Hello! My name is Dylan Ratzlaff and I am an actress and a dancer. I started dancing when I was 3 years old and completely fell in love with it! I was an extrovert and had a lot of emotion in me, so dance was the perfect outlet to let out all these emotions.
From there I was recommended by my teacher to go into commercials. I started auditioning and booked a couple but ultimately took a break around ages 10-15 to focus on dance. At 15 I decided to audition at an open call for the show The Next Step, which is a mockumentary about a dance studio. I ended up booking it and loved the whole process of being on set. This is where my love of acting stems from.
indieactivity: What acting technique do you use?
Dylan Ratzlaff (DR): Recently I worked with Matthew Harrison and he really helped me develop my process of breaking down the script and breaking down scenes. I find I am super analytical and need almost like an equation to understand and develop a scene in my body. For example, he helped me break down the script for An Amish Sin and we broke its entirety down to 3 acts. From there within each act there were 3 more acts.
Then in each scene there were 3 acts. Each act was a big shift in character and either brought my character closer to my goal or further away. There is a lot more detail to this process but to sum it all up, it allowed me to be able to know exactly where my character was at so when we shot the scenes (which is out of order) I knew where I had come from prior, even if I hadn’t shot the scene.
We also did things like a character wheel, emotional preparation with imagery, and figuring out my A and B conversations. Having done all this work allowed me to go into each scene and completely fall into the scene and fully become Rachel.
How did you get connected to the project? Did you have to audition? If you did, would still have got the part?
Dylan Ratzlaff (DR): I did get a self-tape audition through my agent. I immediately knew this was going to be a film that mattered and would change people’s lives so I was really drawn to it.
Let’s take this project you did; how did you prepare for such a role: the cast, the physicality the terrain, the climate, weather and the demands of the project?
Dylan Ratzlaff (DR): I had a week to prepare so my main focuses were learning about the Amish community and learning about sexual abuse. These two alone were a daunting task but Lifetime provided what I like to call my Amish consult. Not only did she help me understand the customs of the Amish but the story I was portraying was based on her.
So she was my main point of contact for both areas. We often would message her to ask little details about the Amish to make sure we got everything right. I also met with someone who counsels women who have been sexually abused from people in power in the church. This was an amazing insight to what their healing process looked like. My week was filled with this along with breaking down the script and before I knew it we were shooting the movie.
As one of the cast on the project, how did this ‘choice’ work for you?
Dylan Ratzlaff (DR): It was integral to really learn about the Amish community and all the other cast did research as well. Having this mutual understanding among the cast really allowed for us to fully portray what happens behind closed doors in the Amish community. All my research on sexual abuse allowed me to have a conversation with the audience through body language when I was not allowed to say anything within my community. I am super happy with how my choice on research went!
How do you create the character from a script into a person?
Dylan Ratzlaff (DR): As mentioned before, breaking down Rachel’s journey into acts really helped. I also distinguished the 2 conversations she was having in her head. “Completely lose EVERYTHING but fully find myself” or “Have family, security, comfort and never know who I truly am” This was the base for every decision I made and completely formed my arc for Rachel.
One last thing I will touch on for this question is I wanted to give Rachel this beaming light. She had gone through things that no one should ever have to go through at a young age, yet she still kept her faith and was always a light where she went. That was super important for me, it was Rachel’s essence.
What part of the story challenged you when you read it? What drove you to get on the project?
DR: I think that knowing this was based on true events. Knowing someone had to live this life for so many years was heartbreaking. I “lived” it for 3 weeks and felt just disgusted and yet someone lived this for many years. This is the reason I got on this project, to inspire people to get out of their abusive situation
Explain one creative choice you took on set of this production?
DR: One creative choice I took was actually before we shot. With the scene of me being sexually abused, in the original script it had me say “no” to my Uncle Iddo. After doing all my research I knew with how submissive the women were and how timid and obedient they were, there was no way my character could say “NO” to a man. I suggested we change it to her being completely silent and just unable to control anything. I wanted her moment when she said “no” to be a moment where she was a completely changed Rachel and that is exactly what we did.
Give an example of a direction you received from the director during the production?
DR: The director would always tell me “not yet”. It was his way of saying to not bring on Rachel’s strength quite yet. She was always courageous but never knew it, and we didn’t want that revealed till the end.
How did you collaborate with your cast members from scene to scene?
DR: Before we shot every time we had a rehearsal with the cast that was in the scene. First we would say the words, then the director would tell us where he wanted the scene to go. From there we practiced fully and saw what worked and what we needed to change. It was a very collaborative process and we worked to make every scene our favorite scene.
As main cast on the film, describe the feeling of responsibility that you shouldered. Where you scared? Or did it fire you up? What scenes where difficult to shoot?
DR: For my first lead role I was definitely intimidated, but I had so much support around me. Everyone was a joy to work with so it made it easy. I had the whole script memorized before day one of shooting so that if they needed to switch anything I would be emotionally and physically prepared for each scene. This helped me know I was ready for anything.
If the main actress is startled, grumpy or tired everyone else is going to feel it so I wanted to create a happy set and that meant me being prepared. There was at least one scene a day that was tough to film with the content revolving around sexual abuse, but everyone supporting me in the times I needed it.
What did you take away from the film production?
DR: I really had to decompress after this but the main thing I learned was I was capable of taking on a project this big and heavy. I really was proud of myself and it fired up my love for acting even more
What do you like most about the director, and his/her collaboration with his/her team?
DR: He was amazing! He made sure everyone on set felt important and knew what our goals were for each scene. You could tell he cared so much about this project and wouldn’t move on until he felt the scene was perfect. He really took me under his wing and taught me all the ins and outs of making a movie.
What is next for you?
DR: I just recently worked on Cruel Summer season 2, but I am just training as much as I can and getting ready for auditions.
What advice do you give actors regarding what you learnt on the project?
DR: Don’t be afraid to take risks. Do all your homework for the character so you can go into each scene and completely surrender! You might surprise yourself with what you are capable of.
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