Rachel Kimsey is a regular person, just like us. Except, that she’s standing toe to toe with giants in one of the biggest throwdowns ever in the entertainment industry. 2015 was a huge year for the business of entertainment. Records were pushed past their breaking points—only to be shattered again within months.
First to break a global record was Jurassic World with the title of biggest opening weekend ever for a film, only to be fully supplanted in December by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Thing is, while these movies were setting all-time records for film, neither of them were able to pass what was being called “the biggest [global] entertainment release of 2015,” Call of Duty: Black Ops III—who held that title, taking in over $550 million in just 72 hours, until being dethroned by the juggernaut release of Fallout 4, which pulled in over $750 million in a mere 24 hours. It’s a bare-knuckle drag-out showdown for the business suits in entertainment these days.
All that, within months of each previous release this year; an exciting time indeed. In this clash of entertainment titans, there’s only one person standing in the center of it all—shoulder to shoulder with the Chris Pratts, Bryce Dallas Howards, Jeff Goldblums, Ron Perlmans, Lynda Carters, Daisy Ridleys and Harrison Fords—whose performance makes you question the nature of reality to such a degree that she practically shares the same name with her character.
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Of course I’m talking about Rachel Kimsey’s Rachel Kane in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. “She was always named Rachel Kane from the beginning,” Kimsey humbly admits. (Although, after a little poking around, I heard rumors that some time may have been taken before settling on the name—and when Kane was decided on, it may have originally been spelled differently, with a C—just sayin’.) Like Hollywood releases, maybe even more so, the success of a video game such as this is the result of a large team of contributors. However, there’s no denying that Rachel Kimsey’s portrayal of CIA Agent Rachel Kane is one of the more vital elements to the success of the immersive experience this game provides.
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“Black Ops III, builds off of elements of Black Ops II but also stands on its own. Rachel Kane makes her first appearance [in Black Ops III] and I’m all over it.” Although Kimsey didn’t appear in that previous one either, this isn’t the first time she’s answered the. . . call of duty. “Well, this is the first time you’re seeing me in Call of Duty. I worked on Call of Duty: Ghosts with Infinity Ward; I worked on the DLCs doing a lot of really fun voice work.” Which wasn’t her first digital rodeo either. “I’m pretty sure my face and body scans from the Spider-Man 2 film actually ended up getting used in the Spider-Man 3 video game, for which I also provided voice work but it was for another character, Betty Brant—I think my face and body were paired with somebody else’s voice. So this is the first time my face and my voice have been matched together in a game—and, of course, being a principal member of the campaign it’s. . . I mean, it’s just the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. It’s so much fun.”
Her entire performance is motion captured and paired with 3D model scans of her body, her voiceover is delivered through her tracked and recorded facial expressions so that every aspect of the CIA agent in the game is Kimsey. She performs Rachel Kane perfectly in the she-is-totally-on-our-side-right? storyline, providing a deeper level of realism that has players questioning their allegiances. “I have a lot of fancy contracts saying that I can neither confirm nor deny any of these plot conjectures. I can say, listen to all my advice in the game because I give really good advice. I’m on your side, people.” Really?—so it’s a bad idea to cross Agent Kane? “It’s just a foolish choice—you should be looking out for yourself better than that.” So the CIA helps those who help themselves? “It’s simple—you can win or you can ignore my advice.” She smirks. Dang it!
Rachel Kimsey’s just like us, except that she’s cooler. As the day approached for our scheduled interview I had some plans on where we might sit quietly and talk—maybe something covered in ivy with tea and VIP areas. Hollywood types are fancy, right? She had some plans of her own, requesting that we meet up in a quirky comic book shop in Studio City. She’s beaten me there so that when I walk in the door—knocking the bell above it—she pops up from behind a rack and peers at me over her already impressive armful of comics. “I’m working on a couple of projects that I cannot wait until my non-disclosure agreement gives me permission to disclose,” she gasps desperately through grinding teeth, “because they’re really really exciting.” The tortured declaration has left her nearly breathless but she soldiers on, “I really do think they’ll be just as exciting for the audience as they are for me.” She presses her lips together in an effort to stop before she says something she shouldn’t—and then blurts out, “So much fun!” The eavesdropping comic book guy behind the counter looks disappointed—he’s already recognised her from her time playing “Michelle,” a disguise of Candice Wilmer, on Heroes and wants the scoop on what’s next for Kimsey.
