Whatever part he plays, Eric Rahill always commits. Whether making uproariously funny videos online or being in films like “Friendship” and shows like “I Think You Should Leave” and “The Paper,” the Edmonds-born actor has emerged as not just a sharp comedic performer, but a compelling actor. His fans even refer to his distinctly committed and often personal approach to his craft as being “Rahillian.” He is, in their eyes, truly one of one.
One of his fans? John Early. After seeing Rahill in the hilarious microbudget film “Rap World,” which centers on a group of troubled friends attempting to make a rap album in a single night, Early knew he wanted him to be a key part of his feature directorial debut, “Maddie’s Secret.”
“It’s totally liberated, that movie,” Early said, comparing Rahill’s work to the plays of renowned Russian writer Anton Chekhov. “I told him after I saw ‘Rap World,’ your performance is like Chekhov, it’s so gorgeous.”
Rahill again brings that same commitment, whether you consider it Chekhovian or Rahillian, to “Maddie’s Secret,” where he plays Jake, the supportive partner to Early’s Maddie as she becomes a popular food influencer and wrestles with personal anxieties from her past. It’s a film that’s abundantly silly, lovingly riffing on the 1986 made-for-TV movie “Kate’s Secret.” It plays like “Showgirls” for a new generation, while also seeing Rahill and the rest of the ensemble bring an enduring sincerity to the experience.
For Rahill, this earnestness goes hand-in-hand with humor and is part of what he likes about acting, which he fell in love with at Edmonds-Woodway High School. But all of his earnest, eclectic career might not have happened at all if not for one local teacher.
“I was a really shy kid,” Rahill recalled. “My freshman year I took a drama class with this teacher, Mr. Bruce Mindt, who I think is kind of the life-changer for me. He encouraged me to try out for the play production class, and I would say this is what built my whole personality. Being thrown into theater, it was the first time I really enjoyed doing something.”
At the end of high school, which included him playing the lead in Chekhov’s “Ivanov” and “taking it more seriously than I ever have anything in my entire life,” Rahill said Mindt encouraged him to pursue his passion. Rahill took his advice, studying theater at Loyola University in Chicago before turning to improv comedy and making his own short videos. Though he’s now starring in larger feature films and TV shows, he still considers performing to be about throwing yourself fully into a part.
“I have this theory about performing and comedy that it is so humiliating to be doing this stuff,” Rahill said, with a laugh. “It’s my favorite art form, I respect it so much, but it is, kind of by nature, humiliating. So if you don’t give it 1,000% and pretend like it’s real, and you give even the smallest wink, it’s like why even do it? A lot of the acting choices I make are about wanting to make it as natural as possible and as real as possible.”
Rahill considers this part of what makes “Maddie’s Secret” so special as everyone, from Early’s longtime collaborator Kate Berlant to his own “Rap World” co-star Conner O’Malley, are all fully committed to their parts. There is an archness to the film, but it’s also balanced with humanity.
“‘Maddie’s Secret’ isn’t a full parody, but there is slight parody and nods to ’80s movies like ‘Kate’s Secret’ and stuff like that. It’s an interesting balance,” Rahill said. “You have to play these characters with so much empathy.”
Looking back on it, Rahill said that, while there are fun jokes, he and Early weren’t “cackling on set” as much as they were taking their respective characters and their relationship seriously.
“Most of Maddie’s and my scenes are pretty serious. There’s not … jokes going on, it’s just like a relationship sort of falling apart,” Rahill said. “I think the second time I watched it, I feel like I was laughing less, even though it was just as funny, and it was more moving to me.”
It’s this combination of mirthful and moving that Rahill fans can expect more of soon. His next film, the stellar new Pacific Northwest-shot sci-fi rom-com “Wishful Thinking” that’s out next year for Valentine’s Day, is also about a relationship. And he’s also working on his own project.
“I would say John is a major inspiration for that (project),” Rahill said. “You take a chance on yourself. John 100% has done that on (‘Maddie’s Secret’), and it’s paid off.”
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