“Hey Guys, I tested positive for COVID-19 and have been in quarantine [for] the last week,” Rachel Matthews posted to her Instagram Stories on Mar. 16. “Unsure of what the next step is (been getting mixed info so will keep you posted) but obviously, will remain in quarantine until told to do otherwise. I’m feeling better, but I will be posting some info that I hope will be helpful to some. Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions. I really would love to help in any way I can.”
“Again, let’s please be mindful of our decisions – now is the time to be smart and responsible. Let’s take care of one another.” She also shared her symptoms in the order she experienced them: “Sore throat, fatigue, headache” on the first day; “mild fever,” body aches, and a dry cough on Day 2; shortness of breath and major fatigue on the third day; a loss of her sense of smell and taste on day 4; and “everything has remained more or less the same” on days 5-7. “Thought I’d write down my week in order,” she added. “Symptoms do vary!! Hope this is helpful for some.” As she becomes the latest celebrity to come down with coronavirus, here’s what you need to know about her.
1. She hails from LA. “I got really into acting when I started watching Shirley Temple at a young age,” she said to W Mag. “I was obsessed with her. I looked like her, and I wanted to be her so I put myself in tap classes and voice, and that opened the door for me. I jumped into the local theater program and started doing shows from the age of 10. Theater was always my bread and butter. I love being on stage, and that’s ultimately what I went to college for.” She ultimately traded her native Los Angeles for NYC, attending New York University to study theater.
2. Rachel voiced Honeymaren in Frozen 2. In the sequel to the Disney animated smash, Elsa discovers that her mother is a member of the Northuldra tribe. While discovering her roots, Elsa meets the character Honeymaren. The friendliness of Honeymaren’s nature towards Elsa has many, per Refiniery29, suspecting that she and Elsa will pursue a romantic relationship in future Frozen installments.
3. Voicing a Frozen character was a dream come true for her. “I love when the first Frozen came out because I was a sophomore at NYU in musical theater,” she said in an interview with CBS New York. “Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, all the big time people. When the first one came out, I dragged my friends to the theater four different times. They were a little concerned for me, but I was so obsessed with it. The Disney fangirl in me is absolutely freaking out. Jonathan Groff would come to teach a Master Class at NYU, and everyone would be panicking, and now we’re in a movie together. I don’t think that will ever feel normal to say.”
4. She’s part of the Happy Death Day movies. Fans of horror might recognize Rachel for her role in the Blumhouse films Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U. In both films she plays, Danielle Bouseman, a student at Bayfield University who is described as bossy, snobbish and obnoxious. While a third Happy Death Day movie is currently rumored, there are no plans to complete the trilogy.
5. She’s also on The CW’s Batwoman. Rachel played the character of Magpie on an episode of Batwoman in 2019. “I love Magpie because she is that Robin Hood type character,” she told CBS New York. “You can kind of back her up on her motives on why she’s stealing from the wealthy and wanting to teach them a lesson or two. It was so much fun, and I got to do a lot of my own stunts and fight choreography, and I’ve never been given that opportunity before. We were shooting in a museum in downtown Vancouver, and I got to have my Mission Impossible moment of scaling down from the ceiling and thinking I could do this every day.”