Meet Lindsey Normington | Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lindsey Normington and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lindsey, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I think the only way to “make it” in any creative field – outside of being born with money or family ties – is to bet on yourself 100% of the time. This doesn’t mean you’re going to win every time, or even come close, but you have to believe in yourself in a world that is stacked against you. Deciding to move to LA from Michigan to “become an actor” is not any sort of behavior I’d had modeled to me. No one told me that I would be able to transition from being a very out and proud stripper to an actor in an Oscar award winning movie in a way that would appear somewhat seamless. If someone had told me that seven years ago when I moved out here, I wouldn’t have believed it myself. On one hand I knew I was operating from delusion, and on the other hand there is nothing that could have stopped me. Of course I live with many doubts, but at the end of the day the voice that says “I know this is for me,” outweighs them all.

Sometimes I feel that I’ve come to this current place in my career in such an unlikely way that the industry doesn’t really know what to do with me. I don’t quite know of any other actors who’ve had a similar trajectory as me, and that can begin to feel lonely. Still, when I begin to see others like me take risks to follow their dreams, or when I see the industry itself begin to take risks on others like me, I am reminded the somewhat lonely times are to serve a greater purpose.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been an actor since I was around 11 years old, acting in different school plays and musicals. I eventually realized there was no other profession I felt extremely interested in pursuing, and needing money, I began stripping so I could pay my college tuition and save up to eventually make the move to Los Angeles. Thus began an 8 year love affair with dancing that took me to places I never imagined were possible. Through stripping I found independence, artistic freedom, confidence, and leadership skills I never knew I possessed. It’s an extremely difficult job, with high highs and low lows. The sex work industry has both broken my heart and given me everything I credit my success to.

In 2022, my comrades at Equity Strippers Noho and I began striking over unsafe working conditions at our strip club Star Garden. This resulted in a nearly year-long picket outside of the club and our eventual unionization with Actors’ Equity. We are the second strip club to unionize ever in the United States, and the first to organize under Equity leadership. It’s a long and well documented story that unfortunately/fortunately has not and may never see its true conclusion, and it is the most meaningful thing I’ve ever had the privilege of being a part of.

The most unexpected thing to come out of the strike for me was the fact that it gave my acting much more visibility. Suddenly I was attached to something very novel and current and sensational, and it somehow caused some very magnanimous individuals to become curious about my acting. Most notably, I was given the life changing opportunity to audition for Sean Baker’s Anora, and booked the role of “Diamond.” My favorite director gave me a role in a film that eventually broke records for Oscar wins, and I got to stand on stage at the 97th Academy Awards as we accepted our win for Best Picture. I don’t know how long exactly it will take me to process these facts, but it really fucking happened.

So now what? Not to sound crazy, but really where does a person go from there? I have worked insanely hard to get to this place, but at the same time I can feel as if I’ve typed some kind of cheat code into the Sims, and I’ve arrived at a pretty staggering destination, perhaps without necessarily having the life experience to intuitively know the next steps. What I know is that I love to work, and I’d pretty much rather spend another day on set than do basically anything else. I also have so much to say as an artist which extends beyond my own acting. I want to continue to play all different kinds of roles, but I don’t think I will feel complete until I am able to write and direct my own work in my own voice. Right now I’m working on kicking my own ass in this direction and letting go of the fear that we all experience, but which hasn’t stopped any of the amazing artists included in my shoutout. They show me that anything and everything is possible.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Recently I had the pleasure of seeing a women’s wrestling show for the first time ever, put on by the group Circle 6. It was literally the most exciting live entertainment I’ve seen in years, so I’d recommend that to just about anyone.

If they’re like me and didn’t know Korean food existed before escaping the Midwest, I would take them to Dan Sung Sa to eat. Then maybe we’d go see a borderline esoteric movie at the Vista, the Lumiere, or the New Beverly, so we could pat ourselves on the backs for being the true cinephiles of the world and gossip about who knows who.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
During a particularly slow time in the tv & film industry it can be so difficult to keep the faith and double down on telling stories that matter. While I want everyone to have enough opportunities to work, I think trimming the fat can be a good thing in terms of output of huge studio projects. What I love about independent film is that it doesn’t rely on getting the green light from 40,000 different people who’ve come to the consensus that a story is just inoffensive enough to appeal to a wide audience. I am obsessed with artists that can combine raw ambition with professionalism and follow-through. Nothing can stop stories that truly want to be told from being told – they will always find their way regardless of money, social capital, etc.

I have been so lucky to work with many amazing independent writers and directors on projects where passion was truly at the forefront of their process. There are so many I could list, but off the top of my head I’d like to shoutout Zach Lorkiewicz, Margot Budzyna, Jacob Hurwitz- Goodman, Kiyan Ahmadi, and Kevin Luna.

Website: https://lindseynormington.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsey.bug/?hl=en

Other: https://strippercoop.com/

Image Credits
Joelle Grace Taylor, Logan White