Rachel Miner

Rachel Miner (born July 29, 1980) is an American actress. Following her screen debut in Alice, she appeared in films such as Bully (2001), Haven (2004), The Black Dahlia, Penny Dreadful (both 2006), The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (2009), and In Their Skin (2012). Outside film, Miner rose to prominence playing Michelle Bauer on the soap opera Guiding Light (1990–1995), and is known for her portrayals of Dani on Californication (2007–2008), Dawn Trager on Sons of Anarchy (2011–2012), and Meg on Supernatural (2009–2020).

Background Miner is the daughter of director and producer Peter Miner and the granddaughter of director-producer Worthington Miner and actress Frances Fuller. She attended New York's Professional Children's School. In a 1993 interview, Miner named Jodie Foster as the actress she most admired, and expressed the hope that she might have the opportunity to tackle a similar range of roles. Bully received mixed reviews from critics and has a "Rotten" rating of 54% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 91 reviews, with an average score of 5.7 out of 10. The film holds a score of 45 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 26 critics, indicating 'Mixed or average reviews'. Miner won an award at the Stockholm Film Festival for Best Actress.

In the 2005 action film Circadian Rhythm, Miner portrayed a young woman on a journey to discover who she is and why multiple enemies want her dead. The movie was critically ignored, and was poorly received in its few reviews. One reviewer stated that the film was a "directionless jumble of boring scenes strung together tenuously by a plot that feels like they were making it up as they went along," and that watching the film's allegedly ‘wire-fu’ fight scenes was akin to "being over at a friend's house when they’re getting yelled at by their parents."

She appeared in 12 episodes of the 2007 television series Californication, as Dani California, a reference to a character appearing in several songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 2008, she appeared in "The Sacrifice", an episode of Fear Itself. That same year she was also cast as the second lead in the psychological thriller The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations. The movie was filmed in Michigan and concluded filming in October 2008. It debuted at After Dark Horrorfest III, a horror film festival held in January 2009. The film was released on DVD on March 31, 2009.

From 2009 to 2013, Miner took over the role of Meg, a recurring antagonist and demon in Supernatural. The writers wanted Meg's original actress Nicki Aycox to reprise the role in later seasons, but ultimately cast Miner for storyline purposes. The character was killed off later. Tim Janson of Mania gave Miner's portrayal of Meg a positive review, saying no one played Meg "with such dripping sarcasm as Rachel Miner". He felt she "always adds spice when she appears". Similarly, Diana Steenbergen of IGN felt Miner played the role "with vicious flair" and "[conveyed] Meg's brutality well, right from the beginning". As time passed, she noted that the actress "has done well taking over the role". In 2020, Miner returned to Supernatural during the fifteenth season playing the character of a cosmic entity known as the Empty that takes Meg's physical appearance. Miner reappeared later in the season, reprising the role of the Empty.

In 2010, Miner starred alongside James Franco in the Grasshopper segment of Love & Distrust. The next year she was cast as Sgt. Hannah in the horror film 51, which began filming in April 2011 in Louisiana. The film was released in limited theaters as part of "After Dark Originals".

Charity work Since September 2017, Miner has been the executive director of the non-profit organization Random Acts.

Personal life In 1998, she married actor Macaulay Culkin, when they were both 18. The couple separated in 2000 and divorced in 2002. In 2000, Miner dated Brad Renfro during and after production of Bully.

Miner has been a vegetarian since age 9. She has since become an advocate for representation of disabled characters.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1990 Alice 12-year-old Alice Shining Time Station: 'Tis A Gift Vickie TV Movie 1997 Henry Fool Girl in Library No. 3 1999 Joe the King Patty 2001 Bully Lisa Connely Won – Stockholm Film Festival for Best Actress 2004 Haven Eva 2005 Man of God Karen Cohen Direct to-DVD Little Athens Allison Direct to-DVD Circadian Rhythm Sarah 2006 Fatwa Cassie Davidson Direct to-DVD Love & Debate Sophia Direct to-DVD The Black Dahlia Martha Linscott Onion Underwater Tara Short film Grasshopper Terri Short film Penny Dreadful Penny Deerborn The Still Life Robin 2007 Cult Mindy Direct to-DVD The Blue Hour Julie The Memory Thief Mira Direct to-DVD Tooth & Nail Neon Direct to-DVD 2008 Hide Betty The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations Jenna Reid Direct to-DVD 2009 Life of Lemon Esther Direct to-DVD 2010 The Love Affair Karen Hall Short film Love & Distrust Terri Direct to-DVD 2011 51 Sgt. Hannah TV Movie 2012In Their Skin Jane 2013 Frank the Bastard Clair

Television Year Title Role Notes 1990–1995 Guiding Light Michelle Bauer Recurring character Won – Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Daytime Series (1992, 1994)Nominated – Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Daytime Series (1993, 1995)Nominated – Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Child Actor (1993, 1994)Nominated – Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series (1995) 1995 American Experience Various characters Episode: "The Orphan Trains" 1999 Sex and the City Laurel Episode: "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women" 2004 NY-LON Astrid 2005 Bones Mary Costello Episode: "The Girl in the Fridge" 2006 Medium Emilia 'Lia' Purcell Episode: "Lucky in Love" CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Valerie Whitehall Episode: "Rashomama" Without a Trace Julia Martic Episode: "Damage Done" 2007–2008 Californication Dani Recurring character 2008 Fear Itself Chelsea Episode: "The Sacrifice" The Cleaner Sarah Gibbons Episode: "The Eleventh Hour" Life Squeaky Uhry Episode: "Canyon Flowers" 2009 CSI: Miami Tammy Witten Episode: "Presumed Guilty" 2009–2013 2020 Supernatural Meg Masters The Empty 7 Episodes 3 episodes 2009 Psycho Girlfriend Meagan Episode: "The New Girl" 2009–2010 The Online Gamer Beth 2 episodes 2010 Cold Case Anna Coulson Episode: "Two Weddings" No Ordinary Family Rebecca Jessup Episode: "No Ordinary Quake" Terriers Eleanor Gosney 2 episodes Army Wives Jasmine Wilkes Episode: "Deadly Force" 2011 Criminal Minds Molly Grandin Episode: "Today I Do" 2011–2012 Sons of Anarchy Dawn Trager 2 episodes 2012 Person of Interest Root Episode: ”Root Cause” 2020 Chicago Fire Jennifer Davis Episode: "Protect a Child"

Music videos "Sunday", Sonic Youth (1998) "Only One", Yellowcard (2005)