Meet Nili Rain Segal | Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nili Rain Segal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nili Rain, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think about risk in the same way I think about luck: it will only work out in your favor if you are prepared for when the right opportunity comes around. If you’re as prepared as possible by doing your research, putting in the time and being mentally ready, then the risk you’re taking only requires patience until you are met with the right opportunity, and then it will pay off. I’ve taken several big risks throughout my career as an actor, such as quitting my day job, maxing out credit cards for classes, and turning down lucrative job offers in other fields. Sometimes I’ve seen a huge pay off immediately, but other times it has taken years before I see any results in terms of advancement in my career. In those cases when I don’t see improvement for long stretches of time after taking a big risk, that in itself helps to inform me that something I’m doing is not working and encourages me to reapproach my process. Overall, taking risks is necessary for growth and can be very exciting, but you have to be well informed before taking one, and willing/able to possibly wait a long time before seeing results.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
To have a career in acting is to commit to a lifelong, judgement free study of human behavior, both in yourself, and in others. Sometimes I get a script that makes me roll my eyes and think, “Nobody really talks like that,” or “This is such an unrealistic plot, I would never react like this.” Whenever this happens, I have to remind myself that every brain is wired differently, and if I want to stand out from the hundreds of other people auditioning for this part and represent the character honestly, I need to dig up whatever bias is preventing me from seeing this character’s point of view, and squash it out of my mind. Kind of like therapy! Except therapy is much, much cheaper than a career in acting.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite thing to do with out-of-town guests is to have a picnic and see a movie at Hollywood Forever Cemetery through Cinespia! (It’s even more fun when you don’t tell them anything about where you’re taking them and watch them slowly piece together the clues around them that they’re about to watch “The Muppet Movie” in a graveyard, hehe.) I also love taking people to get a cheese plate at Bon Vivant, ice cream at Salt & Straw, and if we stay out late, midnight pancakes at Astro Diner in Silver Lake. (In hindsight, I have the diet of a twelve-year-old, but junk food doesn’t count when you have friends in town!) The flea market in Silver Lake is also an awesome stop for extreme hipster people-watching.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family and my friends are definitely the backbone to any success that I’ve had in the past, as well as anything that may come my way in the future! I am so fortunate to have people who support and believe in me, and I would never be able to handle all the rejection and financial hardships that come with a career in acting without all of them. Of course, the OG of all these wonderful people is my Mamma, who has been schlepping me around to lessons and rehearsals since I was five. Thank you, Mamma!

Instagram: @nilirain

Other: IMDB: imdb.me/nilirain

Image Credits
Joe Hubbard, Jeanne Vienne