IN CONVERSATION WITH CAILYN RICE

interview by NICK RASMUSSEN

Cailyn Rice is a performer known for her rare ability to move audiences on an emotional level, a quality that first set her apart as a dancer and now defines her work as an actor. Long sought after for performances that demand vulnerability and depth, she brings that same emotional fluency to the screen, where instinct and presence take precedence over polish. Now appearing in HBO’s ‘Euphoria’, Rice is carving out her place in one of the most culturally resonant series of her generation while continuing to evolve as a multidimensional artist in Los Angeles, guided by curiosity, courage, and a willingness to explore the uncomfortable spaces where the most honest work lives.

sweater RAXXY

You’ve told me that as a dancer, when people want someone who is going to make an audience cry, they hire you. Does that feel the same in your acting career?

I was never the dancer that was hired to do cool tricks. I was the dancer you hired when you wanted the audience to feel something. People would joke that I was the dancer who didn’t dance, taking 30 seconds just to raise my arm or my leg. But for me, it was so much about presence. How to captivate people with very little. How to feel something so deeply in my own body that I didn’t need to tell you how I was feeling, I could just stand there and you would feel it too. In acting it has become the same. Now we add words to the body, but it is still about the in-between moments. What is said without words. How deeply can we feel it in ourselves so that the people watching have no choice but to feel it too.

full look THOM BROWNE

Did you have a preconceived notion of what it would be like to be on set for ‘Euphoria’? Did reality meet that expectation?

Every set has its own flow, like a river. When you are on a set from the beginning, you are helping create that flow, and when you are new, you just simply have to dive in. I think that mindset allows me to enter into any environment without any preconceived ideas of what it will be like, just simply surrender to what it already is. That being said, I couldn’t have felt more loved and taken care of on ‘Euphoria’. Cast and crew were welcoming, and my days on set were filled with joy and laughter.

blazer JW ANDERSON
dress ISABEL MARANT
skirt STYLIST’S OWN
shoes BALENCIAGA

What can you tease about Season 3?

Say your prayers. See you on 12th April.

You have a long history as a dancer; what skills or mindset muscles do you feel crossover into acting?

The most noticeable thing I’ve found that crosses over, aside from movement and physicality in general, is breath work. So often as a dancer you are taught to breathe with your movement. It helps you get where you need to go naturally. An arm that reaches out on an inhale feels so different than an arm that reaches out on an exhale.

Our body wants to follow the breath, and in acting it is the same. My breathing helps get me where I need to go, it connects my mind’s literal interpretation of the feeling to the physical core of it.

dress BCALLA
shoes STYLIST’S OWN

When did you start living and working in Los Angeles? How would you describe your arc as a performer out here? What stage do you feel you are at right now?

I moved to Los Angeles at 18. I wanted to be a dancer, but it was my love of being on stage, my love of performing, of connecting and expressing, that has kept me here and malleable through many different art forms. I love art and the act of creation, and that has remained my north star since moving here.

It has been less of an arc and more waves, feeling totally immersed and in love, feeling like I need to step away, feeling inspired and proud, feeling defeated, etc. And those are the natural and inevitable ebbs and flows of any artist. Right now I am in a stage of gratitude. I get to make art and create, and that is such a beautiful thing. It’s my favorite thing. I have no control over what’s to come, so to be grateful and present with these incredibly talented people, on these beautiful sets, and on projects I could have never dreamed of is the most important thing I can do.

sweater RAXXY

When was the last time you broke a rule you didn’t agree with? How did it feel?

I’m not much of a rule breaker, for better or for worse. I wasn’t raised that way. I am more of a rule bender, figuring out what needs to shift to feel good or work.

However, if a rule needs to be broken and there is no bending to be had, I feel nothing but conviction, because I know that I am standing up for something that I believe is true, or right.

coat & sunglasses MUGLER
tights & shoes STYLIST’S OWN

What can you share with us about your upcoming projects?

‘Euphoria’ Season 3 releases on 12th April. ‘Sigil’ is a film about three girls who blindly follow their dead friend’s cryptic instructions, only to realize that they are the final pieces in a deadly puzzle she set in motion before her death.

TEAM CREDITS:

talent CAILYN RICE
photographer & creative director NICK RASMUSSEN
stylist CAITLIN BOELKE
makeup KAYLI RACHELLE
hair IAN JAMES
photography assistant MAYRA ROMERO RASMUSSEN RUIZ
film processing
editor TIMI LETONJA
interview NICK RASMUSSEN