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Rachel Shelley is the British actress who portrays Milah on ABC's Once Upon a Time.
Biography
Rachel Shelley was born August 25, 1969 in the town of Swindon, Wiltshire. She has lived in various places in England and abroad. At university, she studied in Sheffield and graduated with a BA in honors for English and Drama.[1]
Rachel was a well established actress in the United Kingdom with successful movies under her belt, such as Photographing Fairies with Ben Kingsley, Everybody Loves Sunshine with David Bowie, and Lagaan, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film. In 2004, she auditioned and received the part of Helena Peabody in the hugely successful lesbian drama series The L Word. She joined a well established cast for the second series as the daughter of a multi-millionaire art collector[1] for a long running fifty-four episodes. Afterwards, she nabbed a recurring role on the BBC hospital drama Casualty.
She has also been doing other projects while working on The L Word; including two episodes of Ghost Whisperer, romantic-comedy movie Gray Matters with Heather Graham and a British horror film The Day.[1]
Her interest in writing has produced, on her part, a series of three articles for British newspaper The Guardian. Written by her in 2001, Rachel gave highlights about time in India during the making of the film Lagaan followed by a 2002 article describing going to the Oscars, and the third was released in 2005 in sharing her experiences on The L Word.[1] She has also written monthly columns for DIVA Magazine.[2]
Rachel is currently in a relationship with novelist and director Matthew Parkhill, and lives with him in their London home. They have one daughter.[3]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Broken Heart | Isabel | Short film |
| 1997 | Photographing Fairies | Mrs. Anne-Marie Castle | |
| 1999 | B.U.S.T.E.D | Clare | |
| 1999 | Lighthouse | Dr. Kirsty McCloud | |
| 2000 | Canone inverso - making love | Jeno's Mother | |
| 2000 | The Calling | Shelly Woodcock | |
| 2001 | Lagaan | Elizabeth Russell | |
| 2003 | The Bone Snatcher | Mikki | |
| 2004 | Seeing Other People | Lauren | |
| 2006 | Gray Matters | Julia Barlett | |
| 2008 | The Children | Chloe |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Royce | Alana Maxwell | TV movie |
| 1997 | The New Advertures of Robin Hood | Boadicea | Episode: "Heroes" Episode: "The Birthday Trap" |
| 1997 | Wycliffe | Sarah | Episode: "Dance of the Scorpions" |
| 1997 | Bugs | Jenna Spinks | Episode: "Renegades" |
| 1997 | Highlander: The Series | Sophie Baines | Episode: "Avatar" |
| 1998 | The Bill | Maggie Hamilton | Episode: "For Your Love" |
| 2001 | Baddiel's Syndrome | Marcia | Episode: "Huffa" Episode: "Hair Today" |
| 2001 | Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story | Harmonia | TV movie |
| 2002 | Heartbeat | Sue Dixon, aka Denise Hurley | Episode: "Sympathy for the Devil" |
| 2002 | The American Embassy | Mandy | Episode: "Long Live the King" |
| 2002 | Coupling | Samantha | Episode: "Remember This" |
| 2002 | Cruise of the Gods | Yasmina | TV movie |
| 2002 | The Dinosaur Hunters | Mary Mantell | TV movie |
| 2003 | Sparkling Cyanide | Rosemary Barton | TV movie |
| 2003 | Miss Match | Rebecca Hanley | Episode: "Something Nervy" |
| 2003 | Licensed by Royalty | Linda Kubrick | TV series |
| 2005-2009 | The L Word | Helena Peabody | 54 episodes |
| 2006 | Ghost Whisperer | Kate Payne (uncredited) | Episode: "Cat's Claw" |
| 2007 | Ghost Whisperer | Kate Payne | Episode: "Speed Demon" Episode: "The Collector" |
| 2008 | Under | Det. Underhill | TV movie |
| 2008 | Ghost Whisperer | Kate Payne | Episode: "Deadbeat Dads" |
| 2011 | Episodes | Kendra | Episode: "Four" |
| 2011 | Strike Back | Maggie | Episode: "Project Dawn #5" Episode: "Project Dawn #6" |
| 2012 | Casualty | Supt Yvonne Rippon | 10 episodes |
| 2012–Present | Once Upon A Time | Milah | 3 episodes |
Appearances
| Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
| "Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| "In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
| Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Once Upon a Time: Season Five | |||||||||||
| "The Dark Swan": | "The Price": | "Siege Perilous": | "The Broken Kingdom": | "Dreamcatcher": | "The Bear and the Bow": | "Nimue": | "Birth": | "The Bear King": | "Broken Heart": | "Swan Song": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Archive | Absent | |
| "Souls of the Departed": | "Labor of Love": | "Devil's Due": | "The Brothers Jones": | "Our Decay": | "Her Handsome Hero": | "Ruby Slippers": | "Sisters": | "Firebird": | "Last Rites": | "Only You": | "An Untold Story": |
| Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
| "Magic is Coming": | "The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
| Absent | Archive | Archive | Archive | Absent | ||||||
| "Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
| Absent | Absent | Archive | Absent | |||||||
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
External links
Rachel Shelley on Internet Movie Database
- @rachelshelley (Rachel Shelley) on Twitter
- Rachel Shelley on Wikipedia
References
