Rei Hance[1] (born Heather Donahue; December 22, 1974) is an American retired actress, credited under her birth name during her acting career.

[5] After completing her studies, she worked as an administrative office temp worker while appearing in New York stage productions.

[11] The promotion for the film was so convincing that Donahue's mother received sympathy cards from people who believed that her daughter was actually dead or missing.

[9] Once released, the film received unexpected acclaim from critics and became a resounding box office success–grossing over US$248 million worldwide,[12] making it one of the most successful independent movies of all time.

[13] Donahue later admitted there was a considerable amount of backlash against her because of her association with the film, which led to her having threatening encounters with people, and difficulty finding other employment.

[9][14] A year after the release of The Blair Witch Project, she appeared in the independent film Home Field Advantage, and alongside Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jason Biggs in the romantic comedy Boys and Girls.

In 2002, she had a co-starring role in the science fiction miniseries Taken, for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television.

[20] The same interview revealed that she was writing for, and intended to produce, a sitcom tentatively called The High Country, based on her experiences in marijuana farming.

For all the talk of Hollywood being populated with jerks and sharks, these guys were actually being considerate and were genuinely concerned that this would not be any more disruptive to my life than was inevitable".