Bree Elrod '00 on "Odessa," Acting Boldly, and the Liberal Arts Roots That Ground Her

Bree Elrod ’00 has worked with theater and movie legends. She was in a one-woman play directed by Alan Rickman. She appeared in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island in scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. And she starred in Sean Baker’s 2021 film Red Rocket, a breakout role that landed her on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.  Most recently, she appeared in the post-apocalyptic drama Odessa, currently streaming on Hulu, continuing a career marked by bold, thoughtful performances on both stage and screen.

But before her name appeared in Playbill or Variety, Elrod was a political science major at Knox College. “I was law-school bound because both of my parents are attorneys. It felt very familiar to me.” 

But theatre had always been a part of Elrod’s life. She went to her first production, Les Misérables, at age eight and started writing plays in elementary school. At Knox, she found herself running across campus for auditions. “I was just drawn to it,” she says.

That mix of academic exploration and artistic opportunity defined her Knox experience. Elrod points to the College’s distinctive Repertory Theatre Term—a 10-week immersive program that combines academic study in theatre with hands-on experience in every facet of a production—as a turning point. “Rep Term really opened my eyes in such a beautiful way to all the different ways people contribute to bringing these stories to life. We were sewing the costumes, building the sets, designing the sound, acting—Rep Term gave me such a wonderful opportunity to explore all of that.”

Knox’s theatre faculty also had a huge impact on her. “Ivan Davidson, Doc Bob, Liz Carlin Metz— they opened me up to something within myself that I didn't even know was there. Until I met Liz, I was a very cerebral actor. She got me out of my head and into my body. I am forever grateful to her for that.”

Elrod graduated with College Honors in Theatre. Her honors thesis explored the impact of regional theatre on local communities. She completed an internship with New York City’s 52nd Street Project, an organization that brings theatre into the lives of young people. Her takeaway? “Great theatre can be done everywhere, and it’s important everywhere.” 

Elrod auditioned for graduate programs and was accepted to several, including Juilliard, DePaul, and NYU. She chose NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. After grad school, she moved from New York to Los Angeles to Boston to Kansas City, chasing opportunities and building community wherever she landed. “I learned that there’s gorgeous art being made in every city,” she says. “Finding those artists fuels me on my journey.”

Elrod’s big breaks came at unexpected moments. While starring as Harper in Angels in America in Boston, talent scouts approached her about a new film. The director? Martin Scorsese. “They told me I’d make a great mental patient,” she laughs. She filmed a few scenes, chatted with Scorsese between takes, and walked away with not only a role in Shutter Island, but a name in the credits—and a stream of residual checks that still show up in the mail.

Her off-Broadway debut came in My Name is Rachel Corrie, directed by Rickman. “Everyone was auditioning for that role,” she says. “But when I walked into the room, he understood what I was trying to do.” She and Rickman became close friends. “He was such a wonderful human, and such a gift of a mentor.”

Then came Red Rocket. Elrod was waiting out the pandemic in Portland when a former classmate from NYU reached out about a low-budget, COVID-safe film by The Florida Project directed by Sean Baker. The role? A heroin-addicted former porn star. “I said, ‘Yeah, that’s in my wheelhouse. I can do that.’” She self-taped her audition and within hours, Baker called. She had the part.

Elrod credits Knox’s liberal arts foundation for shaping her artistic approach. “I think the best artists are those who have experiences beyond the craft,” she says. “At Knox, I took poetry and literature and political science classes. I was part of a fearless community. All of that helped me grow as a person—and made me a better artist.”

Today, she still loves the live energy of theatre but is eager to keep exploring the film world. “In theatre, it’s exciting because it’s a different experience every night,” she says. “But in film, you can’t be too precious because you don’t have the rehearsal process you have in theatre. You can’t overthink it. You just have to go for it.” Recent projects like Odessa have reaffirmed her love of storytelling through film—and her drive to keep seeking out meaningful, challenging roles.

For young artists entering or considering the profession, Elrod has this advice. “Feed your creative spirit.” Whether it’s music, writing, dance, art, acting, or whatever your passion, Elrod says to always “find your artistic community and nurture that little creative muscle as much as you can.”