Rachel Miner's acting career began at the tender age of two, when she started expressing her desire to become an actress. By the time she was eight years old, she had already begun working with an acting coach, and by nine, she had secured an agent. Just one year later, at the age of ten, she had already worked with Woody Allen and landed the recurring role of "Michelle Bauer" on the popular soap opera Guiding Light, a part that would eventually become a contract role lasting nearly five years from 1990 to 1995. This impressive achievement earned her not one, not two, but three Young Artist Awards and an Emmy nomination.
Born into a show business family, Rachel represents the third generation of Miners to take to the stage, screen, and television. Her father, Peter Miner, was an Emmy-winning director and renowned New York acting teacher, who taught at the prestigious T. Schreiber Studio and Columbia University. Her mother, Diane Miner, was a writer and off-off-Broadway director who taught and coached acting alongside her husband. Rachel's grandparents were producer/director Worthington Miner and actress Frances Fuller, while her brother is also an actor named Peter Miner.
Throughout her career, Rachel has taken on a wide range of roles, from complex characters like addicts, prostitutes, and murder victims to more innocent characters like brides and veterinary technicians. She has appeared in numerous films and television series, including recurring roles as an ambitious and amoral secretary in Showtime's Californication and a kick-ass demon in the CW's Supernatural. Despite tackling challenging and often dark subject matter, Rachel has proven herself to be a fearless and talented young actress.
In addition to her work in film and television, Rachel has also made a name for herself in the theatrical world. At just fourteen years old, she appeared in Laura Cahill's "The Way at Naked Angels" in 1994. She made her Broadway debut at seventeen, playing the role of Margo Frank alongside Natalie Portman's Anne in Wendy Kesselman's adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" in 1996/97, directed by James Lapine. Rachel also originated the role of Rivkele in Donald Margulies' adaptation of Sholom Asch's "God of Vengeance" in 2000, directed by Gordon Edelstein at ACT (A Contemporary Theatre) in Seattle. She further originated the role of Sandy in Rebecca Gilman's "Blue Surge" in 2001, directed by Robert Falls at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and reprised the role in 2002 at The Public Theatre in New York.