSI: Miami (2011), Grey’s Anatomy (2013), and Orange Is the New Black (2013) and later played recurring roles in the television series: House of Cards (2013-15), The Blacklist (2014) and Black Box (2014). She was cast in the lead role of ‘Abby Issacs’ in the television series ‘Manhattan’ (2014-15).
She has also starred in the TV series Dovekeepers (2015), Crisis in Six Scenes (2016), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017), and 50 States of Fright (2020).
Production
Rachel made her debut as a producer with the short film ‘Femme’ in 2018.
She has also produced the feature film ‘I’m Your Woman’ (2020) and television special ‘Yearly Departed’ (2020).
Awards & Achievements
- Women’s Image Network Award for Actress in a Comedy Series for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ in 2020
- Screen Actors Guild Awards – Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ in 2019 & 2020
- IMDb STARmeter Award – Fan Favorite in 2020
- Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ in 2018 & 2019
- Golden Globes Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ in 2018 & 2019
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ in 2018
- Gold Derby Awards- Comedy Actress (TV) for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ in 2018
- Television Critics Association Awards for Individual Achievement in Comedy for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ in 2018
- Online Film & Television Association’s Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series (TV) for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ in 2018
Signature
Favorite Things
- TV Series: Survivor, Alone, The Great British Baking Show, Black Mirror
- Film(s): True Chicago (1927), True Brothers (2004)
- Travel Destination: New Mexico
Salary
As of 2019, she is paid $300,000 an episode for doing a show.
Facts/Trivia
- In her spare time, she likes singing and playing cribbage and board games with her friends.
- She belongs to a sporty family due to which she grew up playing sports like basketball, snowboarding, wrestling, and lacrosse.
- Growing up, she watched documentaries on medical mysteries, which led her to consider becoming a surgeon once.
- In June 2018, she lost two of her family members within 15 days of the time when her aunt Kate Spade died on June 5, and her grandfather, Earl Francis Brosnahan died on June 20.
- She loves animals and is often seen posing with them on her social media accounts. Growing up, she owned a rabbit named ‘Lacey,’ a male, who she had thought was a female but once she found out, she renamed him ‘Larry David.’ She owns two dogs; a pit bull named Nikki and a Shiba Inu named Winston.
- Rachel has a scar in the shape of a key on her left middle finger. She got the scar at the age of four while trying to end her curiosity to know whether the stove remains hot after it is turned off or not.
- According to her, she watches videos of all the Elphabas [from Wicked] singing “Defying Gravity” on YouTube whenever she is in need of inspiration.
- Rachel has completed the ‘Live Below the Line’ challenge twice. The challenge is an anti-poverty campaign that challenges its participants to feed themselves equivalent to the extreme poverty line for five days to become aware of some of the hardships faced by such people living in extreme poverty.
- She is on the board of directors of Covenant House International, a large privately-funded organization providing shelter, food, immediate crisis care, and other services to homeless and runaway youth. She is also a part of the ‘Sleep Out’ initiative of the Covenant House.
- She is known for portraying ‘Miriam “Midge” Maisel’ in the TV series ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.’ Talking about her role in the series in an interview, she said,
I spent a lot of time trying to ramp up my internal metronome to the speed of Midge and trying to channel her confidence, which remains one of the most challenging things about playing this part.”
- In 2019, she was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 List of Hollywood & Entertainment.
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