Rachel Miner
| Rachel Miner | |
|---|---|
 Miner at Salute to Supernatural Chicago 2012 | |
| Born |
Rachel Anne Miner July 29, 1980 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Macaulay Culkin (m. 1998–2002) Worthington Miner (grandfather)Frances Fuller (grandmother) |
Rachel Anne Miner (born July 29, 1980)[1] is an American actress. She made her film debut as the young Alice in Woody Allen's Alice (1990), and later earned critical acclaim for her role in the true crime thriller Bully (2001). She has also had parts in The Black Dahlia (2006) and Penny Dreadful (2007), and played the recurring role of Meg Masters on The CW network's Supernatural from 2009 to 2013.
Career
Film and television
Miner's television credits include Vickie in Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift (1990), Michelle Bauer on Guiding Light (1989–1995), a guest starring role as Laurel in a Sex and the City episode, "Twenty-something Girls vs. Thirty-something Women" and Astrid in NY-LON.
In 2001, she starred in Bully. The plot follows several young adults in South Florida who enact a murder plot against a mutual friend who has emotionally, physically and sexually abused them for years. The film itself was based on the July 15, 1993 murder of Bobby Kent.[2] Bully received mixed reviews from critics and has a "Rotten" rating of 54% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 91 reviews with an average score of 5.7 out of 10. The film holds a score of 45 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 26 critics indicating 'Mixed or average reviews'.[3] Miner won an award at the Stockholm Film Festival for Best Actress.
In 2005, Miner portrayed a young woman on a journey to discover who she is and why multiple enemies want her dead in the action film Circadian Rhythm. The movie was critically ignored, and was poorly received in its few reviews. One reviewer stated that the film was a "directionless jumble of boring scenes strung together tenuously by a plot that feels like they were making it up as they went along," and that watching the film's allegedly ‘wire-fu’ fight scenes was akin to "being over at a friend’s house when they’re getting yelled at by their parents."[4]
She appeared in 12 episodes of the 2007 television series Californication, as Dani California, a reference to a character appearing in several songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 2008, she appeared in "The Sacrifice", an episode of Fear Itself.[5] That same year she was also cast as the second lead in the psychological thriller The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations. The movie was filmed in Michigan and concluded filming in October 2008.[6] It debuted at After Dark Horrorfest III, a horror film festival held in January 2009.[7] The film was released on DVD on March 31, 2009.
From 2009 to 2013, Miner took over the role of Meg Masters, a recurring antagonist and demon in Supernatural. The writers wanted Meg's original actress Nicki Aycox to reprise the role in later seasons, but ultimately cast Miner for storyline purposes. Miner had not seen the series before, and only had the opportunity before filming to view a few clips of Aycox's episodes. She wanted to avoid merely copying Aycox's performance, but at the same time did not want to stray too far because it was the same character. However, she found that she did not have to alter her performance because the character was "written so specifically that the choices were very similar". Respecting prior depictions of Meg, Miner said, "I did take to heart that the character meant so much to people...That became something I took into consideration because I didn't want to disappoint people by taking away from what was originally there." Upon being asked to return for "Abandon All Hope...", she declined a film offer because it conflicted with the series' filming. For the eighth season the role was intended to be larger, but Miner revealed she was suffering Multiple Sclerosis,[8][9] which prevented her from doing more physical material. The character was eventually killed off later the same season.[10] Tim Janson of Mania gave Miner's portrayal of Meg a positive review, saying no one played Meg "with such dripping sarcasm as Rachel Miner". He felt that she "always adds spice when she appears".[11] Similarly, Diana Steenbergen of IGN felt Miner played the role "with vicious flair" and "[conveyed] Meg's brutality well, right from the beginning".[12] As time passed, she noted that the actress "has done well taking over the role".[13] Miner's incarnation of Meg received praise from Jordan Farley of SFX, as well. Farley wrote, "As a demon turned good (sort of) she occupies a moral grey zone that leaves her actions completely unpredictable even after year’s [sic] of guest appearances, a refreshing quality for a character to have. And she’s funny."[14] Ryan also liked Miner's portrayal of the character.[15]
In 2010, Miner starred alongside James Franco in the Grasshopper segment of Love & Distrust.[16] The next year she was cast as Sgt. Hannah in the horror film 51.[17] 51 began filming in April in Louisiana.[18] The film was released in limited theaters as part of "After Dark Originals".[19][20]
Theater
Among her theater credits are Jennifer in Laura Cahill's Naked Faith: The Way at Naked Angels in New York (1994), Margot Frank (replacing original cast member Missy Yager) in The Diary of Anne Frank on Broadway (1997), Rivkele in Donald Margulies's adaptation of Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance at ACT Theatre in Seattle (2000), Sandy in Rebecca Gilman's Blue Surge at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago (2001) and at The Public Theater in New York (2002).
