Meet Rachel Agee of South Nashville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Agee.

Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us how you got started?
I had two plans for my adult life as a child. One, I wanted to change my name to Mabel and be a truck stop waitress. Or, failing that, I wanted to be an actor. I ended up leaning into the latter. Weirdly, I was too shy to audition for shows in high school, but once I got to college, I’d officially found My Thing. After college, I returned to Nashville and got plugged in as a founding member of a professional theater company, Actors Bridge Ensemble, which has been my performance home for almost 30 years. I’ve worked with most of the companies in town and branched out a bit too independent film and video projects. As a teenager, I thought the only real success measure was trophies, fame, and fortune. But as I’ve progressed through my career. I have found that, although those things would be great. What matters to me is telling stories and having the artistic freedom to branch out into writing, directing, one-woman shows, and helping playwrights develop new plays, all the things that I never really even knew were an option for me. My measure of success now is mostly, “am I having fun?” And also, “am I telling stories that are worth telling? What am I communicating to people? Am I helping other artists? Is what I’m doing worthwhile?” I think every actor I know went through a kind of night of the soul during the pandemic when the public performance came to a standstill. Still, I’m relieved and beyond happy that I can honestly say I’m feeling more than ever creatively fulfilled and like I’m right on time.

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?
My parents loved me and have proven that by coming to most of my shows over the years, even though they are not “theater people.” But in those early years, I found that it often felt harder than it had to because they didn’t want to encourage me in art because they wanted me to be safe and insured and have the money for rent. So early on, I didn’t pursue it the way I was dying because I was susceptible to their guidance and input (away from art.) It took a lot of work and growth to push past that. Also, I’m not your Standard Actress, Size 2. As a performer in a larger body. That has sometimes limited the kinds of roles I’ve been considered for. I’ve been doing character roles since I was 19 years old. But honestly, it’s also meant that the kinds of roles I’ve been allowed to play have been murderers, prostitutes, religious zealots, mentally unstable people, and generally more interesting characters. I’ve also been allowed to do much more comedy, which is an absolute joy. Nothing is better than making an audience laugh.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m most proud of my work helping other artists get plugged in, playwrights developing plays and doing their first public readings, and the risks I’ve taken with my writing. My personal opinion about art is that it is always about relationships. With yourself, and whether you like it or not, with others. My favorite role was Nate Eppler’s play The Ice Treatment, about a Tonya Harding-Esque former skating Olympian who turned her fall from grace into a movie pitch (this was several years before I, Tonya, for the record!) Nate, a spectacular writer, won a huge playwriting award for that script, and it was beautiful and funny and required me to be the most vulnerable and powerful I’ve ever been onstage. I learned a lot from that process, and it was such an honor to be in the room helping him develop that play over the years. That was probably my most well-known role in the town, and I think most people who follow me do so for that and the comedy roles.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Flexibility and the ability to adapt to change, if you’re not adapting and changing, you’re dying. And I don’t think you can tell relevant stories in effective ways. Stage especially is undergoing a lot of big changes in recent years, both socially and technically, redefining what it is and how people experience it. More people who in the past never had a chance at certain roles are now getting those opportunities; there’s much more diversity in stories. I love it! I love incorporating technology and other media; puppetry, music, dance, video; Bring it all to me. It’s way more interesting and reaches a much broader audience.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelwafflesagee/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FakeRachelAgee