Rachel Skarsten, at just 17 years old,
was already an accomplished actress, musician and athlete,
when she starred as Dinah, a beautiful but troubled teenage
runaway who came to New Gotham in the action-adventure series
Birds of Prey.
Born and raised in Toronto, Ont., Rachel is of Norwegian
descent and is fluent in Norwegian. She is an avid dancer
and studied ballet with Toronto's Royal Academy of Dance
where she performed in productions of such classic ballets
as Peter Pan and Romeo and Juliet. Her love
of the arts led her to study instrumental music at Toronto's
prestigious Claude Watson Art School where she was the featured
cellist in the orchestra. She still plays the cello almost
every day and is also a pianist and a singer.
A relative newcomer to the industry, Rachel was discovered
by a talent agent who saw a tape of her singing at an event
honoring her father. On her very first professional audition,
she landed a national commercial. Six months later, she
was hired to play Bess in the television series Little
Men, based on the book by Louisa May Alcott. Other credits
include the television movies Angels in the Infield
and Jewel, starring Farrah Fawcett. Rachel can also
be seen opposite Gabriel Byrne in Virginia's Run,
the story of a family recovering from the death of their
mother.
A natural athlete who loves to ski, skate, swim and ride
horses, Rachel also plays goalie for a hockey team that
won the Toronto City championships. When she has free time,
Skarsten enjoys sketching, painting and hanging out with
her friends.
Rachel lived in Toronto with her mother and brother, and
relocated to Los Angeles during production on Birds of
Prey.
