Today we’d like to introduce you to Nili Rain Segal.
Hi Nili Rain, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Delighted to share my journey! I’ve been pursuing a career in acting for as long as I can remember. (Picture an infant pacing back and forth, stressing over what bib to wear if a Hollywood casting director ever looked in their crib… that was essentially me.) My first play was “Little Red Riding Hood” in kindergarten, which I vividly remember feeling like an absolute pimp for playing the titular character. I loved it so much that I began auditioning for every theater production I could find in my tiny agricultural town of Watsonville, CA. (Fun fact: Watsonville grows most of the strawberries in the U.S., and is home to Martinelli’s Apple Cider! Go Watsonville! Unfun fact: no casting director has ever been to Watsonville.)
As soon as I was old enough to legally escape, I flew to New York City to attend AMDA, where I received my BFA in Music Theater. After graduating, my amazing sister helped me get an apartment in Hollywood, where I was able to use my ridiculously expensive degree to effectively sell coconuts at the farmers market! I like to think that if I had majored in neuroscience, I would have immediately died alone on the street, because I would not know how to draw in a crowd for coconut sales with my irresistible performance skills. I narrowly avoided chopping my own wrist off while opening said coconuts on a daily basis, and during the evenings I performed in show after show at a non-paying avant-garde theater to keep my acting chops on point. I also worked on staff at a commercial production company for four years, which fully drained my soul, but gave me terrific insight into the fabulous money-making field of commercials!
All of this time, I was self-submitting to as many student/indie films that I could find and sending my headshot/resume to every agent in town. Thankfully, an agent eventually got back to me, but it took a couple years before I actually booked anything with them. Because of my full-time job in production, I was usually stressed-out and under-prepared for most of my auditions, so I decided the only way to truly commit to my craft was to quit my production job. True to the saying, “leap and the net will appear,” I booked my first commercial on my very last day in the office! I continued doing as much non-union/low-paying work that I could find, and finally, after TEN YEARS of auditioning in LA, I booked a national commercial, was able to join SAG, and then immediately booked my first guest-star role on HBO. Since then, I have booked three more big commercials and am steadily getting bigger and better theatrical auditions. For the first time in my life, I can live comfortably on residuals and put all of my time and energy into auditions, and of course, continued scene study and acting classes! See? It’s a good thing I didn’t go with that neuroscience degree! I’d be dead by now.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall? And if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been easy! Assuming we’re starting at a college level, and ignoring the fact that the only line I ever had in my years of community teen theater was: “Touring company?” (Cut Dancer / A Chorus Line) …I did have a pretty rough start. My beloved aunt died the night before my AMDA classes began in New York, and less than a year later, my dad also died, making it extremely challenging to participate in the overly cheery world of musical theater that I was studying. Imagine having to sing “My Favorite Things” right after watching your favorite person die. It’s a relatively unpleasant experience. I didn’t get cast in any of our school shows.
Luckily I was either smart enough or dumb enough to continue trying in Los Angeles after proving to myself that I couldn’t beat the competition in my hometown or in my school. While I’ve had some success recently, those first few years in LA were mostly just chock-full of rejection heartbreak… The hardest of which was the silence after a callback I had for a huge series regular role on HBO. I couldn’t believe they never called me, it really felt like I had that one! Another big blow was getting dropped by my first commercial agent. Getting dropped by an agent is like being asked to prom by your crush, and then having them ask you to leave before you even get to show them your sweet moves on the dance floor.
Aside from all the other typical actor struggles, (e.g. not making rent, not getting auditions for months at a time, questioning my own abilities and self-worth,) I’ve also had a lot of positive challenges! I once had to fill in for a lead role at a 99-Seat Theater with only three days notice to learn the entire show. This was while I was working full-time in production and I honestly don’t know how I was able to memorize the entire script and blocking, especially since many of the lines were in French, which I do not speak at all. It was a miracle that I was able to pull it off, and it was the first time I’ve seen myself as an asset for someone who needs a professional actor!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m currently known for comedic improv in the commercial world, (about time all those UCB classes paid off!) I was also recently awarded “Best First-Time Screenwriter” at the Best Script Awards, along with a dozen other accolades and official selections for a screenplay I wrote during the pandemic called “Joshua’s Exceptional Pheromones”.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Actually, if anyone out there can give ME advice on networking, that would be great. Most people scare me and I am terrible at talking to strangers. I try to just find the nice people who inspire me to be creative and then I hover in the least creepy way that I can until they need something that I can help with. If anyone else has a better tactic, please share!
Contact Info:
- Email: nilirainsegal@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/nilirain/ - Other: imdb.me/nilirain/
Image Credits:
Paul Rubenstein, Elena Vensel, Cassie Kanelos, Yaki Margulies, Diogo Hausen, George Villas, Sarah Bartholomew, Kennedy Reed
