Rhonda Volmer is a fictional character in the HBO series Big Love, and is portrayed by Daveigh Chase. She is introduced in the series as the 14-year-old bride-to-be of Juniper Creek cult leader Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton).[1]
Rhonda has a complicated personality. Although extremely intelligent, she is a pathological liar, known to lie in response to even the simplest questions. She lived a very sheltered life. She frequently makes baseless accusations, especially if she believes it will garner the sympathies of those around her. She has a humble, trustworthy demeanor, but she is actually very calculating and manipulative. Rhonda has dreams of moving to New York City and becoming a celebrity. She is selfish and demanding. She desperately wants people to like her but is unable to interact in a way that would actually encourage affection or friendship from anyone.
When Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and Nicolette Grant (Chloë Sevigny) fled the Juniper Creek Compound, she stowed away in their truck. She has since stayed with the Henricksons, at a shelter, and with another family. At the beginning of season 3, Rhonda is living with a group of teenagers from the compound, including Bill's half-brother Frank (Kurt David Anderson), but is later bribed by Adeleen (Mary Kay Place) to leave before she testifies.
She is partly responsible for the outing of Bill's family as polygamists at the end of season one. Rhonda is seen manipulating the family with lies, and learning about the situation with Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) entering the competition for Mother of the Year. Prior to the outing during the Mother of the Year event, Rhonda is seen giving Roman Grant a paper with a number, which he uses to call and inform an unknown person that the Henricksons are polygamists. After Roman makes his call, Rhonda smiles in satisfaction.
In season three, Rhonda appears as a witness for the prosecution in the criminal trial for selling underage brides against Roman Grant. Using her usual troubled but manipulative methods, she thinks she can lie on the stand to get the criminal conviction, then use that to secure a large civil verdict. Bill tries to convince her she won't succeed. Adeleen finds her and offers her thirty thousand dollars not to testify. She takes the money and hitchhikes to Los Angeles.
Episode four of season five introduces Rhonda as the wife of Cara Lyn's (Cassi Thomson) cousin, Verlan (Kevin Rankin), and as mother to Verlan's child Jessica.[2] In the sixth episode of season five, "D.I.V.O.R.C.E", Ben (Douglas Smith) goes to the bar in which Rhonda has been hired as an exotic dancer/singer, and the two end up sleeping together. Ben later tells Rhonda that they cannot do what they did again. Rhonda's relationship with Heather (Tina Majorino) is then slightly less antagonistic than it has been in seasons past until Ben chooses Heather over Rhonda, which leads Rhonda to tell Heather: "He's all yours, lesbo."
Daveigh Elizabeth Chase is an American actress. She began her career appearing in minor television roles before being cast as Samantha Darko in Richard Kelly's cult film Donnie Darko. She would subsequently provide the voices of Chihiro Ogino in the English dub of the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away, and Lilo Pelekai in the Disney animated feature film Lilo & Stitch and its subsequent franchise, before appearing as Samara Morgan, the child antagonist in the 2002 horror film The Ring.
Jeanne Marie Tripplehorn is an American actress. She began her career on stage, acting in several plays throughout the early 1990s, including Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters on Broadway. Her film career began with the role of a police psychologist in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct (1992). Her other film roles include The Firm (1993), Waterworld (1995) and Sliding Doors (1998). On television, she starred as Barbara Henrickson on the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011) and as Dr. Alex Blake on the CBS police drama Criminal Minds (2012–2014), and she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the 2009 HBO movie Grey Gardens.
Ervil Morrell LeBaron was the leader of a polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group who ordered the killings of many of his opponents, both within his own sect and in rival polygamous groups, using the religious doctrine of blood atonement to justify the murders. He was sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of an opponent, and died there in 1981.
Big Love is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 11, 2006, to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin portraying his wives. The series charts the family's life in and out of the public sphere in their Salt Lake City suburb, as well as their associations with a fundamentalist compound in the area. It features key supporting performances from Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie, Daveigh Chase, Matt Ross, Mary Kay Place, Bruce Dern, Melora Walters, and Harry Dean Stanton.