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To contrast or provide better perspective for the unspeakable excitement just around the corner she offers a little history in her own creative development. “There was a time I used to feel really jealous of other kinds of artists. I know it’s really hard to make a living as a dancer but at least you can always dance. Maybe no one’s ever going to buy your paintings but if you’re a painter, you can always paint. Maybe nobody buys your book but you can always write. But I’m an actor and you can’t act in a vacuum—you can’t act by yourself—you have to have an audience to be an actor because acting is all about connection. I used that thinking as an excuse to let myself off the hook for not showing up for myself—not being in my own creativity—because, the truth is, there’s a whole lot more than saying words in front of an audience that makes you an actor. I can be in class, I can be reading screenplays, I can be writing down ideas, I can be producing a web series or short film—even make my own movies nobody ever sees and edit them with free software that came on my phone; with a camera and lens that’s better than the cameras that I bought back in the day because I was going to make things. I realized it was just an excuse, it was an excuse to let me off the hook because I was sad I wasn’t making anything and I didn’t have the guts to step up and fix it. Redefining it makes everything feel different—you gotta be a maker. You can be a maker no matter what income is paying your bills; your income doesn’t have to define you. You can start small; just start. Define yourself, make stuff, make things—be a maker. It’s awesome. You don’t have to be ‘cooler’ than you are, just do what you do.”
Anywhere in Studio City, as the name implies, is a stone’s throw from many of the major studios Hollywood is famous for. The actress’ natural habitat for “doing what she does.” In fact, one memorable time I had the opportunity to talk with her about her work, she was just such a rock toss away from where we now stood. Across the cement shores of the “Los Angeles River”—(yes, that’s the actual name of the large cement drainage ditch that’s usually no more than a dainty creek) on the other side of the very same street, in a Universal backlot—she was being ripped out of a train by Doctor Octopus in the film Spider-Man 2.
You see, Rachel Kimsey is just like us, except that she’s tougher. With her comic book collection now properly augmented it’s finally time for us to move on to a quiet coffee shop where we can sit and. . . “There’s a Mexican place down the street I’ve been meaning to try. I hear they have fires in the patio area and a salsa that’ll Ark-of-the-Covenant your face off,” she offers. I’m actually surprised she doesn’t punctuate the pitch by pulling out Dr. Jones’ bullwhip and giving it a good crack. The exciting stories continue even as we navigate down Ventura Boulevard.
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Building an unshakable performance foundation with years of studying Shakespeare, she went on to train in stage combat, then elaborate stunt choreography and eventually martial arts. Her ever developing skills led to an extended stint working in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Stunt Show at LeoFoo Village in Taiwan where she would brawl cowboys, get shot “dead” and tumble off of buildings for eight shows a day, six days a week, delighting excited audiences. After all that, facing off against ghosts, ghouls and “Old Man Jenkins!” as Daphne in the Broadway touring company’s production of Scooby Doo Live! in Stagefright across the US (with dates in Las Vegas and, what is now, the Dolby Theatre in LA) was a walk in the park. Naturally, she was the easy choice for casting directors in search of a special someone to face off against Doc Ock.
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Her dedication to physical performance paid off a few years later when—after a motorcycle accident required a series of surgeries over several years to rebuild the bone in her leg—she would rely on that strength to fuel her recovery. Again, not content to merely complete her own physical therapy, she became fascinated with body mechanics and went on to study even further; picking up certifications along the way and even offering specialized training to those who were interested in what she was learning. As she began to refocus on acting again, she would find that her time spent studying therapies and teaching physical training would pay off once more—in an unexpected way.
“When I was working on [Call of Duty:] Ghosts, I would get into the booth and the director would say, ‘Okay, so here’s the situation; you’re the only woman on the field, the field’s full of men. There’s lots of ambient noise, it’s really loud and distracting—things are banging and exploding, noise all over the place—and you need to get the attention of this small group of men about twenty to thirty feet away from you. Go!’ Oh!—it’s just like teaching Crossfit every day! Music’s too loud, everyone’s doing this really intense thing, I have to make sure they can hear me really clearly through the noise about thirty feet away. . . Got it! So it turns out, years of teaching taught me the skills to support my voice and make a sound that could cut through noise—‘cause just getting louder didn’t work without shredding your throat. Turns out that’s exactly the sound you need to be a soldier on the battlefield in a video game.”
