Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Coopes.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Rachel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Well to go way back, I’ve always been the artsy-fartsy kid with a wild imagination — you know, the one who always gets crafting kits for her birthday, or bosses her neighborhood friends around to reenact scenes from Harry Potter or Spy Kids. On top of that, I’ve also been a competitive dancer since I was very young, and let me tell you, performing was my thing. I was never the dancer in the company with the greatest technique or tricks, but I could make an audience cry at the drop of a hat. So very early on, I recognized, and fell in love with, my ability to move people.
Jump to many years later and I graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health Education. I had been dancing for such a long time and new so many people that had gone through WMU’s Dance Dept., that I had known for a very long time that I would do the same. However, I still knew in the back of my mind, that although my technique and physicality of dance had gone through the roof, the part that I loved most was portraying a story, acting out a character…moving people.
Through a series of too-perfect events, I moved to LA after graduating. One of my first auditions in LA was for a dance project, where I ended up receiving the part of the lead character…not just the lead dancer but also the lead actor– turns out, this would be my first jump into some very heavy acting. I did the whole “fake it til you make it” thing, as any trained dancer would do, and to this day, I’m not sure if anyone on that project knows that I had never acted before.
That project was such an amazing welcome to LA, and really the transition I needed. It was like “here’s your comfort zone, now here’s what needs to come out” and from that moment I thought “this is what I want to do” and haven’t looked back.
Has it been a smooth road?
Yes and no. I tend to think that when things fall into place so perfectly, it’s a sign from the universe that you’re on the right path, and I’ve had many of those moments. For example, the moment I had that tiny voice in my head say “what about LA?” I had a friend (who lived in LA) call me, just to catch up….which, now that I think of it was so random, because we hadn’t really talked much since college. After hearing about each others’ lives, she mentioned she was going to be needing a roommate… the same month that I was finishing my internship. We talked further, turns out I would also be getting most of her old roommate’s furniture AND her side gig as a nanny. So, the moment I thought about moving to LA, I already had an apartment with a friend from college, furniture, AND a job. See why it was such an easy decision?
I’ve had many more of those moments since moving to LA, but nothing quite as in-my-face as that initial one. But on the other hand, it hasn’t been smooth sailing the entire time. Like anyone trying to “make it” in the entertainment industry, there are peaks and valleys, ebbs and flows, lots of auditions and then crickets. But I’ve learned to just keep my mind open and receive any lessons the universe is trying to give me along the way. Something I’ve always struggled with is patience, and I could easily let myself get really frustrated with not getting where I want to be fast enough. But instead, I’m making myself focus on the long-game, accept the time it takes to build a career with grace, and allow the lesson of patience to sink in because I know it will serve me later down the road. I think as long as you can be a student of life and what it gives you, you’ll always be learning and growing for the better.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
There’s so much to love about LA. I think what I love most is that there are so many creative people here. You could walk down a street and chances are, many of the people you’d pass are an artist in some way- whether they’re an actor, musician, director, cinematographer, photographer, choreographer, designer, etc. It just feels like my kinda people.
Besides that, I love that there are so many opportunities and things to do in LA. Obviously auditions are here, the entertainment industry is here. But there’s so much more…you could never be bored. You could probably go to a different restaurant every weekend for years and never have to repeat, haha. On top of that, between the hiking trails, beaches, and fun events, there’s always something to do.
The only thing I hate about LA – traffic.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelcoopes/
Image Credit:
Kristina Saryan
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