Actress Rachel Nichols (“Star Trek” and “Alias”) chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about “Demigod” and being an actress in the digital age.
She stars in director Miles Doleac’s “Demigod,” which is now showing in select theaters and on digital from Gravitas Ventures.
How was your experience on ‘Demigod?‘
It was wonderful. It was wonderful. It was my first project since the pandemic had hit and I was nervous about getting on a plane traveling somewhere different, getting in a car, I mean, it was kind of nerve-wracking, but I wanted to get back to work. And Miles immediately put me at ease and I felt like, this man will protect me, everything’s going to be safe. Protocols are going to be followed.
So yeah, I flew into New Orleans, and then I got in a car with a stranger, which was also scary for two and a half hours. And then ended up in Mississippi. And the experience while filming, you know it surprised me actually. Well, it surprised me because I just didn’t know what to expect. And first of all, the COVID protocols were above and beyond.
Everybody’s stayed safe, nobody tested negative the entire time we were there. But then the shooting part of it was also really wonderful. When you shoot an indie film, you’ve got to be all be in it to win it. And so many people were wearing so many different hats. But it was a team effort, it was a group effort and everybody wanted to make the best movie possible. So I had a really good experience and actually filming Demigod made me feel like, okay, I can go back to work and feel safe. So that was really important.
What did you love most about your character?
Well, you know, it’s interesting because Robin is obviously very complex and there’s her whole storyline and her whole family and what she’s getting into, going to this cabin. But you know, there’s courage in her and there’s a fight or flight mechanism and she’s going to fight and I don’t want to be a spoiler alert so I’m not going to say it out entirely. But my last scene in the film is what I love about her the most because she just kind of went, no, no, you’re not going to win. I am. And that is what I loved about her.
What was it like working with the director Miles Doleac?
Miles is wonderful. He’s so sweet and so caring, but also extremely talented. And he had a vision for this movie and it came true and it doesn’t always happen that way. Sometimes people have a vision and then they’re not able to sort of getting that vision to the point where it’s successful. And he went above and beyond. He knew what he wanted. He was very easy to work with. And for an actor having a director, who’s also an actor is so fortuitous and it’s so helpful. And also to have a director who’s a good actor, also very helpful.
So that just enabled our relationship to be even more fluid from the get-go. And you kind of need that when you’re shooting a smaller budgeted film and you’re in the middle of a pandemic. Miles and I got on immediately and we had a very good relationship throughout filming and I absolutely trusted him with, can we do this? Can we do this? Can we try this? And then he absolutely let me collaborate with him. Can we change this? Can we try this?
It was really nice to work with someone who respected me as much as I respected them and we got to collaborate together, act together. And he’s also a fantastic director. So, I could go on, but you’ll get bored.
How does it feel to be an actress in the digital age?
I know that there’s a lot of controversies right now with streaming and you know, residual payments and I’m just happy to be working. I’m happy to be back at work. I love this streaming. I watch a ton of stuff on streaming. I mean, look, we just went through a pandemic.
I wasn’t going to a movie theater. I was watching TV shows and movies on streaming and I think we do need to reach a better agreement as far as actors’ compensation when it comes to streaming, because it’s no longer a new, oh, it’s a new thing. We don’t know how it’s going to go. No streaming is mainstream now.
And it’s very prevalent obviously, and actors do need to be compensated for that. But I will say that I just like to be back at work and I like to be on the screens of people who maybe can’t leave their house or maybe can’t leave their hospital room or, I like to get out there as much as possible.
I’m grateful for that part of it. I think streaming is wonderful. I mean, my parents can stream stuff. I’ve had to teach them, but they can do it. So it just, it makes it more available to more people, various projects. And so I am very, very supportive of the idea of the streaming process and the digital age. We just have to do some tweaking, I think.
What is your advice for young and aspiring actors?