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Now, what about the new character in the new game? “Who is Rachel Kane? First, for there to be a game, somebody has to give you the operation. Who gives those operations?—the CIA. Well, I’m CIA Agent Rachel Kane, so come along with me—like I said, I’ve got some real good advice on how to survive.” There must be more to her than that, right? “The part was really well written and there was a lot of thought and a lot of care that went into the story. I was told early on that, ‘You’re not a damsel in distress; you’re going to hold your own on the battlefield and it’s going to be really clear that you belong there and have every right to be there right from the beginning.’ So before I’d seen any pages or knew what we would be up to, I started thinking about my character like, ‘I am capable, strong, prepared and active on behalf of myself and my team members. I can rise to any occasion.’ Keeping that in mind helped me shape the core and motivation for the character.”
Director Adam Rosas, Ben Browder (Player), Rachel Kimsey (Rachel Kane), Noshir Dalal (Khalil), Sean Douglas (Hendricks)
Arriving at the Mexican restaurant, the host offers us a table inside since it’s chilly out but she squints at him to better judge the situation. “Do you have anything outside?—by the fire?” He glances my way and I joke that we’re not afraid to heat things up. “You know what else heats things up?” she adds. “Face melting salsa. Let’s do this!”
Rachel Kimsey is just like us, except that she’s way better looking. Our exuberantly awkward joky-finger-gun waiter’s attempts to “casually” uncover her relationship status are a natural and common testament to her allure. Comparing the end result Agent Kane character—built from precise scans, image captures and photo reference texture-mapping that the designers made of her—next to Rachel Kimsey in the flesh, you’ll notice that they decided to subtly tone down her natural beauty. Were they trying to keep players, like our waiter, from getting distracted? Did they want her looking a bit more rough and tumble; worn around the edges? Or is it simply that it’s not yet possible to technologically capture all of her appeal in a digital bottle?
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Maybe it’s something that only her fans will take issue with because it seems to be a non-issue for her. “I just noticed that—I think—they adjusted my eye color or something,” she mutters, taking a moment to consider the question. Yes, that’s one of the adjustments. I suppose an argument could be made that the digital scanners aren’t yet able to pick up her additional glow of inner beauty that shines through all the more when she drops wisdom on you like this—
Our salsas arrive—with chips, tacos and other delights to test them on—but she’s still reflecting on a point she wants to make, gazing into the flames near our table. “I can’t even tell you how many friends of mine have the story of, ‘I went through a terrible breakup and my life was falling apart and I got this audition that they tell me I nailed—because I got the job. I never would’ve gotten the job if my life wasn’t falling apart at the time because I didn’t have a filter and everything just came pouring out of me.’ Well, if you’re not in the practice of letting everything pour out of you because life is hard—because we’re sensitive artists and the world pokes at all of our soft and tender places—if you’re not in the practice of saying, ‘yes, and. . . I will show you anyway,’ then when that opportunity comes, are you going to be able to step up in that moment? Maybe not—so be in that practice.” It’s a good reminder not just for performers but for everyone who’s passionate about whatever it is they’re doing.
“It shouldn’t just be people who go through terrible breakups and whose lives are falling apart that land those good jobs! It should be people who are happy too! Everybody should be able to be able to find that place. People at rock bottom feel like they have nothing to lose and they become fearlessly raw. That level of honesty is uncommon and very attractive no matter where you are or what you do. You absolutely can do that without going through trauma, you absolutely can choose to keep the walls down—but it has to be a choice. Choosing to focus less on worrying about what you have and instead focusing on genuinely experiencing what’s currently happening can yield some amazing results. When everything is going well, you have to be willing to risk it all by letting those genuine elements come out and connect with others. If that’s not what [the casting director is] looking for, that’s okay too—you move on to the next thing. It’s going to be perfect for something.”
Truly beautiful.
She’s got me so captivated, I hardly notice that I’ve already polished off four salsa laiden tacos—face happily intact—and it’s time to wrap things up. She’s agreed to teach some private sessions in the morning and wants to be well rested. As she speeds off, vanishing into the twinkling lights of tinseltown, I can’t help but feel excited about the mysterious undisclosed projects she has lined up next—her final hint still ringing in my ears when I had pressed her for more, “I think that you and Geekscape readers in particular are really going to love it.”
The thing is, Rachel Kimsey is just like us AND she’s found herself smack-dab in the middle of a record breaking entertainment revolution worth billions and billions of dollars by doing things genuinely her own way. And that is what sets her apart. Ignore her good advice at your own peril, indeed.
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SPOILERS:
Here then are collected shots of Rachel Kimsey’s performance in cut-scenes from the game (obviously, this will be all SPOILERS for anyone who hasn’t played through yet).