Grace Zabriskie is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Sarah Palmer in Twin Peaks and its film prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Lois Henrickson in Big Love, as well as in cult films such as two of David Lynch's films: Juana Durango in Wild at Heart (1990) and Visitor #1 in Inland Empire (2006). Other film roles include Norma Rae (1979), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Nickel Mountain (1984), The Big Easy (1986), Leonard Part 6 (1987), Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Child's Play 2 (1990), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), Armageddon (1998), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), and The Grudge (2004). She is also known for her recurring roles on such shows as Seinfeld, Charmed, and Ray Donovan.
William Orville "Bill" Henrickson is a fictional character in the HBO series Big Love, portrayed by Bill Paxton. The protagonist of the series, he is the head of a polygamous family. He is married to three wives, Barbara Henrickson, Nicolette Grant and Margene Heffman. He has fathered nine children with these three women, and a tenth child with Ana.
Nicolette Eugenia "Nicki" Grant is a character in Big Love, an HBO television series set among contemporary polygamists in Utah. The role is played by Chloë Sevigny. The show focuses on the family of Bill Henrickson; Nicki is the second of Henrickson's three wives, and the mother of three of his children: Cara Lynn, Wayne, and Raymond.
Barbara "Barb" Dutton Henrickson is a character on HBO's Big Love portrayed by Jeanne Tripplehorn. Barb is the first wife of Bill Henrickson. Barb was raised in a traditional Mormon family, outside polygamy. Bill and Barb met while in college, and married soon afterward. Together, they had three children. Barb almost died of uterine cancer after the birth of Tancy "Teeny" Henrickson, the youngest of Barb's children, right before Bill married his second wife Nicolette "Nicki" Grant and later, his third wife Margene Heffman.
Douglas Alexander Smith is a Canadian actor known for his work on the HBO series Big Love as Ben Henrickson. His other work includes Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Terminator Genisys, Vinyl, Miss Sloane, When We Rise, The Alienist and the second season of HBO's Big Little Lies.
Deirdre Lovejoy is an American actress.
Albert "Alby" Grant, played by Matt Ross, is a fictional character from the HBO series Big Love. The character is loosely based on the real life polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
Branka Katić is a Serbian actress known for appearing in the films Black Cat, White Cat and Public Enemies, and the TV series Big Love.
Roman Grant is a fictional character in the HBO series, Big Love, and is portrayed by Harry Dean Stanton. He was the prophet of the Juniper Creek Compound, and is the father of Nicolette Grant and Alby Grant. The character is loosely based on the real life polygamist leader Rulon Jeffs.
Benjamin "Ben" Henrickson is a character on the HBO series Big Love. He is portrayed by Douglas Smith. Ben is the second child and oldest son of Bill Henrickson with his first and once legal wife, Barbara Henrickson. As of "The Lost Boys", he is 17 years old. He becomes a priesthood holder in season 2.
Sarah Elizabeth Henrickson is a character on the HBO series Big Love. She is portrayed by Amanda Seyfried. Sarah is the eldest child of Bill Henrickson with his first and legal wife Barbara Henrickson. Though only a supporting character in the first two seasons, Sarah became popular in the show in its third season until actress Amanda Seyfried decided to depart the show to focus on her movie career at the end of season four. She returned in the series finale in the last scene.
Sister Wives is an American reality television series broadcast on TLC that premiered on September 26, 2010. The show documents the life of a polygamist family, which includes Kody Brown, his wife Robyn, ex-wives Meri, Janelle, and Christine, and their 18 children. The family began the series living in Lehi, Utah, moved to Las Vegas in 2011, and to Flagstaff, Arizona, in mid-2018.
Margene "Margie" Heffman is a character on Big Love, the fictional HBO television series set among contemporary polygamists in Utah. The role is played by Ginnifer Goodwin. The show focuses on the family of Bill Henrickson; Margene is the third of Henrickson's three wives, and the mother of three of Henrickson's children: Aaron, Lester, and Nell.
Susan Ray Schmidt is an American author, activist and lecturer, notable for her memoir and anti-polygamy activism.
The Church of the First Born of the Lamb of God, also known as the Church of the Lamb of God, was a violent Latter Day Saint group founded by Ervil LeBaron that is responsible for dozens of deaths over two decades. After his death, it was run by several of his sons.
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