Baltimore native Rachel Hilson got her first professional on-camera gig by accident.
At 12, she had been dancing most of her life, but acting? Not so much. Her mother, Anita, took her to New York to audition for a summer Broadway dance camp.
Young Rachel danced, sang and read a few lines. She found herself in the right place — and the right height — at the right time.
“The camp was affiliated with some [talent] agencies, and one of the agents was looking for a dancer of color under five feet tall for a brief gig in Iceland.”
Hilson and her mother flew to Iceland and the budding dancer read some lines and got the job on a program called “LazyTown.”
“I thought, ‘Wow! This stuff is a piece of cake!’” she said. “In retrospect, it was good being naïve to the way the industry works because I didn’t get jaded right away.”
Hilson continues performing on stage and screen. Although not yet 30, as of press time, she’s a child actor who successfully grew into mature roles without too many bumps — or lurid tabloid headlines — along the way. But it hasn’t been as easy as that first audition.
“Ninety-nine percent of my auditions don’t materialize into a job,” Hilson revealed earlier this summer. She admitted to years with few auditions and even fewer casting offers.
Hilson, is not quite — or, better, not yet — a household name, but is on her way, building a solid career in the grueling television and movie industry. You may have first seen Hilson as a 15-year-old in the CBS legal drama “The Good Wife,” in the recurring role of Nisa Dalmar.
Subsequently she appeared on numerous series from “Royal Pains,” “Elementary,” and “Nurse Jackie” to “The Affair,” “Madam Secretary,” “The Americans,” “First Wives Club,” and “Law & Order: SVU.”
On Hulu, Hilson played regular cast member Mia Brooks in the teen dramedy “Love, Victor.”
And, looking ahead, the yet-to-be-released Will Ferrell/Regina Hall courtroom comedy “Judgment Day” features Hilson in her first wide-release feature movie.
That ’70s Duster
Presently you can watch her on HBO Max. She’s starring as a young and fearless FBI agent named Nina Hayes in the law enforcement thriller “Duster.”
The J. J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan series follows the FBI’s first Black female agent on a quest to hunt down a crime syndicate boss.
Set in the Southwest in the mod 1970s, agent Nina Hayes, wearing a requisite afro and platform heels, is accompanied by getaway driver Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway).
A red, two-door 1970s Plymouth Duster with a jacked-up rear and black trim is the costar and namesake of the show.
The car lends a rugged, down-on-its-heels sensibility to what is essentially a good ol’ fashioned crime procedural filled with “Dukes of Hazzard”-style car chases and plenty of punches thrown.
Dancing Through Life
How did Hilson get to ride shotgun in this series? “I grew up dancing in Baltimore,” she said.
Credit goes to her mom for starting her in dance lessons at four; over the years she studied at Peabody Institute and Baltimore Dance Tech with renowned teacher Stephanie Powell.
In ninth grade the budding dancer was accepted to the competitive Baltimore School for the Arts where she studied dance, but soon focused on theater.
“I went into BSA having no idea what I was doing. In theater I got a well-rounded education: Misner, Stanislavsky, voice, film,” she said, naming different acting methods and techniques. “That is where I established a foundation. I was allowed to just try on different versions of myself. BSA is where I first learned to be me.”
She carries fond memories of many of her BSA teachers and said she reached out to acting teacher Richard Pilcher when she was cast in “Duster.” They worked on some character development exercises.
Hilson continued her education at New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study where she created her own major.
Her degree in writing and performing race enabled her to pen three plays while on campus, read deeply across disciplines and dabble in poetry. “I learned how to think,” she said.
Baltimore Homecoming
These days Hilson lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., but travels to Los Angeles or wherever else acting roles take her. But no matter where she goes, the Baltimore roots run deep.
Part providence, part coincidence, her “Duster” character Nina hails from Baltimore, graduating from Morgan State, where her dad, Bob, received his degree and taught.
Nina is special for Hilson as the role allows her bring some of Baltimore’s unique qualities to her star turn: grit, confidence and quirkiness.
And Hilson says she always carries the influence of her hometown with her. “I carry the small-town mentality that is Baltimore.”
Even though it’s the largest city in the state, Baltimore remains a city of neighborhoods and communities, where folks know each other and help each other.
Part of her childhood was spent in Northwood on the campus of McDonough High School, where her mother worked as a school administrator.
Rachel recalls that time as idyllic, saying the neighborhood she chose in Brooklyn reminds her of home with its family-owned businesses and diverse population.
The actor credits her father, Bob, with instilling her love of her hometown. A former Baltimore Sun reporter, Bob covered not just the city but its people, sharing their stories, their successes and their tragedies.
“My dad is a true Baltimore native,” Hilson noted, “he never left.” It’s a city of characters, she noted, “in every sense of the word. The talent that comes out of there, and also the character of who you are and how you play a part in the city” — that’s what makes Baltimore special for her.
Celebrating Home
On September 18 and 19, 2025, Hilson comes home to the city that shaped her into the successful artist she is today.
Baltimore Homecoming was founded to reconnect with alumni from the city and attract new investment, creative opportunities and businesses by inviting home Baltimoreans who now live elsewhere.
A nonprofit, Baltimore Homecoming was founded in 2017 after unrest following Freddie Gray’s death, said Mandy Snyder, the organization’s executive director.
“We’re really looking for a way to support Baltimore … by working with alumni [from the city] to diversify the resource generation coming back into the city. It’s a really unique concept.”
Baltimore Homecoming
The September event brings together business leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, sport figures and venture capitalists who participate in panels, networking and even a “Shark Tank”-like competition called “Crab Tank.”
This year Hilson co-chairs the weekend. She and Snyder have spoken in depth about what Hilson identified as the “collective desire of Baltimore City alumni to give back” to the city that gave them foundational experiences to succeed across various careers and industries.
“Rachel speaks so highly of Baltimore and has been just doing amazing things with her career,” Snyder said. “She’s a great voice for Baltimore. With Rachel her nostalgia for Baltimore really resonates, as do her ties to Baltimore School for the Arts.”
For Hilson, connecting with Baltimore Homecoming provides a way she can give back by tapping into potential organizations and nonprofits that support homegrown entrepreneurs and those in need in the city.
“I would like to do something that deals with more equitable food access,” she noted, adding, “I’m still finding my adult relationship with Baltimore because when I go back home, I become a kid again.”
“I’m always rooting for Baltimore, even more than I root for the O’s or the Ravens,” she added. “It’s a beautiful city. I’m always thinking about it.”
Looking ahead, Hilson remains committed to her performing career, whether on film and television or on stage.
She values all opportunities: “It is nice to go between the two. It allows me to work different muscles.”
And, while she hopes to write, and there may be a Baltimore-based script in progress, for now, Hilson said, “Acting is the passion; it’s what keeps me going. At this moment I love what I’m doing and it makes me happy.”
For more on Baltimore Homecoming, visit baltimorehomecoming.com.
