Before the Politician, Rahne Jones, Who Plays Skye, Worked for Homeland Security

From Oprah Magazine

• Ryan Murphy's The Politician premiered in late September and fans are already clamoring for season 2, set to premiere sometime in 2020.

• In addition to the opening credits song, Ben Platt's chilling vocals, and that wild storyline between Dusty and Infinity Jackson, we also fell in love with cast members like David Corenswet, Theo Germaine, and now, Rahne Jones.

Part of what makes The Politician so special is its carefully selected cast, in which seasoned Hollywood actors like Judith Light and Bette Midler join Ben Platt and newcomers such as David Corenswet, Theo Germaine, and Julia Schlaepfer. It’s a fun mix that makes each character’s delightfully playful dialogue pop, even if it’s during more emotional scenes.

Among the newcomers that shine is Rahne Jones, a.k.a. Skye Leighton. As the show follows Platt’s Payton Hobart, a high schooler infatuated with becoming student body president, it introduced us to Skye, who—without giving it all away—eventually becomes his running mate, despite some roadblocks. But where the heck have we seen Jones before? And will she return for season 2?

The Politician is Rahne Jones’s first major acting gig.

Before she was cast in Ryan Murphy’s hit Netflix show, Jones was, uh, working in the Department of Homeland Security for four years. “I quit because I was like, I can’t do this anymore,” she told Refinery29. “I moved to New York just to see how it would go. And then I found theater and I loved it. It was a thing that I always wanted to do, but was too afraid to do. I went for it and then things just started to fall in live.”

She got her start in theater.

Alexa L. Fogel, casting director for The Politician, notes that part of the vibrancy we experience while watching the show comes from the fact that many of the breakout stars, like Jones, have experience performing live in theater. (Ben Platt and Laura Dreyfuss appeared together in Dear Evan Hansen, for instance).

“She’s both a singer and a cabaret performer,” Fogel said of Jones, in a statement. “It’s that sort of fearlessness. That character talks in page-long monologues. When you need that kind of verbal dexterity and you peer behind the curtain, sometimes you’ll find that [the actor is] in fact musical. She was completely sure-footed in terms of her approach. She was also the only person we called back for that part. That can be nerve-racking: if she came in that day and didn’t kill it, that would mean I have to go back and start all over.”

We expect to see her in season 2.

If you’re interested in spoilers, we highly recommend checking out this theory-based explainer on The Politician’s finale. But know this: In a fast-forward jump, the eighth and final episode of season 1 sets up cast members like Jones to absolutely return for Murphy’s sophomore run.

During a sit-down interview with OprahMag.com, Jones revealed she hopes the show’s first season will inspire audiences to think about the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and hone in on “a lot of the things that go on behind the scenes of a candidate—that’s absolutely fascinating, and it ties in.”

Jones is a champion of LGBTQ rights.

Her character, Skye, identifies as a gender non-conforming lesbian, and in real life Jones is vocal about her support of queer rights—part of why she loves the plot. “It was just good to be in an environment where there wasn’t a big reveal about these characters. It was like being in a Utopian society, something so ideal where you don’t have this big moment, you can just live in your truth and have it be accepted, so that was refreshing,” Jones told OprahMag.com in reference to characters like Skye and James, the trans friend of Payton’s portrayed by Theo Germaine.

Jones is engaged!

In June of this year—during Pride month—Jones revealed on Instagram that she became engaged to her girlfriend, Bridget. “I asked the girl of my dreams to marry me and she said YES!” Jones wrote, adding, “@bridget.e.kelly you have given me a happiness I have never known and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Her sense of style cannot be ignored.

On and off camera, Jones whips up quite the display of colorful looks that deserve praise. And, she wears a lot of hats.

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