Patricia Rae

Patricia Rae might have found her perfect niche working as a successful character actor with roles running the whole gamut of film genres, but the road to Hollywood hasn't always been an easy one. If there's one actor who has definitely paid her dues, Rae, hands-down, is the one. In an industry based on fabricated reality and make-believe, Patricia Rae is the real deal! She worked persistently for well over two decades, reverently knocking doors and dedicating herself completely to her craft before seeing fruits in her acting career.

This native New Yorker of Colombian decent lived much of her professional life on the East Coast where she worked in theatre, commercials, sketch comedy, independent film and TV. Her grandmother who was running a boarding house while her mother was at work raised Rae in Queens. With her mom remarrying and sporadically relocating, Patricia quickly developed a sense of displacement which ultimately got her drawn to the art of acting for its premise relies on the ability to embrace different personalities and be transported into different locations.

And so Patricia's journey into the acting world began in elementary school when while in fourth grade, the drama teacher spotted her and requested her to be in "Oliver Twist". She then moved to Florida in her teens where she resumed her scholastic activities. Although performing poorly on an academic level, Patricia, with the support of the Drama club, was able to find a successful and comfortable niche in acting. Finding her true calling, she earned a series of awards in regional and statewide competitions with her drama troupe. A brief semester spent in a small college in St Augustine Florida, provided Patricia with an enlightening revelation: "Why waste money on getting an acting degree when you could study the curriculum in New York? Off she went to the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute where she learned the painful technique of reliving past childhood experiences.

Armed with a "thin" resume, Patricia struck gold with her first professional job securing a co-starring role opposite Don Johnson in the hit TV series "Miami Vice". Sent on the set as an extra, her inquisitive mind brought her to find out that a few supporting roles were yet to be cast. The casting crew was on the set asking actors to audition before the director. When no one approached her, Patricia took matters into her own hands and demanded to give it a try. She got the part and received her SAG card all in one day.

After years spent in New York, she then decided it was time for a change. So she took the leap and moved her family from New York to Los Angeles in search of that "breakthrough" role. Ironically, landing that role of a lifetime in "Maria Full of Grace" playing the memorable Carla sent her back to the Big Apple. Much as been said about the performances in the movie; but it was Rae's interpretation of Carla, a pregnant Colombian woman living in a tiny apartment in New York with her family, that stuck in people's minds. Her spectacularly phenomenal performance earned her a litany of accolades and a prestigious Imagen Awards nomination for "Best Supporting Role." But we wouldn't expect any less from Rae - a bigger than life character who proves that acting, beyond being a business, is most importantly an art.

This working seasoned actress was seen on the big screen in features films such as Swimfan, Nightstalker and the award-winning Maria Full of Grace. On the small screen, she also recently appeared on several hit television series including "Chuck", "The Mentalist", "The Closer", "Life" and "The Chicago Code". It goes without saying, of course, that this Latina spitfire secured the job the unconventional way – yet it was nevertheless all based on the merit of her immense talent and that one "Full of Grace" role that has unforgettably, visually carved itself a place in cinematic history for delivering one of the film's most famously memorable scenes.

Millenium Films