Back before her Azumanga days, Rachel played a much bigger and more dramatic role as Hisami Hishaishi in Read or Die. The industry considered it an odd choice for a seasoned, talented actress to move to a lesser part in Azumanga, and the series' producers seemed to agree, using "Rachel" very little and mainly as a straight or as eye candy. Her reputation for being more prone to work effectively in serious drama rather than in comedy certainly decreased her screen time and industry scuttlebutt was that it was a poor career choice. Behind the scenes "Rachel" (real name Maki De~yuaru) fought with her agent over the choice to work in Azumanga and its possible that Ms. MakI actually fired her agent early in the series, but as the work progressed the young actress realized that she was working in a top notch production and would be receiving royalties for many years and that to included in the cast, even with very small part, would be better for her that a lead role in a minor production.
Here are some stills from her moving performance in the 11*th* episode of Read or Die "Sayonara Nippon"