Rachel Brosnahan

Biography

Rachel Brosnahan is an American TV & Movie actress. She is a Golden Globe winner for her comic role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She is famous for playing Rachel Posner in House of Cards, Miriam Maisel in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Jessica Kensky in Patriots Day(2016), Bea Hansen in The Finest Hours (2016), Abby Isaacs in Manhattan, Genevieve Duchannes in Beautiful Creatures(2013).

Rachel Elizabeth Brosnahan was born on 12th July 1990 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Her father Earl Brosnahan is a publisher of Children's books, mother Carol Brosnahan is of British ancestry. Rachel has two younger siblings- a brother and a sister.

Image: Rachel Brosnahan Family

Education

• Wayne Thomas Elementary School: She attended Wayne Thomas Elementary School for her primary education
• Northwood Junior High School: She got interested in Musical theater at the Northwood Junior High
• Highland Park High School: She attended HPHS- a 4 years public high school located in Highland Park, Illinois. She continued her interest in Musical theater here, she was on the school  wrestling team, she also worked as a snowboarding instructor
• Wilmette's Actors Training Center: At the age of 16, Rachel attended classes in acting by Carole Dibo, Carole Dilbo has worked as Rachel's manager.
• Tisch School of the Arts: She graduated from New York University's in the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in 2012

Marriage & Relationships

Rachel Brosnahan & Jason Ralph

Rachel Brosnahan is married to actor Jason Ralph (Jake Birnbaum in I'm Obsessed with You, Peter Pan in Peter and the Starcatcher). In 2018 the relationship came into the open, the actors had kept their marriage a private affair until then. They were married on 6th June 2016.

Image: Rachel Brosnahan with husband Jason Ralph

Rachel & Jason attended the 2019 Golden Globe Awards ceremony together, she thanked her husband during the award acceptance speech.

Interesting Facts & Trivia

• She feels stand-up comedy is not her cup of tea. [She jokes she once had to pay people to laugh at her jokes]
• Wrestling: She was in the wrestling team in High School, she was the only girl among 30-40 wrestlers. Some times her opponents would forfeit against her for she is a girl, which would really piss her off. She liked to win by merit.
• Musicals: She was into musicals in High school, when in one of the seasons both musicals and wrestling fell in the same season, she quit wrestling to participate in Musicals. She was deep into musical theater by her Junior High and High school.
• Athletic Family: She comes from a sports friendly family, her father played Tennis, her brother played Hockey, her sister played soccer, she herself played snowboarding. She was already a snowboarding instructor at High School.
• First audition: Her first ever audition was for a role in the movie Unborn (which had Gary Oldman). She had to skip her Calculus class to attend the audition and had to lie that her grandmother had passed away. She as advised by some seniors, mumbled her lines on the audition.
• When she was in college, she read every play she could lay her hand on as preparation for her future career as actress.
• She had a small role in Unborn for which she had to appear on the set on the same day she had planned a vacation with family, she was on the verge of quitting the movie, but the director & producers persuaded her to take up the role.
• Ancestry: She is of French, Irish (Paternal) & Maternal (British) descent.
• She got her nose immediately pierced when she came to New York, her parents when they saw it in the Thanks Giving weren't as thrilled as she was. She doesn't have Tattoos on her though.
• Golden Globe Award for comedy: She was told by various directors while growing up that she wasn't good at comedy. Nothing can't be farther than the truth, she has won multiple awards for her comic role in 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'.
• To prepare for her role in- 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' she went to see lot of amateur comedy shows, she watched lot of documentaries. 
• A good accident: She got sent to an audition wrongly, there she met a casting director, whose friendship which eventually got her another audition.
• Her Twitter Bio reads- "Mother of Dogs. Feminist. Actor when given a hat."
• Pets: She has dogs named Winston & Nikki. 
• Her role in 'House of Cards' was initially was very short, but her performance forced the writers to stretch it and give her some more screen time.
• Broadway Bootcamp: She did babysitting in her youth and has saved some money which she used to attend Broadway Bootcamp, an acting camp.
• Times Square billboard: Season 2 of the 'House of Cards' advertised with a billboard of Rachel's face on the Times Square, she messaged the ad to her parents with the text "Thought you two might appreciate this."
• She travels a lot for her work and often doesn't carry lot of clothes, when at home she wears her younger sister's clothes.
• She didn't have too much space in her apartment to keep the Golden Globe, she keeps it in her bath room.
• She wears Jeans and T-shirts around casually when not acting or attending events.
• Hi, Oprah!: In between her Golden Globes award speech she spotted Oprah and blurted out a "Hi Oprah" like a true fan girl.
• Odd Jobs: She worked as a waitress and a babysitter until her career took a good turn after House of Cards
• Education- She graduated High school in just 3 & Half years
• Best advice she received- "You are the only you, thus you don't lose roles to anybody else, there is no competition, they either want you or don't want you, not like somebody won over you"
• Politics- She supported Women's March of 2017, she liked President Barack Obama.
• Woody Allen: She expressed her regrets for having worked with Woody Allen who is accused of molesting his step daughter
• Religion: She was brought up in predominantly Jewish area, she went to synagogues more than Church.
• Doppelgänger: Rachel's Great Grandmother Helen and Rachel have a striking facial resemblance.
• She skipped Calculus final exam in the senior high to audition for her role in The Unborn(2009)
• Charity:
  • Covenant House: she supports 'Covenant House'- an organization that aims to change lives of homeless youth in North & Central America.
  • Global Citizens: She attended Global Citizen Festival to promote the organization. They help educate every child worldwide
• Brands she has promoted/ has appeared in commercials for are:
  • Cetaphil (Moisturizing Lotion)
  • Neiman Marcus
• LGBT: She supports LGBT rights and has attended parades in support

