Quick Facts
Biography
Rachel Alice Marie Skarsten (born April 23, 1985) is a Canadian actress known for her role as Dinah Lance on the television series Birds of Prey, Tamsin in Lost Girl, Elizabeth I of England in Reign and Beth Kane/Alice in Batwoman.
Life and career
Skarsten was born in Toronto, to a Norwegian father, Dr. Stan Skarsten, and wife, Canadian Mary Aileen Self, of English descent, daughter of Russell Thomas Treverton Self and wife Alice Gleason, paternal granddaughter of James Harvey / Hargreaves Self (son of Robert Hargreaves Self and wife Elizabeth Ann Green) and wife Elizabeth Adeline Caldwell (daughter of Robert Caldwell and wife Elizabeth Smith) and maternal granddaughter of Irwin Thompson Gleason (son of Vining Gleason and wife Mary R. Thompson) and wife Mary Ida Smith. She has a younger brother.
Rachel trained with the Royal Academy of Dance for 12 years and attended Claude Watson School for the Arts from grades 4 to 8. There she majored in visual arts and the cello. She continued in the Claude Watson Arts Program at Earl Haig Secondary School from grades 9-12, majoring in visual arts.
After being discovered by an agent at a memorial for her father, she went on to be cast as a regular in shows such as Little Men before landing her "big break" as a lead in the Warner Brothers television series Birds of Prey. She is an avid trampoline athlete and enjoys playing the piccolo.
After filming wrapped, Skarsten left Los Angeles and returned to Canada where she completed a double degree in English Literature and Classical Studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Following this, she returned to acting with arcs on The LA Complex, Flashpoint, and The Listener as well as work in Canadian independents such as Servitude and Two Hands to Mouth. She played Andrea in the movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. She is currently appearing as Alice, the main antagonist of the Batwoman television series. On May 12, 2020 Rachel announced on her Instagram account that she had married her boyfriend, Alexandre Robicquet recently, privately. [1]