What is Rachel Greenbush doing now? ‘Little House on the Prairie’ star recalls leaving more than four decades ago

Rachel Greenbush spent much of her early life in front of the camera. Best known for playing Carrie Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, she shared the role with her twin sister, Sidney. When the series ended, Rachel Greenbush and her sister were still in high school. Acting work became scarce, and both eventually left Hollywood behind to pursue careers outside the industry.

As reported by The Daily Mail, Rachel Greenbush went on to earn an Accounting degree from California Lutheran University. Although she moved into a corporate path, she did not completely step away from performing. In 2016, she reunited with former Little House co-star Alison Arngrim, who portrayed Nellie Oleson, for a production of The Vagina Monologues.

Decades later, Greenbush reflected on her experience leaving the show during the Little House on the Prairie Final 50th Anniversary Reunion. During the conversation, she was asked about adjusting to the end of the series after spending her “entire childhood” on it.

“It's a really strange thing about acting and all actors know it, that it's not forever, that you don't know if it's going to get renewed for another season,” Greenbush said.

“You're always on pins and needles, ‘Are we coming back? Are we not coming back?’ ”

She explained that even with that understanding, emotions often told a different story. “Logically,” you knew the truth, she said, but

“Your heart feels like it's never going to end. This is never going to end.”

Her reflection also explained the unpredictable nature of show business and how quickly life could change after early fame.

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Rachel Greenbush looks back on her childhood role in Little House on the Prairie and the cost of leaving:

Rachel Greenbush entered the entertainment industry alongside her twin sister, Sidney, with the two sharing the role of Jill Hayden in the television movie Sunshine. That early performance led the film’s director to recommend them to Michael Landon, who was assembling the cast for Little House on the Prairie.

Greenbush was cast as Carrie Ingalls at the age of three and spent much of her childhood on the series. Leaving the show at 12 marked a significant shift in her life, one she later described as emotionally challenging.

According to The New York Post, Rachel Lindsay Greenbush revisited her departure from Walnut Grove more than 40 years later, acknowledging that leaving the series in 1982 was “really hard.”

“I don’t think I really realized how much it affected me until I was much older and went on the journey of reconciliation and self-discovery,”

Greenbush shared during the show’s 50th anniversary reunion held earlier this month in Simi Valley, California. She recalled how quickly the close-knit environment dissolved once the series ended.

“Everybody separated, and I didn’t see anybody, and that was really hard for me personally because I didn’t realize how connected I had been to everybody until years later,” she continued.

Greenbush also explained that she initially avoided confronting those emotions.

“It’s almost a tragic loss, but I wouldn’t let myself acknowledge it, because I was like, ‘But this is the profession. This is what we do,'” she shared.

Reflecting on the intensity of those early relationships, she added,

“You make these really deep, intense bonds working with each other every single day, and then when it’s over, you’re just supposed to be like, ‘Okay, that was nice. Bye.’ And it’s really hard that way.”

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Rachel Lindsay Greenbush believes a new ‘Little House on the Prairie’ speaks to a simpler idea of community:

Rachel Greenbush welcomed news of a new Little House on the Prairie project and described it as a hopeful sign in a fragmented moment. Reports from Remind Magazine made clear the project was not a straight reboot of the 1974 series but a re-imagining, and Rachel Greenbush said she approved of the idea.

She had joked that she was “a prop” when she began on the show at age 3 alongside her sister, Sidney. The actress believed that the series’ emphasis on neighborliness would land in a different, necessary way in the social-media era.

“I think it’s great,” shared Greenbush .

“I think with social media, we tend to think of ourselves more as individuals and in the story of the series and the books, it’s more about community as a whole, and your neighbor. And I think that’s needed more today,” she added.

Rachel Greenbush also said fans had been asking for something with firmer historical grounding.

“A lot of the fans have really craved more historical content in the story,” said Greenbush.

She remembered the pioneers as people who faced hardship but lived simply:

“It was a hard time, but it was a simpler time”

In the end, she said she looked forward to seeing the new series.

“I can’t wait to see it come out, I can’t wait to watch it.”