"There's a casual racism to not including the Black person, we're the afterthought quite often. But I was like, you know what I am? I'm not an afterthought. I'm Rachel-fucking-True".
Rachel India True (born November 15, 1966) is an American actress, model and healthy living advocate.
If you were born or grew up in the 90s, you'd know her best for her roles on The Cosby Show, Nowhere, Embrace of the Vampire and especially The Craft. The latter was a Sleeper Hit that brought her a lot of positive attention - and it's probably her best remembered role. She's also known for starring in Half Baked and her sitcom Half & Half.
In addition to her acting and modelling, in The New '10s she has become far more outspoken on racism and colorism in the film industry - and campaigns to spread awareness for better treatment and representation for African-American performers.
She also has a website, "Some True Things"
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Selected Filmography:
- The Cosby Show (1992) - Nicki (two episodes)
- Beverly Hills, 90210 (1993) - Jan Myler (two episodes)
- Embrace of the Vampire (1995) - Nicole
- The Craft (1995) - Rochelle
- Nowhere (1997) - Mona
- Half Baked (1998) - Mary Jane Potman
- The Drew Carey Show (1998) - Janet Clemens (recurring)
- Half & Half (2002-2006) - Mona Thorne
- Social Nightmare (2013) as Mrs. Langran
- Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014) - 1st Officer Jonni Valentine
- Sharknado Heart Of Sharkness (2015) - Rachel
Tropes associated with her work:
- Ability over Appearance: In two of her films (Embrace of the Vampire and The Craft) characters she auditioned for were written to be white, and she won the parts. In the latter, they then incorporated racist bullying into the storyline.
- Actor-Shared Background: Like her character Rochelle in The Craft, she grew up in a majority white neighborhood. She was also the only black girl at her high school (a deleted scene confirms that Rochelle is too). She had already begun her tarot reading at this stage, and actually auditioned for the film with crystals in her pocket.
- As Herself: She plays herself in a Mockumentary about the making of Sharknado 2: The Second One.
- Billing Displacement: Subverted for Half & Half. The episodes would bill whoever had the biggest role in the plot first, and alternate between the leads.
- Creator Backlash: In the 2019 documentary Horror Noire, she expresses annoyance at constantly being cast as the Token Black Friend. While she does have some issues with Rochelle being Out of Focus, she does view her as an important step forward in representation."And this was 20 years ago, so then I said, 'Listen, you’re black and you’re in the movie. That’s pretty good already.'"
- Dawson Casting:
- Her agent refused to submit her for The Craft because she was "too old" to play a teenage witch. Rachel however lobbied for the role, even finding a manager who wanted to represent her on the condition she be submitted for the film. Naturally she was cast. What was her age at the time? Twenty-nine!
- She was also playing a teenager in Nowhere, and the film's lengthy two year production meant that she was in her thirties by the time it got released.
- Funnily enough, she was playing a college freshman in Embrace of the Vampire two years earlier.
- I Am Not Spock: She's joked that she's either called 'Rochelle' or 'Mary Jane' by random people in public.
- Playing Against Type: Half Baked was a comedy where she played the main love interest.
- Separated-at-Birth Casting: She and Essence Atkins have quite the resemblance, enough to be believable as half-sisters in Half & Half.
- Those Two Actors: She and Guillermo Diaz worked together in Nowhere and Half Baked.
- What Could Have Been: According to her, Stacey Dash was the first choice for Mary Jane in Half Baked, and refused to audition for it.