Filmography

Movies List

• I'm Your Woman(2020)- Jean (also the producer)
• Ironbark(2020)- Emily Donovan
• Spies in Disguise(2019)- Wendy (voice)
• Change in the Air(2018)- Wren
• Boomtown(2017)- Jamie
• Patriots Day(2016)- Jessica Kensky
• Burn Country(2016)- Sandra
• The Finest Hours(2016)- Bea Hansen
• Louder Than Bombs(2015)- Erin
• James White(2015)- Ellen
• I'm Obsessed with You (But You've Got to Leave Me Alone)(2014)- Nell Fitzpatrick
• A New York Heartbeat(2013)- Tamara
• Beautiful Creatures(2013)- Genevieve Duchannes
• Nor'easter(2012)- Abby Green
• Coming Up Roses(2011)- Alice
• The Truth About Average Guys(2009)- Molly
• The Unborn(2009)- Lisa

TV Series List

• 50 States of Fright (2020) (TV Series - short)
• Elena of Avalor (2019-) (TV Series short)- Princess Chloe
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-2019) (TV Series)- Miriam Maisel aka Midge
• Crisis in Six Scenes(2016)- Ellie
• Manhattan (2013-15)- Abby Isaacs
• The Dovekeepers(2015)- Yael
• House of Cards(2013-15)- Rachel Posner
• Olive Kitteridge(2014)- Patty Howe
• Black Box(2014)- Delilah Buchanan
• The Blacklist(2014)- Jolene Parker
• Orange Is the New Black(2013)- Little Allie
• Grey's Anatomy(2013)- Brian Weston
• CSI: Miami(2011)- Melanie Garland
• In Treatment(2011)
• The Good Wife(2010)- Caitlin Fenton
• Gossip Girl(2010)
• Mercy(2010)- Samantha

Stage/ Theater

• Othello(2016)- Desdemona- (New York Theatre Workshop)
• The Big Knife (2013) (stage)- Dixie Evans (The Roundabout's American Airlines Theatre, New York)
• Up (2010) (stage)- Maria (Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago)

Others

• Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People (2018) (Documentary)- Nellie Bly (voice)
• Fifteen Years Later (2018) (Short)- amy
• The Smut Locker (2014) (Short)- Jamie White
• Basically (2014) (Short)- Shandy
• Munchausen (2013) (Short)- Girl
• Care (2013) (Short)- Drea
• Adrift (2012) (Short)- Alex
• Femme (Short) (she was the executive producer, had no role in it)

