Biography

Shaun Rylee is an award-winning actress, screenwriter, director and filmmaker in the French Riviera near Cannes.

She earned a university BA degree in Film Studies and Production, while also acting in several plays, horror films and music videos before going on to complete a graduate degree in Psychology. Professionally, her industry work has spanned several states, first behind the scenes in Los Angeles, CA in casting and infomercials, then Colorado, where she filmed The Lone Ranger. She was offered a role in a Japanese horror film in 2011. The following year, she worked for the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC and later, the Austin Film Festival in 2019.

Upon making her way back to Los Angeles, she quickly scored her first television role on AMC's Mad Men. The recognition from this role paved the way toward being scouted for several period-centric projects, including the first season of Masters of Sex on Showtime, the mini-series Mob City on TNT, and the films Jersey Boys and Love and Mercy.

She has been featured on such shows as Community, Scandal, Hello Ladies, Parks and Recreation, Californication and HBO's Newsroom, as well as a handful of hip-hop music videos. In the award-winning short, Laboratory Conditions, she served as a body double and stand-in for Marissa Tomei, and had roles in the festival-winning feature Damn Foreigners and scientific thriller Transcendence, her third film that starred Johnny Depp.

As an independent filmmaker, Shaun Rylee creates within the drama, thriller, romantic and experimental genres. In the upcoming features, 'better.' and 'Vol et Nocturne,' she serves as producer and costar, both projects in which she wrote based on actual events from her life. Together, her films and screenplays have earned 217 awards (as of mid-August 2024), with 107 top prizes. Her short film, 'Question Everything' (2020) started on the festival circuit in late 2021, garnering 90 accolades at festivals around the world, including 42 festival wins. The film was made during the pandemic with actor Jason R Moore and her trusted filmmaking team of Scott Engrotti and Stefano Milla. 'You Don't Deserve This' was the followup experimental drama, earning 64 awards with 32 wins (as of mid-August 2024). Both 'Question Everything' and 'You Don't Deserve This' played at venues co-current during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, with 'You Don't Deserve This' screening during Marché du Film via Cannes 7th Art Awards, where it won an Audience Award for Experimental FIlm. 'Question Everything' earned Finalist (2nd place) at the French Riviera Film Festival during this time.

Shaun Rylee continues to also write screenplays and focus on upcoming productions. After relocating to Las Vegas for a few years, she now resides on the French Riviera, where she is creating film projects for France and co-productions with other countries.
- IMDb mini biography by: MK