Kristen Rakes’ latest role is something very different.
In fact, it’s a dream job for many.
The Albuquerque resident can be seen as Nurse Bridget in the latest season of FX’s “American Horror Story: Roanoke.” The series airs at 11 p.m. Wednesdays on FX.
The series, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck, is an anthology that centers on different characters and locations, including a murder house, an asylum, a coven, a freak show, a hotel and a sinister farmhouse in North Carolina.
Rakes was excited to get an opportunity to be on the show.
“My agent called me and asked me to get to LA,” she says. “I had an hour to get to the airport and get on a plane. I barely made it. It was so close to not happening.”
In the series, set in a farmhouse in North Carolina, Rakes plays Nurse Bridget.
In the show, Bridget and her sister, Miranda, played by Maya Berko, have a habit of killing the sick and elderly for sport. The sisters went so far as to turn the house into an assisted living facility where they murdered all their patients.
“It’s fun to play the bad guy, honestly,” she says with a laugh. “It’s fun and to be the antagonist. Fortunately, some people get real bad on the show. I don’t think we’re the worst ones.”
Rakes says the one thing she likes about the show is that each character is human.
“Coming to this character, I didn’t know what to expect,” she says. “I really had to get into psychology of Bridget. Liking finding out how they became who they are.”
While she filmed the show, the script had a very tight lid kept on it.
“The show is so secretive,” she says. “I didn’t know there was another nurse until we were both at the fitting. It was a funny moment.”
Rakes’ turn on “AHS” is only her latest.
If a movie or TV series was filmed in New Mexico, there are great odds she was in it.
Rakes is a native of Guthrie, Okla., who now spends most of her time in New Mexico and California. She got interested in acting through high school plays and played center for the school basketball team, before attending the College of Santa Fe, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in moving image arts. Branching out from acting, she also studied film production, and honed her directing skills on short films.
She and local filmmaker Alejandro Montoya have collaborated on the short films “The Joneses,” “Low/Fi” and “The Princess and the Musician.”
“She is unique. She is someone that can make you laugh or make you cry. Kristen is one of the most talented actresses I have had a pleasure to work with,” Montoya says. “I look forward to continue to work with her, for many, many years.”
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