Awards

• 2020: Best Actress (TV Series Musical/ Comedy) - Golden Globe Awards- Nominated for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2020: Best TV Comedy Series Actress- Critics' Choice Awards- for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2020: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor(comedy)- Screen Actors Guild- for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2020: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble(comedy)- Screen Actors Guild- for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2019: Best Actress (TV Series Musical/ Comedy)- Golden Globe Awards- WON for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2019: Best Television Comedy Series Actress- Critics' Choice Awards- WON for 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
• 2019: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor (Comedy Series)- Screen Actors Guild- WON for 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
• 2019: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble( Comedy series)- Screen Actors Guild- WON for 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
• 2019: Best Actress in a Comedy Series- Online Film & Television Association- Nomination for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2019: Best Comedy Actress- Gold Derby Television Awards- Nomination for 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
• 2019: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series- Primetime Emmy Awards- recieved nomination for 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
• 2019: Best Actress - (TV Series- Musical /Comedy)- her role in 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' was nominated
• 2018: Best Actress (TV)- Golden Globe Awards- WON for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2018: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series- Primetime Emmy Awards- WON, for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2018: Best Comedy Actress- Gold Derby Television Awards- won for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2018: Individual Achievement in Comedy- Television Critics Association- won for 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
• 2018: Best Television Comedy Series Actress- Critics' Choice Awards- her role in 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' won the award
• 2018: Best Comedy Actress- Gold Derby Television Awards- won for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• 2018: Best Actress in a Comedy Series- Online Film & Television Association- won for- 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
• 2015: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series- Primetime Emmy Awards- Nomination for her role in 'House of Cards'
• 2015: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series- Screen Actors Guild- Nomination for her role in 'House of Cards'
• 2015: Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series- Online Film & Television Association- Nomination for her role in 'House of Cards'
•  

News & Updates

• Turtle Conservancy: visited a turtle conservancy in Australia, which sue called "one of the most special experiences I can recall" in January 2020
• Variety Magazine cover: Appeared on the cover page in June 2019
• Backstage (US) magazine cover: She appeared on the cover page of magazine Backstage in December 2017
•  

Quotes

• [About Wrestling] I love it is both an individual sport as well as team sport, People ask me how I felt about being the only girl in the class, you know it is fought on weight, so there was not much disadvantage to fight with boys, it has different interesting game plays, I loved it.
• [About Wrestling] When put against me, boys would sometimes wrestle harder than they ever did in their entire life because they did not want to lose to a girl.
• [While talking about her character which is a stand-up comic] I think stand-up is more like a prolonged mental breakdown, I don't know.[She laughs]
• It was challenging to be a woman back then with all those complicated clothing, it is still challenging in different ways though.
• We feel like we are living in a bubble some times.
• [About her character which won 2018 Golden Globes] Midge is, may be the most unapologetically confident woman that I have read in a script. That scared the crap out of me and made me desperate to play her.
• I'm fortunate in my real life, that confidence is not the issue I have struggled with for any extended periods.
• I was always kind of shy, I would read a lot, and always liked doing school plays from Little Red Riding hood to Tree #4 and everything in between.
• I came close to getting a role in couple of gigs, but couldn't seal the deal, It hit my optimism, I thought I was never going to get a role.
• I believe that if you have good attitude and just don't go way, you are going to be successful.
• I'm a fully flesh, real human being, I don't remember any of the Golden Globe event, it was too much.
• I think I always knew without being able to articulate it that I loved performing, as I got older I realized I wanted to be an actress. My parents promptly fainted when they heard me.
• I have been fortunate enough to be busy.. I feel like I'm having breakthroughs over and over and over with myself and on how I'm doing things.
• There is no real one right way to doing things, everyone's path is different, it is hard to pin point a way.
• Sometimes I would feel like I'd be an utter failure, but I'd rather risk big and fail huge than try and play safe.
• I have been lucky enough to be working and I want to keep it that way.
• Drama was all I ever wanted to do. There was no plan B!
• I need to do more on stage. I've got to get my fix!
• [During her 2019 Award reception] Jason, I love you. I wouldn't be here at all without you. Thank you so much
• Weird is the new cool.

Sources

1. Rachel Brosnahan Wiki
2. Rachel visits Turtles
3.