Rachel Skarsten (born 23 April, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She is known for playing Dinah Lance in ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

'' (2002–2003), Tamsin in ''

Lost Girl ''Lost Girl'' is a Canadian supernatural drama television series that premiered on Showcase on September 12, 2010, and ran for five seasons. It follows the life of a bisexual succubus named Bo, played by Anna Silk, as she learns to control ...

'' (2013–2015),

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

in ''

Reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., King of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-princes of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kin ...

'' (2014–2017), and

Beth Kane Elizabeth Kane, also known as Alice and Red Alice, is a fictional character created by Greg Rucka and J. H. Williams III. Beginning as a supervillain, she first appeared in August 2009 in the American comic book, comic book ''Detective Comics'', ...

in ''

Batwoman Batwoman is a name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies of Batman similarly to Batgirl. The original version of the character, Kathy Kane (eventually given t ...

'' (2019–2022).

Early life

Skarsten was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario. Her father Dr. Stan Skarsten was from

Bergen, Norway Bergen (, ) is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 2025 the population is 294 029 according to Statistics Norway. The municipali ...

, whilst her mother, Mary Aileen Self Skarsten, grew up in India. She also has a younger brother. Skarsten grew up in northern Toronto, and spent time in Bergen during her youth. Skarsten trained with the Royal Academy of Dance for 12 years, but after an ankle injury she gave up her dancing career and turned to

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

. In 2002 she played goalie for the Toronto Leaside Wildcats. She attended Claude Watson School for the Arts from grades 4 to 8, majoring in visual arts and the cello. She continued in the Claude Watson Arts Program at

Earl Haig Secondary School Earl Haig Secondary School, formerly Earl Haig Collegiate Institute, is a public high school with 2,048 students in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition to being a public secondary school, the school is also host to the Claude Watson Arts Progr ...

from grades 9-12, majoring in visual arts. She was discovered by an agent at a memorial for her father.

Acting career

After getting an agent, Skarsten went on to be cast as a regular in shows such as ''

Little Men Little Men: ''Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys'', is a children's novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). First published in 1871 by Roberts Brothers, the book reprises characters from Alcott's 1868–69 two-volume novel ''Li ...

''. She landed her "big break" as a co-lead in the Warner Brothers television series ''

''. After filming wrapped on ''Birds of Prey'', Skarsten left Los Angeles and returned to Canada where she completed a double degree in English Literature and Classical Studies at Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

. Following this, she returned to acting with arcs on '' The LA Complex'', '' Flashpoint'', and '' The Listener'' as well as work in Canadian independents such as ''Servitude'' and ''Two Hands to Mouth''. She played Andrea in the movie adaptation of ''

Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...

''. Skarsten co-starred as Alice/Beth Kane, the main antagonist of the ''

'' television series, from 2019 to 2022.

Personal life

On 12 May 2020, Skarsten announced on her Instagram account that she had married her boyfriend, Alexandre Robicquet, privately. In September 2023, Skarsten announced that she was pregnant with their first child who was born later that year. In April 2024, she released the first photo of their son.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skarsten, Rachel 1985 births Living people 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Toronto Canadian child actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian people of Norwegian descent Canadian television actresses Queen's University at Kingston alumni Earl Haig Secondary School alumni