Become a member to watch this interview with character actress Rusty Schwimmer!

Rusty Schwimmer was born and raised on Chicago’s north shore where she grew up a fan of the theatre, music and the Chicago Cubs, Bears and Bulls. In her formative years she endeavored to be a singer but quickly found her way to acting and was soon drawn from the world of theatre in Chicago to a career as a character actor in films and on television that has come to define that term and is still going strong.

Schwimmer has played everything from biker chicks to southern ladies of refinement beginning in 1988 when she landed her first gig playing an extra dressed as a strawberry in the Billy Crystal-Alan King dramedy “Memories of Me.” On film she was murdered by Jason in “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday,” dealt with giggly schoolgirls in “A Little Princess,” braved 70 takes crossing in front of an airplane engine simulating a tornado in “Twister,” fretted with her conscience in “Runaway Jury,” waited anxiously the fate of her new beau in “A Perfect Storm,” (remember that pink sweater?), had Charlize Theron’s back in “North Country,” rubbed down John Hawks in “The Sessions,” belted out an original holiday tune in the LGBTQ Christmas film, “Scrooge & Marley,” lost her head (literally) in the James Gunn produced horror thriller “The Belko Experiment,” paddled a canoe and chopped wood in “Blood Stripe,” and recently tangled with the Devil himself in the hit TV show, “Lucifer.”

The versatile Schwimmer has acted in leading roles, too. In 2007, she co-starred with Paul Giamatti and Michelle Williams in the indie film “The Hawk Is Dying,” and won raves for the stage revival of Will Kearn’s “Hellcab” in 2017. That same year, she showed off her comedic chops starring opposite Todd Stashwick and Timothy Omundson in the offbeat romantic comedy “Wild Honey,” in a part written for her by writer-director Francis Stokes.

After decades in LA, Schwimmer is now back in the Chicago area. In addition to her busy acting career, she teaches master classes and works as a much sought after acting coach by a growing list of up and coming young performers.

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Masterwork: Industry Conversations is a series of live interviews with long-established and award-winning filmmakers and industry pros with ties to Chicago. Each live interview is followed by a Q&A with the audience. Join us to learn all about these filmmakers’ journeys in the film and television world and their secrets to success. To watch the live interview and all previously recorded interviews, become a member today!