Read the full interview on Flaunt.com!
Britt Rentschler is far more than just an actress, she’s a creative in her own right. The producer, writer, director, and reiki healer carries a love for mystical things, with unwavering passion when it comes to her art and talents. Describing herself as “a nerdy theatre kid who worked her way into film and TV,” the Alabama-bred, Los Angeles-based firecracker states, “as long as it’s creative, I’m in there.”
You may have recently seen her as Charlotte in the Amazon Studios drama Uncle Frank, as Britt pulls inspiration from real-life experiences—specifically through the lens of her aunt in the ‘70s. In a time where those in same-sex relationships felt they needed to hide themselves from society, her aunt played the role of “companion” for her gay friends who hid their true selves to prevcent discrimination.
If you love comedies, Rentschler kills that genre too. Fans may recognize her role as Linda on the big screen in Paramount’s comedy Instant Family, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne. But her biggest accolade to date arrives in her philanthropy and desire to give back, with the movie sparking her passion for adoption and foster care. Being a reiki master also comes with its own perks, exuding nothing but good energy in all facets of her life.
Flaunt caught up with Britt via Zoom to discuss her move from Alabama to Los Angeles, her love for acting, how her aunt influenced her role in Uncle Frank, how she got into reiki, the power of meditation, her passion for adoption and foster care, pushing the importance of voting, and more!
Being from Alabama, how does that play into your life and career?
It was a really big shift moving into the West Coast. There are really wonderful things about Alabama I picked up on that I’m glad I kept. I love being really friendly, open, neighborly, all that good stuff. A lot of culture down there. Especially if you’re a woman, you need to be smaller. I noticed when I went to the West Coast, my voice jumped almost an octave when I’d pick up the phone. “Hello!” [high-pitched voice] What am I doing? Why am I making myself so pleasant for this person on the other end of the line? Learning to ground my voice and take up space was a big transition for me.
At what point did you realize you wanted to act?
I was a kid, my aunt lived in New York City. My parents took us to see a production of Cats, the longest-running show on Broadway for a long time. I absolutely loved it. I had an aisle seat. At the beginning of the show, the actress crawled all over the balcony and in through the aisles. They have these masks on with glowing eyes, this cat came right in my face and stared at me, then crawled down to the balcony onto the stage. I’m like I’m in! This is what I want to do. This is it, there’s nothing better. At that time, that live connection of performance was so electrifying for me.
As I started to do more TV and film, I found a difference in electricity and the collaboration that happens on set between all the departments. Everyone hyper focusing on getting this one thing on film in the way we want it to be, then having that reflect out globally. I think about Uncle Frank being on Amazon, we’re in people’s living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, iPhone screens. That’s huge, that’s black box theatre to the infinite level.
How was your time studying Master of Fine Arts at the University of Central Florida?
My parents are teachers so I definitely was geared up to wanting to get a Master’s Degree and thinking about teaching. For me, I got my Theatre degree in undergrad. I also got a Poli-Sci degree and thought about going to law school for a little bit, then decided I wanted to be creative. I thought “okay I’ll go do my Master’s, then if I teach, I know I’ll always be involved in the art form that I love.” That was my plan B or backup plan in a way. What it really came to be was incorporating so many different ways of looking at the art form because if I’m teaching, I’m inside the story in a different way than if I’m performing. It was all plan A at the end of the day.
How was your move to Los Angeles?
I’ve never been to Los Angeles when I decided to move, but I’d been to New York. My aunt lived there so I’ve been many many times. I was a big fan of the city, but I got this crazy feeling I needed to try Los Angeles. I knew I loved New York and I wanted something really radically different. I moved out sight unseen, found an apartment, and thought “I’ll give it a year, see what it’s like.” Turns out California is pretty great. [laughs] Lots of sunshine, I love to travel. There are so many places I can drive. Within 2 hours, you can be in the desert, the mountains, the beach. I really enjoyed the laid-back feeling. New York’s so plugged in all the time. As much as I feel that motor running inside of me as a creative, it’s really nice to have some wide-open space to relax. Los Angeles encouraged me to find my own space.
Talk about playing Charlotte in the Amazon Studios’ Uncle Frank and tying in your aunt’s experience from the 70’s.
That’s how I approached it. The role came, it was an audition. You never really know, you don’t always get the full script. You meet the material where it is with the information you have, then that next level of creativity is yours. My Aunt was an editor, she was a pretty quiet person—unless she was singing out a show tune! She was President of the Women’s National Book Association for a while; and she had wonderfully different friends, she’s the first person to introduce me to an openly gay couple. I ate sushi there for the first time, she was introducing me to culture in a totally different way.
Charlotte has this big personality. My aunt’s an editor, she’s a pretty quiet person. What I stole from her was this vague idea that you could change your life, be whoever you wanted to be, and make your own chosen family. That’s what I brought to Charlotte. She’s there for Frank, pretending to be his girlfriend, She does it for Wallie also, pretends to be his wife. Not actually very good at it, but her heart’s in the right place. [laughs] Thinking about my aunt needing to do public speaking or some things she didn’t necessarily love but felt compelled to. She’s the President of the National Women’s Book Association for a while, she was a big feminist. She always stepped up to the plate for things when it was important and I definitely think Charlotte did that.
