Upon Unstable's return to Netflix, Rachel Marsh is catching fans' attention as she becomes the subject of online information searches.
Returning for Season 2 on August 1, Unstable highlights a father/son duo played by Rob Lowe and his real-life son, John Owen Lowe. Rob's Ellis runs a high-tech bio-research company as he reels from losing his wife before his son begins working for him, leading to a major clash of personalities.
Included in the cast is 31-year-old Rachel Marsh, who comes to the series from Seattle, Washington.
5 Things To Know About Unstable's Rachel Marsh
Rachel Marsh Grew up in Seattle
Marsh developed a deep love and attachment to her home city, Seattle.
Speaking with the Seattle Times, she even admitted she may still be in the Northwest United States today if it were not for her acting career.
Her favorite thing is to be "at the beach in Seattle," which she enjoys far more than those in Los Angeles:
"Being at the beach in Seattle is my favorite thing. I even love Seattle beaches more than the ones in Los Angeles. I just love Seattle. There is no doubt in my mind that it’s the better city in every way. The only reason I’m in Los Angeles is for the acting. That has helped me hustle because I’m here for a reason."
She also discussed her hometown and heritage with Mixed Asian Media, explaining how her father is Filipino Hawaiian and moved to Seattle after the Vietnam War:
I am from the suburbs a little north of Seattle. I'm from a small town called Bothell, well it's not that small, but you've probably never heard of it. I'm half Filipino, half white. My dad's Filipino Hawaiian, so he grew up in Hawaii and then moved to Seattle. He was in the Vietnam War, went to Seattle after the war, and met my mom. I have a brother, sister, and a nephew, and we're all half Filipino."
After her mother passed when she was 13 years old, her father's traditions helped influence her upbringing, identifying "more with Hawaiian culture than Filipino culture sometimes:"
"My mom passed when I was 13, so we kind of grew up with my dad and his traditions, cooking, and all of his Hawaiian influences. I feel like I identify more with Hawaiian culture than Filipino culture sometimes. He didn't speak Tagalog to us growing up. He kind of spoke a mixture of Tagalog, Pidgin, and something that's like his own language."
Rachel Got Into Acting Through High School Theater
Before making it big in Hollywood, Marsh got her first experience with theater at a 5th Avenue Theater performance of Annie in Seattle.
Sitting "in the nosebleed section," this was her first time learning about actors and "realizing that it was a profession" as she watched the show, according to the Seattle Times:
"I went to see 'Annie.' Me and my mum were up in the nosebleed section. We had binoculars. That was the first time I remember thinking of what an actor was and realizing that it was a profession."
This did not lead her to want to be an actor immediately, however, as she first got into cheerleading when she was young:
"My entertainment was cheerleading. I grew up being a cheerleader and doing competitive cheer. That was my introduction to performing."
She finally got the acting bug when she joined her high school theater program, but at first, she only joined the group "because [her] friends were doing it." Her high school put a great deal of effort into the theater program, which helped Marsh fall further in love with being an actor:
"The school really valued theater. That really made me fall in love with acting."
Even with that love, she did not think she wanted to be an actor until she moved to Los Angeles to study marketing and realized she "really didn’t want to do marketing:"
"It wasn’t a profession that I knew at all. Only when I moved to Los Angeles to study marketing, and realizing that I really didn’t want to do marketing, did I consider that."
Rachel Had MANY Jobs Before Acting Full-Time
Initially doing theater for fun, Marsh told Mixed Asian Media she never considered acting a career move. Instead, she moved to Los Angeles and majored in business before wanting to "pursue the nonprofit world:"
"As I went into high school, I started doing theatre, just for fun. I never really thought it was like a career choice though. I thought in very binary terms at that point in my life, and I wanted to pursue the nonprofit world. I moved to L.A., went to school here, was a business major, and thought I was gonna influence the world in that way."
Along with trying out "acting and improv classes," she worked various other jobs, some she liked and some she disliked. This included marketing, nonprofits, co-owning a coffee shop, and even a stint in the wedding industry:
"Then I started working in marketing and just really hated it. I saw the people that were happy in L.A. were all in the industry and doing something they were really passionate about. I was like, 'I really wanna try that. I wanna try performing again.' So I took some acting and improv classes, pursued it really heavily, and ended up here. I've had so many different careers. I worked in nonprofit, I worked in marketing, I co-owned a coffee shop. Oh gosh, I worked in the wedding industry. There are so many things I did before acting."
Rachel Was Immediately Drawn To Unstable
Marsh appears in all 16 episodes of Unstable as Luna, a scientist who works for Ellis Dragon at his Red Lab company.
Speaking to the Seattle Times about her role, she quickly realized that "the character was someone who [she] felt close to" once she read the script. That script reminded her of other workplace comedies like 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation.
Also referencing Saturday Night Live as an influence on her, she recalled wanting to be a guest star on shows like that. As she dove deeper into her character in Unstable, she knew "it was exactly the job [she] wanted" for years:
"This made it so surreal when I was actually filming the show. I grew up on watching Rob in 'Parks and Recreation' and Fred Armisen on 'Saturday Night Live.' At first I would have just loved to be a guest star. But the more I read the material and dove deeper into the character, I knew it was exactly the job I wanted for a long time."
Rachel Wants a Career Like Modern Family's Julie Bowen
Discussing her future in the industry with Mixed Asian Media, Marsh's big priority is to "get as much experience as possible" in front of the camera, particularly in comedies:
"My number one priority is just to get as much experience as possible. It's like a dream to get paid acting, because so many people don't get to do that. I love comedies, I wanna work in comedy forever."
She specifically mentioned the career of Julie Bowen from Modern Family, expressing an admiration for the way she "found herself so early on in her career:"
"A career that I really love is Julie Bowen's. She found a niche of being this really lovable character in an Adam Sandler movie, then found a home at 'Modern Family,' and she’s still working. She found herself so early on in her career, and I really admire that. I also love character actors, like Jodie Comer who's able to do both. I loved her role in 'Killing Eve.'"
Outside of comedy, she wants to "explore something kind of dramatic and nuanced," sharing her excitement for all the different opportunities that are now available:
"I would love to explore something kind of dramatic and nuanced, something that's really different from what I usually do. I feel excited about all these roles that we’re now able to audition for and are being given to us. I’m just trying to trust the process that whatever role that’s out there for me will find me. I'm not super worried."
One other genre she mentioned wanting to explore (per ELLE Canada) is the dark comedy. She specifically referenced Saturday Night Live's Kristen Wiig, noting how "no one really knew she could do something dramatic" outside of her comedy work before she proved otherwise:
"I’d love to do another project that’s really challenging but in the same world of comedy, [like] dark comedy—I’d love to do something really dramatic. I look up to a lot of people from 'SNL,' like Kristen Wiig, who everyone knows is so good at comedy but no one really knew she could do something dramatic, and then she really proved to the world that she is versatile in that way. I would love to try out a bunch of different things but keep my roots in comedy."
How To Follow Rachel Marsh Online
Those looking to follow Rachel Marsh on social media can do so on Instagram (@rachel_marsh).
Both seasons of Unstable are streaming on Netflix.
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