Personal life
A third-generation Miner in show business, she is the daughter of director and teacher Peter Miner and the granddaughter of director/producer Worthington Miner and actress Frances Fuller. In 1998, she married Home Alone actor Macaulay Culkin.[21] The couple separated in 2000[22] and divorced in 2002.[23]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Alice | 12-year-old Alice | |
| 1990 | Shining Time Station: 'Tis A Gift | Vickie | TV Movie |
| 1997 | Henry Fool | Girl in Library No. 3 | |
| 1999 | Joe the King | Patty | |
| 2001 | Bully | Lisa Connely | Won – Stockholm Film Festival for Best Actress |
| 2004 | Haven | Eva | |
| 2005 | Man of God | Karen Cohen | Direct to-DVD |
| 2005 | Little Athens | Allison | Direct to-DVD |
| 2005 | Circadian Rhythm | Sarah | |
| 2006 | Fatwa | Cassie Davidson | Direct to-DVD |
| 2006 | Love & Debate | Sophia | Direct to-DVD |
| 2006 | The Black Dahlia | Martha Linscott | |
| 2006 | Onion Underwater | Tara | Short film |
| 2006 | Grasshopper | Terri | Short film |
| 2006 | Penny Dreadful | Penny Deerborn | |
| 2006 | The Still Life | Robin | |
| 2007 | Cult | Mindy | Direct to-DVD |
| 2007 | The Blue Hour | Julie | |
| 2007 | The Memory Thief | Mira | Direct to-DVD |
| 2007 | Tooth & Nail | Neon | Direct to-DVD |
| 2008 | Hide | Betty | |
| 2008 | The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations | Jenna Reid | Direct to-DVD |
| 2009 | Life of Lemon | Esther | Direct to-DVD |
| 2010 | The Love Affair | Karen Hall | Short film |
| 2010 | Love & Distrust | Terri | Direct to-DVD |
| 2011 | 51 | Sgt. Hannah | TV Movie |
| 2012 | In Their Skin | Jane | |
| 2013 | East of Acadia | Clair | |
| 2014 | Elwood | Lulu Palu | Short film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–1995 | Guiding Light | Michelle Bauer | 50 episodes
Won – Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Daytime Series (1992, 1994) |
| 1995 | American Experience | Voice Actor - Multiple Roles | Episode: "The Orphan Trains" |
| 1999 | Sex and the City | Laurel | Episode: "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women" |
| 2004 | NY-LON | Astrid | 7 episodes |
| 2005 | Bones | Mary Costello | Episode: "The Girl in the Fridge" |
| 2006 | Medium | Emilia 'Lia' Purcell | Episode: "Lucky in Love" |
| 2006 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Valerie Whitehall | Episode: "Rashomama" |
| 2006 | Without a Trace | Julia Martic | Episode: "Damage Done" |
| 2007–2008 | Californication | Dani | 12 episodes |
| 2008 | Fear Itself | Chelsea | Episode: "The Sacrifice" |
| 2008 | The Cleaner | Sarah Gibbons | Episode: "The Eleventh Hour" |
| 2008 | Life | Squeaky Uhry | Episode: "Canyon Flowers" |
| 2009 | CSI: Miami | Tammy Witten | Episode: "Presumed Guilty" |
| 2009–2013 | Supernatural | Meg Masters | 7 episodes |
| 2009 | Psycho Girlfriend | Meagan | Episode: "The New Girl" |
| 2009–2010 | The Online Gamer | Beth | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Cold Case | Anna Coulson | Episode: "Two Weddings" |
| 2010 | No Ordinary Family | Rebecca Jessup | Episode: "No Ordinary Quake" |
| 2010 | Terriers | Eleanor Gosney | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Army Wives | Jasmine Wilkes | Episode: "Deadly Force" |
| 2011 | Criminal Minds | Molly Grandin | Episode: "Today I Do" |
| 2011–2012 | Sons of Anarchy | Dawn Trager | 2 episodes |
Music videos
- Sunday, Sonic Youth (1998)
- Only One, Yellowcard (2005)
References
- ↑ "United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (16 May 2014), Rachel A Miner, Residence, Hollywood, California, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
- ↑ State of Florida vs. Marty Puccio, CASE NO. 86,242 (official court documents). Florida State University Archives
- ↑ "Bully". Metacritic. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ↑ "Circadian Rhythm". teleport-city.com.
- ↑ Edmonton Journal: New TV series dresses up local landmarks in fear and blood 4 June 2008
- ↑ Verrier, Richard (October 1, 2008). "Hollywood on the Huron: Michigan now a film mecca". Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ "8 Films to Die For". Horrorfestonline.com.
- ↑ reading-through-time-and-space likes this (2013-10-08). "The Fandom (de)Bunker • The rumor that Rachel Miner has Multiple Sclerosis". Fandomdebunker.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ "Rachel Miner (Meg seasons 5-8) Announces at Dallas Con that she has been battling Multiple Sclerosis (MS)". M.reddit.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ "TV News | TV Shows | TV Listings | Entertainment Weekly". Insidetv.ew.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ "Answerbag.com | Ask Questions, Get Answers, Find Information". Mania.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ "Supernatural: "Sympathy for the Devil" Review". IGN. 2009-09-11. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ "Supernatural: "Caged Heat" Review". IGN. 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ Jordan Farley on March 26, 2013 (2013-03-26). "Supernatural 8.17 "Goodbye Stranger" REVIEW | GamesRadar". Sfx.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ "The family business: Let's talk about 'Supernatural's' 'Abandon All Hope...' - The Watcher". Featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com. 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ "LOVE & DISTRUST". Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ↑ "SyFy and After Dark Films Unite for Saturday Original Movie Franchise". Broadway World. April 1, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
- ↑ "After Dark Films heads to 'Area 51'".
- ↑ "After Dark Originals: First Details on 'Banshee' and '51'". BloodyDisgusting.
- ↑ Melissa Girmonte (April 25, 2010). "Bruce Boxleitner Slated to Star in SyFy's '51'". Airlock Alpha. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
- ↑ "He's not home alone now. (teen actors Rachel Miner and Macaulay Culkin, both 17, announce their marriage intentions)(Brief Article) | HighBeam Research". Highbeam.com. April 13, 1998. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
- ↑ Tyrangiel, Josh (August 14, 2000). "People: August 14, 2000". Time. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
- ↑ Friedman, Roger (August 20, 2002). "Macaulay Culkin's Happy 'Ending'". Fox News. Retrieved February 21, 2010.