Before your aunt passed, you saw a Broadway show with her called The Inheritance about gay rights and the AIDS epidemic. How did that affect you?
I’d already filmed Uncle Frank at that point, but it wasn’t released. I couldn’t show her, I could only tell her about it. We went to New York together in October, the last time I saw her. We saw a bunch of shows, The Inheritance was one. It’s about the multi-generations of gay men dealing with the AIDS crisis, relationships with each other, relationships with their families and parents that didn’t accept them—which were all the themes of Uncle Frank. Seeing that with her was such an incredible experience because we got to talk about the movie, even though she hadn’t seen it yet.
It became very important to me because she did pass away before the film came out. I told her I booked the part, I was sending her pictures from set of these vintage checkered cabs that I knew she’d get a kick out of because she remembered that time period. I shared with the wardrobe designer a picture of her on her wedding day, she had this fabulous turban. She got married at the Plaza Hotel. We’re toying with the idea of doing a turban for Charlotte, it didn’t work out for the camera angles but she was a part of the process in so many ways. Since she had passed away earlier in the pandemic and I wasn’t able to see her, it ended up being a really special part of this whole project.
How did you fall into reiki healing? How important is energy and mental health?
Absolutely. I came by it through theatre, learning the power of expression, really using your body and your voice. We always make fun of the theatre kids: you get on the floor and pretend you’re a different energy or a different animal. All that weird stuff they have you do in grad school, but it really gets you. You start making sounds you don’t normally make, you use your body in different ways. You start noticing your energy or your emotions shift, really dropping into personal stories that affect your creative work.
Even in a performance, how all of a sudden watching a movie can make you feel completely different. There’s an energy exchange that can happen in a second. [snaps] I got really fascinated by that which led me to reiki, the study of energy shifts and movement in the body—if you’re focusing on how you can help do healing work. For me being able to bring in voice, body, and energy, it felt like all part of the same thing. That drew me to the arts in the first place.
What are some things you do for self-care?
I’m a big meditator. Big believer in meditation, it helps me so much even when I’m kicking and screaming. Sometimes the thing you need to do the most is the last thing you want to do, even when you know it’s going to help you. [laughs] This year has been really challenging because we’re in these small spaces for most of the time. My thought going into the pandemic was I’m going to have so much time. I’m going to meditate all the time, I’m going to do all these dance videos. It turns out it’s been really hard, at least for me to be motivated creatively. I’ll set a timer for 2 minutes and say “all you have to do is meditate for 2 minutes and that’s it.”
It’s crazy how long 2 minutes can be.
Right. Once I start it, I’d fall into it. Then it’d be 5, 10, 15, but getting started is the hard part. Maybe in the long run, setting a timer is my greatest sense of self-care. [laughs] It’s how I manage that inner child of me when it rebels when I’m trying to take care of myself. You clean out the kitchen! No, I don’t want to do it. Set the timer for 2 minutes, see how much you get done.
How did your role on Instant Family fuel your passion for adoption and foster care?
Instant Family was such an incredible experience. Such a personal story for the director, we got to meet his children the story was based off of. We had an incredible social worker on set that really walked us through all the important things we needed to know so the story could feel really authentic. I got very involved, Together We Rise was one of the biggest partnerships I fell into afterward. I was so touched by what they do, they’re someone I donate to and continue to stay in touch with. They did Christmas stockings, people can donate or you can sponsor one. They make sure a foster child gets a complete Christmas stocking on Christmas day.
What does it mean to volunteer for Young Storytellers?
The power of storytelling is what I base my whole life off of. The younger you have access to it, the more powerful it can be. Sitting in the classroom with these kids and asking them “what stories do you want to write?” Teaching them how to use the computer program, how to type up their script. They come up with things about being bullied, relationships with their parents or siblings, things they don’t necessarily know how to talk about any other way. Those plays get to be performed with real actors, it’s an incredible sense of accomplishment for the kids but it’s really moving for the adults too. It reminds us how deeply important it is to share our stories with each other.
Talk about being so passionate about getting out and voting, and volunteering to be a poll worker during the 2020 election.
I was a Poli-Sci major, so it’s always been really important to me to be aware of what’s going on in our government system: small, local, big, federal, all of it. The biggest issue I’ve seen being the young person and moving into these different elections was people not believing that their voices mattered. The efficacy of the vote felt very very low, the sentiment around it. I spent a lot of time this election reaching out to Georgia voters in particular, you could adopt a state with Vote Safe America. I did North Carolina and Georgia because I have those Southern roots I wanted to connect with. Writing letters encouraging people to get to the polls, letting them know that their vote really mattered. I’m doing the same thing for the Senate race, I’ve got phone banking tomorrow to call, with the LA LGBT Center and Georgia Equality. We’re trying to get people on the phone and out to the voting booth.
What are you most excited for in the new year?
I’m most excited for the world to start feeling as healthy as possible, a lot of people are excited to get back to work. I had a feature film I co-wrote and was producing and starring in meant to shoot for April, of course, we had to push it back. I’m really excited to get back, we have an incredible director named Kestrin Pantera. She had a film called Mother’s Little Helpers at SXSW. She’s incredible, we got a great crew together. We’re so ready to go as soon as we can get everybody healthy and in the same place with the protocols up. I’m most looking forward to being able to wear a bunch of different hats on that production in 2021.
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