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Who is Rachel Blanchard?
Canadian actress Rachel Elise Blanchard was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 19 March 1976, meaning that Pisces is her zodiac sign. She has 63 acting credits, and is perhaps known best for playing Susannah in the romantic drama “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, which has aired 15 episodes since it premiered in 2022. It stars Jackie Chung and Lola Tung, was created by Jenny Han, and follows two brothers who are in love with the same girl.
Rachel’s currently focused on shooting new episodes of the mentioned series, and thus hasn’t taken on other projects.
Education and early life
Rachel was raised alongside her brother and sister in Toronto, by their businessman father and high school teacher mother; she hasn’t disclosed her parents’ names, because they prefer to be left out of media.
Rachel fell in love with acting at a very early age, and was only eight when she made her debut TV series appearance, playing Melanie in the 1984 episode “Liz Sits the Schlegels” of the family drama “The Kids of Degrassi Street”.
She studied at the all-girls school Havergal College, and was into several activities during her time there, as she practiced creative writing, appeared in school plays and ran track. Rachel matriculated in 1994, and then enrolled at Queen’s University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1998.
Roles in TV series
Rachel played Lisa Farrell in two episodes of the 1985 family adventure “The Littlest Hobo”, and from 1988 through 1990, she was Debi McCullough in 25 episodes of the action adventure horror “War of the Worlds”, which stared Lynda Mason Green and Jared Martin, and was created by Greg Strangis. It follows a war between humans and Martians, and the series was nominated for a 1990 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Genre Television Series.
From 1990 through 1993, Rachel portrayed Kristen in 26 episodes of the fantasy horror “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, which starred Daniel DeSanto and Ross Hull, and was created by Ned Kandel and D. J. MacHale. It follows a group of teenagers as they’re telling scary stories in the woods, and the series won six of its 17 award nominations. Some of Rachel’s notable performances in the remainder of the ‘90s were in the family drama “Chris Cross”, the family comedy “Flash Forward”, and the comedy “Clueless” (lead role).
From 2002 through 2004, she portrayed Roxanne Richardson in 41 episodes of the popular family comedy “7th Heaven”, which starred Catherine Hicks and Stephen Collins, and was created by Brenda Hampton. It follows the lives of Minister Eric Camden, his wife and their seven children – the series aired from 1996 through 2007, and won 24 of its 81 award nominations. The remainder of the 2000s ,saw Rachel play supporting characters in the romantic comedy “Joey”, the comedy “Peep Show”, and the musical comedy “Flight of the Conchords”.
One of Rachel’s most recent TV series roles has been starring as Emma Trakarsky in all 50 episodes of the popular romantic comedy “You Me Her”, which also starred Priscilla Faia and Greg Poehler, and was created by John Scott Shepherd. It follows a romantic relationship between a married couple and a woman, the series aired from 2016 through 2020, and won two of its 19 award nominations.
Roles in movies
Rachel’s debut film role was playing Wendy in the 1986 biographical drama “Alex: The Life of a Child”, and some of her following roles were in the 1988 drama “Glory Enough for All”, the 1990 fantasy comedy “Clarence” and the 1991 drama “On My Own”.
She appeared in only three other movies in the ‘90s, and what marked the decade for her was perhaps portraying Monica in the 1999 science fiction horror “The Rage: Carrie 2”, which starred Jason London and Emily Bergl, and was directed by Robert Mandel and Katt Shea. It follows a group of high school students as they’re taunting an outcast teenage girl, without knowing that she has telekinetic powers – the film won one of its four award nominations.
Rachel could then have been seen appearing in the crime comedy “Sugar & Spice” and the romantic drama “Nailed” both in 2001, and the 2002 drama “The Wild Dogs”. In 2004, she played Flower in the popular adventure mystery comedy “Without a Paddle”, which starred Seth Green and Matthew Lillard, and was directed by Steven Brill. It follows three men whose friend has just died, which has led them to embark on an adventure together. Some of Rachel’s following roles were in the 2005 crime mystery thriller “Where the Truth Lies”, the 2006 romantic comedy “Comeback Season”, and the 2008 comedy “Growing Op”.
She played Sharon in the 2013 drama “Scrapper”, which starred Aidan Gillen and Michael Beach, and was written and directed by Brady Hall. It follows the life of scrapper Hollis Wallace, and the movie was nominated for three awards.
Some of Rachel’s most recent film roles have been in the 2014 thriller “Dark Hearts”, the 2020 comedy “Getting to Know You” and the 2022 mystery thriller “Deep Water”.
Other credits
Rachel received special thanks for the 2006 documentary movie “This Film Is Not Yet Rated”, and the 2010 comedy movie “Boy”.
Some of her recent talk-show appearances have been in “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”, “Sidewalks Entertainment” and “Celebrity Page”.
Awards and nominations
Rachel won a 2011 Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role for “Call Me Fitz”.
She’s been nominated for two other awards: a 1993 Young Artist Award for Outstanding Performers in a Childrens Program, for “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” (shared with colleagues) and a 2007 Monte-Carlo TV Festival Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actress – Comedy Series, for “Peep Show”.
Love life and relationships
Rachel and her husband Jeremy Turner avoid speaking about their love life in public, and thus not many details about their marriage have been disclosed. He’s an American multi-instrumentalist, conductor and composer, and has been nominated for two Emmys; Jeremy’s composed music for more than 30 movies and TV series, with one of the most popular amongst these having been the 2017 biographical historical documentary mini-series “Five Came Back”, which won two of its nine award nominations.
Rachel and Jeremy haven’t disclosed the date of their wedding, but most of their fans believe that they married sometime in the mid-2010s.
Rachel’s yet to speak about the men whom she’d been with prior to meeting Jeremy; she’s married to Jeremy Turner as of June 2023, and they don’t have children together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Rachel’s brother Jarred Blancard is also an actor; he has 20 acting credits, and is perhaps still known best for playing Jake in the 1996 crime adventure movie “The Boys Club”, which was nominated for five awards.
She had to dye her hair red for the 2000 comedy movie “Road Trip”.
Rachel likes to play sports with her friends, and her favorite is ice hockey.
One of her best friends is Australian actress Melissa George.
In 2002, the magazine “FHM” ranked her #37 on its list ‘100 Sexiest Girls’.
Rachel’s a huge dog-lover, and has a pet bull terrier Wilbur.
People occasionally mistake Rachel for actress Heather Graham.
One of her favorite actresses is Keira Knightley, and some of her favorite movies include “Anna Karenina”, “Pride & Prejudice”, and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Rachel’s age is 47. She has blue eyes and blonde hair, is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall and weighs around 140lbs (63kgs).
Rachel’s net worth’s been estimated at over $2 million, as of June 2023.
