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Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, hey there, and welcome back. Last time, Rachel Lin and I had a fantastic conversation about her rebellious streak and how she created her own solo show. But there's still so much for us to explore. And so now Rachel is back to answer the final 5 questions. And this will give us a chance to kind of go beyond the spotlight and hear about moments and ideas that have truly defined her journey.

So Rachel, let us get going with question number 1. What do you remember most about your first professional show?

Rachel Lin:

What I remember most is, I want to say after a rehearsal. My first professional show was this Becca Brunstetter play that I talked about called Fat Kids on Fire. And I got that job my sophomore year of college off backstage. And in the cast, interestingly, was Ryan Serhant, who goes on to be like the star of Million Dollar Listing. I don't know if you know that reality TV show.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Oh, yeah.

Rachel Lin:

But he becomes like this real estate mogul. But what I remember the most is that we went to Kettle of Fish, this bar in, I want to say, like Greenwich Village, after rehearsal. And I wasn't 21 yet, so I had to sneak in with the cast. But I didn't want to be uncool. So I just, I just like was sweating bullets and like sneaking into this bar with my castmates. Right.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

I assume you got in, no problem, but you were worried the whole time?

Rachel Lin:

I got in. Yeah. But I was very worried. I was very worried and nervous that they were going to realize how young I was.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Now, was that just for, like, you know, just for legal purposes? Or was that also you didn't want to seem like different from the rest of the cast?

Rachel Lin:

Um, I think I just didn't want to seem uncool. Like, how, how lame would it be to not get into the bar where everybody's having an after-show drink?

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Now, was it a close cast? Did you enjoy working with these people?

Rachel Lin:

I did. It was a really cool cast, actually. And I didn't stay in touch with many of them. It was a long, long time ago. But, um, I remember it was like such a That's wonderful.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah, I enjoy those experiences. Yeah. When you can walk away happy with not only your performance, but happy with working with other people, that's always a good thing. Well, number 2, if you could give advice to your younger self starting out, what would that be?

Rachel Lin:

I would tell my younger self to enjoy it more, I think. Enjoy every audition. I would tell my younger self, you're not going to get the job, so don't even worry about it. Like, that's not the part.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

That's not That's so important to know. It's like, you're probably not going to get this. Realize that.

Rachel Lin:

Yeah. So that you get to just, like, you know, do the thing that you want to do rather than trying to do it the way you think they want you to do it.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

So you were not enjoying it as much as you are now?

Rachel Lin:

Definitely not. I was always like, how do I be the most perfect version of this character? Or how do I be the person that I think they want me to be? Which was That's like a dead end.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah. Once an actor takes that spotlight and turns it on themselves, like, well, wait, what is it that I want? How can I enjoy this? What is it that I want to be doing? Then I think that's when a career can really take off, when you can, you can do that and figure, figure yourself out before trying to figure some other people out.

Rachel Lin:

Exactly.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, number 3, what does success or making it mean to you?

Rachel Lin:

To me, success is all about the rooms that I'm allowed to be in or I get invited to be a part of. And so for me, success would be like being in rooms with collaborators who I respect so much and who I can learn from. I love being with artists who have a clear vision and like purpose, and we all feel like we're working on something together. That is my favorite thing.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

I love that too. Yeah. Number 4, what changes would you like to see in the industry moving forward?

Rachel Lin:

I would like to see more care for the people who make work, like really taking care and consideration for things like childcare, for things like breaks. I think, you know, there's this kind of, and maybe this is just what I came up with, like the industry, especially around actors, can sometimes make actors feel like, oh, they're so replaceable, or they're like a dime a dozen, or if you don't want the job, somebody else will. And I think that's just such a horrible mindset to breed among the people who are supposed to be like telling stories to move the culture forward. It's very hard to make work from that place. So I think just like more baseline respect for actors who— not that anybody's crying for us.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

But you bring up a good point because like, there are— there's such attention and such time put into finding an actor for a TV show, for a theater piece, whatever it is. They go through callbacks and, you know, the director's there the whole time, or, you know, someone from the creative team. You're singing songs, you're bringing this, they read this scene, you know, there's so much time that they take to find the right actor. So once they're found, treat them well. It's like, we chose you, we like you, we need you for this. Yeah.

Rachel Lin:

And treat us like, you know, we matter and we're not just, you know, like you can find another one like this, you know? Yeah.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

All right. Well, last one here. Describe a personal lesson that has taken you a while to learn or one that you're still working on to this day.

Rachel Lin:

The thing I'm always working on is trust the timing. The timing is there for a reason, and you can't push it, I don't think. It's like everything happens exactly at the right time as it's meant to, and the more you can trust it, the happier I am when I just surrender and allow rather than trying to make it happen on my timeline.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

What do you find you're most impatient about when it comes to your own work or finding work or whatever it is?

Rachel Lin:

I mean, like, there's a part of me that wishes I was like, you know, successful or like a star yesterday, right? I'm always like, oh, well, I want that job or whatever, whatever. So like, I'm impatient about getting jobs, but at the same time, like, I just know that I can't. I can't force it.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah, it will come when it comes. We can only do so much and then it's out of our hands.

Rachel Lin:

Yeah, 1000%.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, this has been so great to get to talk to you. And, and what I love about, about conversations like these is like you and I come from different backgrounds and we've, you know, you came from England and, you know, coming to New York and me from Alabama and all the different things. But I love finding these commonality things. And so it's been so wonderful to just hear you talk, but I'm like, I felt that. I've thought that. So thank you so much for the relatable story that you have and for sharing it so wonderfully.

Rachel Lin:

Oh, thank you, Patrick. And thank you for your thoughtful questions. So lovely.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

A joy. Thank you.