The Craft’s Rachel True details discrimination she went through on the film

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The recent release of the horror sequel, THE CRAFT: LEGACY, has put a fresh emphasis on the cult 1996 original film. Having just come off Halloween wrapping up over the weekend, I'm sure THE CRAFT was a film horror movie aficionados rewatched to gear up for the spooky season, and with the film being more relevant during this time of year, one of of the film's stars, Rachel True, is taking a moment to detail what it was like for her to make the film and it turns out, it wasn't all that pretty.

True played Rochelle Zimmerman in the film alongside Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk, and Robin Tunney. During a recent interview with "Yahoo!", True revealed that her road to starring in the film was filled with discriminatory behavior that would be deemed very unacceptable today. The part of Rochelle was originally written for a white actress so True felt landing the part was a pretty big deal at the time. The actress goes on to say "It's a big movie in terms of my career, but it's also a big movie for Black people out there. It's one of the first teen movies that wasn't a Black teen movie or a white teen movie."

Things took a turn after True officially joined the film and she explains that she was made to feel singled out by the people behind the camera who reminded her of the difference in status between herself and her more established co-stars:

"When we were shooting the movie, I had literally been told by my team to stay away from Fairuza. [They said] she can get away with stuff, and you will get fired for it. I was literally told, 'You're Black, so don't say, 'F**k you, mommy,' like the white girls.'"

True doesn't accuse any of her co-stars of racist behavior but she does say it became very clear to her that her character was not being given the level of importance that the other cast members received.  The actress goes on to say that this was evident both in terms of storyline, and how the studio decided to promote the film:

"[The publicity team] put up a poster of the four of us, mentioned the three girls and then skipped down the call sheet, I think, 'This is how Black actors get underpaid, this is how they get forgotten, and it's part of why I mouthed off about the publicity back in the day that I was excluded from. At the time, I don't think my castmates understood; they were like, 'You're not as famous as us.' What they didn't get is that in the early to mid-1990s, [the studios] excluded the Black person, which meant they were never going to be as famous as you because they didn't get the press."

It's interesting that True felt like she experienced discrimination during the process of making THE CRAFT because it really is in line with what her character goes through in the film. While the other members of the witches coven faced their own problems that they sought to solve with black magic, the character arc of Rochelle was dealing with being the target bullies due to her race. True initially had misgivings about her character's arc but now had grown to appreciate what the movie got right about the character's journey involving her racial identity:

"I remember thinking, 'Do they see Blackness as a problem?' All the characters have issues, and to me being Black wasn't an issue; the way other people treat me for being Black is the issue. But once I really thought about when I got older, I realized it's a good thing they have that in there. We'd come out of a time where we had things like The Cosby Show where nobody ever mentioned racism, and here was a movie that tackled it head on. I do think it's interesting, though, that the other three characters never say anything about it! Not one of them is ever like, 'That's too bad that she's racist towards you.' I don't think they would do that today."

THE CRAFT followed four outcast teenage girls at a Los Angeles parochial high school who pursue witchcraft for their own gain and subsequently, experience negative repercussions. The film did decent box office back in 1996, grossing $55.6 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. In the years since its initial release, the film has gained quite a cult following and is a fan favorite of the teen-oriented films released during that time period.

 What are YOUR thoughts on Rachel True's views on what it was like for her making THE CRAFT?