Miranda Rae Mayo Is a Fearless Badass

Miranda Rae Mayo does not bullshit. Ever.

In fact, the Fresno native delights in telling it exactly how it it. Even when discussing her character Rose in horror king Wes Craven’s final film (he died in 2015) The Girl in the Photographs — a gruesome tale about a woman who receives photos of brutally murdered young women in her mail — Mayo is happy to provide a frank description:  “If there was a house on fire, she’s not going to bother saving anybody but her damn self,” Mayo laughs. “She might even light up a doobie in the flames on the way out.”

It’s funny that she mentions a fire, because Mayo’s other notable role at the moment is Stella, a badass, fearless firefighter on the Dick Wolf drama Chicago Fire. Between the two jobs, she’s seen plenty of menacing stuff, and Mayo maintains that she’s not scared of anything. We decided to put her to the test.

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Would you rather never watch movies again or only be able to watch horror movies?

Only ever watch horror movies because otherwise that’s just a terrible life. No movies? You might as well just end it all.

Would you rather wake up and realize no one knows who you are or wake up and realize everyone thinks you’re someone else?

Huh. So my family and friends won’t know me? I’d probably go with that one. That way, I don’t have to try to keep up with the stories about who they think I am. They’ll think I’m insane if I’m always yelling “I never said that! That’s not me!” It would be so frustrating.

Would you rather feel something touch your leg in a lake or hear footsteps when you’re alone in a house?

Oh god, that’s a good one! Oh shit. I say the lake because if I’m just thinking factually, there’s usually no big lake creatures that could kill me.

That you know of.

That’s true! That I know of. I’m a pretty strong swimmer but if I was in the house, I don’t know if I’d survive.

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Would you rather spend the night in an abandoned mental hospital or a haunted house?

Oooooh. I mean, essentially they’re the same thing. I’m going to say a haunted house because the house is haunted but they could be nice spirits. In a mental hospital, if people died there, it probably wasn’t happily. There’s a chance that the people in the house died in a somewhat peaceful way, but the patients? No chance. It’s all about the vibes.

Would you rather have dinner with Chucky or Hannibal Lector?

Oh shit. You know what? I’m going to go ahead and assume they’re both going to kill me after the dinner so I’m going to choose Hannibal because the dinner conversation would be so much better. At least with him, I might learn something new before I die. Chucky will just say something condescending and misogynistic about women and then slit my throat. Hannibal would wine and dine me.

Would you rather become a vampire or a zombie?

A vampire. They’re gorgeous. I wouldn’t turn my family into vampires because on a very real note, half of the beauty of being alive is that it doesn’t last forever. I wouldn’t want to take that from them. I’d be the beautiful dead girl who drinks blood all alone for eternity.

Photography: Glenn Nutley
Hair and Makeup: Andrew Zepeda
Production: BP Major