RACHEL NICHOLS goes in-depth in this exclusive interview talking about shooting during the pandemic lockdown and facing off against mythology, witches, and one hulking DEMIGOD. Animated and passionate about this role and her work as an actor, it’s easy to see why her performances are so good, so intense, so believable. Rachel loves what she does.
You know Rachel from her many memorable television characters over the years, among them “Rachel Gibson” in ALIAS, “Ashley Seaver” in CRIMINAL MINDS, “Jamie Killian” in CHICAGO FIRE, “Nicole Noone in THE LIBRARIANS, and “Martha” in MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, as well as her film roles in ALEX CROSS, PANDEMIC (seriously – Rachel did a film in 2016 called PANDEMIC), INSIDE, RAGE with Nicholas Cage, and two of my faves, BREACH with Bruce Willis, and CONAN THE BARBARIAN with Jason Momoa and Ron Perlman. She has tackled almost every genre on both the big and small screens and is adept at all. And now she tackles one of her most physically demanding roles and a role in which she gets to do something she has never done on film before (no spoilers though!), with Miles Doleac’s DEMIGOD.
DEMIGOD is the story of Robin who is played by RACHEL NICHOLS, a woman who spent her early years in the Black Forest of Germany with her grandfather Karl before suddenly being whisked away, never returning until now, decades later, with Karl’s passing and learning he has left his forest home and all possessions to her. What begins as a trip down memory lane as Robin talks about her childhood and Karl to her husband Leo suddenly turns a bit fearful as the couple encounters local hunter Arthur and his young daughter Amalia. But as night falls, fear turns into terror with the arrival of dark forces serving the legendary god Cernunnos and Robin realizes that the stories told her by her grandfather were not some dark Grimm fairy tales, but horrifying truths which she must now face if she, Leo, and others, are to survive the night.
Directed by MILES DOLEAC and written by Doleac and Michael Donovan Horn, DEMIGOD stars Rachel Nichols as Robin along with Miles Doleac adding actor to his many hats here as Arthur and, among others, Jeremy London, Elena Sanchez, Lindsay Anne Williams, Yohance Miles, Manon Pages, Sarah Fisher, Christian Stokes, Tatiana Piper, and Rachel Ryals.
Making the filming of DEMIGOD interesting is that the film was shot during the pandemic during lockdowns with extreme protocols in place, creating new challenges not only for Doleac and his creative department heads but for the actors as well. Shot in a secluded wilderness area of Little Black Creek in Mississippi during November and December 2020, Rachel goes in-depth talking about the isolation and how it affected performance and production, Covid safety protocols, the challenges presented with cold night temperatures, working with this ensemble, the physicality of her role, finding the strength within Robin and bringing that to life, capturing the chemistry of herself and young Rachel Ryals who share some powerful screen time together, the appeal of the role and the film as a whole, the importance of a director whom you believe in and trust, and more. Rachel also takes a little trip down memory lane talking about some of her other roles as well as her career trajectory and what’s next on her plate.
TAKE A LISTEN. . .
by debbie elias, exclusive interview October 13, 2021
