Rhea Seehorn, the actress of the series “Better call Saul” has gradually ended up winning the hearts of fans of the “Breaking bad” spin-off. So much so that the plot of her in the Netflix and AMC show has become more intriguing than that of the same protagonist Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk. But what few know is that the path of this new TV star was not easy and that, long before becoming an actress, she earned a living cleaning bathrooms.
As well as her role as a lawyer, Seehorn has had to face difficult situations which she got out of thanks to her persistence. As Odenkirk once pointed out to The New York Times: “(Rhea) is tough and knows how to bounce and land on her feet and have fun along the way”.
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A homeless childhood
Deborah Rhea Seehorn was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on May 12, 1972—she is now 50 years old. She stopped using her first name because she didn’t identify with TV characters with the same name. “The Deborahs and Debbies that she knew or that she saw on television were very attractive cheerleaders and I had nothing to do with that image. I remember feeling a very big dissociation at school”.
His parents worked for the United States Navy, but they always had a fondness for art. Her mother, Marlene, did musical comedy in high school. Her father, Fred, a Vietnam War veteran, loved to paint and draw. From her union Rhea was born, and from her divorce she would later become an actress.
During his childhood, Fred worked as a naval intelligence agent, a profession that made the family move. Thus, from an early age, Rhea lived moving between Washington, Arizona and Japan, something that marked her from an early age due to the sadness she had to leave, but, at the same time, excitement to reach the next destination.
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A death that launched his career
However, the most difficult stage for Rhea came with her acting career. Encouraged by her dad, Rhea began studying art at George Mason University in Fairfax. There she discovered her passion for acting, which prompted her to be applied and study thoroughly, an attitude like the one Kim Wexler has in “Better call Saul”.
In 1994, when he was about to graduate, his father Fred passed away from complications related to alcoholism. The actress remembers, back then, her father’s dream of buying a boat and selling fishing gear. That memory of hers made him realize that he did not want to die like his father, without fulfilling his dream.
Thus, Rhea, far from fitting into the stereotypes of actresses or models of those times, resigned herself to dedicating herself to theater, a job in which she was supported by her university teacher, who became her mentor.
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From housekeeper to star of “Better call Saul”
When Rhea Seehorn moved to New York, she faced financial difficulties. This led her to do all kinds of jobs that included repairs, cleaning office bathrooms and even domestic jobs. “I learned how to fix a leaking bathtub after telling the customer that I knew how to do it”he confessed with a laugh to Rolling Stone.
Since 1997, the year of his debut on television, he got secondary roles in series that were canceled shortly after being launched. She also went through the cinema with the tape “A case against Karen”but never found anything that really made her popular.
It wasn’t until May 2014 that she was cast in “Better call Saul.” It was all thanks to Sharon Bialy, a casting director who had discarded her from the series “Sneaky Pete” in another audition, but after her good impression, she noticed that she was perfect for a very particular character in the spin-off of ” breaking bad”.
When he called her, he told her something that would change her life forever: “You didn’t stay, but be patient. She holds on a little longer. There is a project in development that I know will be the ideal job for you”.
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That project was none other than “Better Call Saul,” for which Bialy had already seen the pilot and had no doubt that Rhea Seehorn was perfect for Kim Wexler. The rest is history: two nominations for best supporting actress, worldwide recognition, director of one of the episodes of the series and constant love and concern from her fans.
When Rhea filmed her last scene in the “Breaking Bad” spin-off, she said the ending of the story was something that kept her thinking “for a very, very long time.” What will happen to her character? We will have to find out this August, when the series reaches its conclusion.
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