Get an education. I will say that first and foremost, anytime anyone ever asks me, get an education first. I went to college, not for acting. And I would be upset if I hadn’t had that experience. So get an education or I’m not saying major in economics and psychology like I did, go to drama school, go… But just be educated and make sure that you know what you’re doing. I mean, it’s as simple as that. You’ve got to work to learn your craft, whatever that craft may be. And you learn a craft by getting an education.
I’m not saying you have to go to a four-year college. I’m not saying, I’m just saying, educate yourself on where you want to be and what you want to do. And go to acting classes and go to drama school. That’s my standpoint. Many people might differ with me and say, hey, I dropped out of high school and I never took an acting class and now I’ve won an academy award. But that’s not the advice I would give. So take it as you will.
What motivates you each day as an actress?
That’s interesting. Well, first and foremost is watching actors and actresses that I admire in their performances and just feeding off of them and looking at what they do and how they handle scenes. And I get really, really engrossed in it. I do also like to escape and not necessarily, focus on the entire performance just from an actor’s point of view, but I do enjoy watching film and TV and taking away little bits and pieces of great acting performances that are always out there.
But then it’s little things when somebody on Twitter says they just saw me on A Million Little Things or they tweet about Demigod, or– it motivates me when someone says something nice. Oh, I saw you in this movie, and I really liked you. And I just thought this was great. And it’s always nice to hear that. And it’s motivating as well because it makes you just want to go out there and continue to do really good work. And that’s what I always strive to do.
When someone is appreciative and complimentary about a performance, it’s like little words of fuel for the actresses’ soul. So thank you to all the people out there who’ve complimented me and who’ve been supportive of me since I got in this business many, many moons ago.
Which actors would you most like to someday work with as your dream acting partners?
Oh, the list is so long. Oh, I mean Danielle Lewis, obviously. Emma Thompson, she’s one of my absolute favorites. I know who else I love. I love Diane Weiss, Natalie Portman. I mean, there are so many.
I already got to work with Tom Hanks, which was incredible and he’s just as lovely and wonderful as you would think he is. But yeah, I mean, Emma Thompson is really way at the top of my list. I just find her so spectacular. So, yeah. If I had to choose one, I would say Emma. But there’s, you know, Natalie Portman, like I said, Natalie Portman, Danielle Lewis, and there are just so many. And obviously Meryl Streep. I’ve met Meryl Streep before she’s on everybody’s list of course.
What does the word success mean to you?
Success means finding a job that you’re happy to go to every day, finding a career that you’re happy and excited to go to every day. My father loved his job and he didn’t have a fancy job. He did fundraising in schools in Maine, and he worked with kids and he loved his job.
That’s what my parents always instilled in my brother and in me. And they just said, we want you to find something that you’re going to be happy doing no matter what it is. And I think that defines success. I know some people would say, well, there’s money and there’s notoriety, but no, I think success is being happy to get up and go to work every day.
If you can find something that you love so much that even if you’re getting up at four in the morning, or you’re going to bed at 5:00 a.m., because you had a night shoot or whatever your job is, yeah. I think that’s a success. That’s success to me anyway.
What would you like to say to your fans about ‘Demigod?‘
Watch it, I think. I mean, I would like to say that it’s not, I know that it looks like it’s just a sort of horror-thriller on the outside and it is a genre film, but it’s multifaceted. So I want people who are like, well, I’m not really a horror thriller. There’s more to it than that. There’s family stuff and there’s talking about what you inherit and what you derive, what’s passed down.
There are more levels to it than just, hey, this is a scary movie. And I think that’s important for them to know. And I also would like fans to know that that eyeball I had to eat was a pickled quail egg covered with some kind of sauce and it was more disgusting than the barf I had to barf up. I find that that’s very important to mention because my reaction to that quail egg part mm-hmm, it’s real.
I didn’t even have to fake it. I didn’t even have to act it. It was totally real. But no, in all seriousness watch the movie, go into it without any specific expectations about the horror level or… Just watch it. And I think people who are maybe not into the genre will be very surprised by how rad it is.
