By Valerie Chapman
Rachel Kimsey rolls out of bed at 6:30 a.m. and stumbles to her car dressed in pajamas and slippers, her shoulder-length brown hair still wet from a quick shower. Some would find her work attire a bit unprofessional, especially living in Los Angeles, but what she wears to work doesn?t matter?she becomes a whole different person when she?s on the clock.
?I have the best job in the world!? said Kimsey, who graduated from BYU in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She plays Mackenzie Browning on CBS?s daytime soap opera ?The Young and the Restless.? ?I get there at 7 a.m. and someone does my hair, my makeup and dresses me. It?s the coolest thing in the world.?
Kimsey grew up in Tustin, Calif. Her mother, Pat Kimsey, said Rachel was the star of the fifth grade school play and has not wanted to do anything but acting since.
While at BYU, Kimsey participated in several school productions, including ?Uncle Vanya? and ?The Woolgatherer.? Her professors and directors had only good things to say about her.
?She was an excellent student, very bright and talented and with a delightful, outgoing personality,? said Eric Samuelsen, associate professor of theater and media arts. ?Those of us who knew her as a student could have predicted that she?d make something of her life.?
Assistant Professor of theater and media arts at BYU Laurie Harrop-Purser said she also wasn?t surprised to hear of Kimsey?s success.
?Rachel was always very talented and I think that, and perhaps more importantly her determination, have helped her to succeed,” Harrop-Purser said.
After graduating BYU, Kimsey moved to New York, where she paid the bills by doing stunt work and makeup for productions, skills she learned in associate theater professor David Morgan?s stage combat class and assistant chair of design and technology Janet Swenson?s makeup classes.
After living in New York City for two years, she had landed roles in a few commercials and plays, and also the role of Daphne in the national tour of ?Scooby-Doo Live.? Though she liked New York, she decided she wanted to pursue a career in film.
In 2002, Kimsey moved to Los Angeles and auditioned for everything that came along. She earned roles in several commercials, did stunt work for the movies ?Taxi? and ?Spider-Man 2? and had a guest-starring role on the television series ?Medium.?
In March of this year, she began the audition process for ?The Young and the Restless.? After a week of reading lines in front of the directors of the soap opera, Kimsey received a call offering her a job as the character Mackenzie Browning
?The Young and the Restless? has been on the air since 1973, and some of the actors and crewmembers have been with the show almost as long. Initially, Kimsey said it was intimidating to work with such seasoned professionals.
?At first I was really nervous to be the ?new girl,?? Kimsey said. ?But one of the actresses who has been on the show for almost 20 years told me on my first day, ?Honey, I was the new girl for 12 years.? There?s a real family atmosphere among the cast.?
Kimsey said the family atmosphere is what helps her to survive the fast-paced and often stressful demands of soap opera filming.
?We work really quickly,? Kimsey said. ?I usually get my scripts two to three days in advance, but I end up studying and learning all my lines the night before. There are no cue-cards or back-up plans in my job.?
One of Kimsey?s BYU professors Eric Samuelsen said he was proud of Kimsey for achieving success in such a demanding job.
?Some people may think that soap operas don?t require much of actors,? Samuelsen said. ?But in fact, the opposite is the case?she?s successful in a very difficult field.?
Kimsey?s character on ?The Young and the Restless? is a divorcee who has had been involved in several crimes and had numerous flings and affairs, according to soapcentral.com. This way of life contrasts with a Latter-day Saint lifestyle, but Kimsey said she doesn?t think her beliefs conflict with her job.
?I can?t make the character ?me?,? Kimsey said. ?I would be doing the character and the show a disservice if I put my values and morals into my character on screen. I always have to wear immodest clothes, and last week I had to wear a cross. That made me take a step back, but then I thought ?my character would wear it, so I have to wear it.? I don?t feel like it?s impossible to live church standards and do my job.?
During a phone interview, Kimsey was packing a suitcase for a flight to New York for a celebrity photo shoot. Since she began her job on ?The Young and the Restless,? Kimsey has appeared at several other celebrity functions, including parties, premieres and fundraisers. But she hasn?t let her success go to her head.
?It weirds me out that people call me up and ask me to go places because I?m a ?celebrity,?? Kimsey said. ?It?s one of those things you never get over.?
