Meet Sammi Lappin | Writer & Actor

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

Hi Sammi, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
To me, risk taking means going for it and trying the new thing simply because you want to do the thing, regardless of your level of experience. If no one else is asking you to do the thing you wanna do, do it yourself! Utilize every resource you have, and jump in feet first to spend your time how you want to – you’ll learn and grow a ton in the process. A great example of this is my sitcom webseries “Marnie & Nora” that I create with my good friend, Ann Hurd: we started during quarantine and through my writing and her editing, found ways to act together when isolated apart. Fast forward to Season 2 of the show, which has just been released on YouTube, and we went all in; now able to work in the same space, we followed some giant, wild ideas to new challenges and new heights of success, and learned a huge amount in the process. Would it have been much easier to stick to the simple style we had pulled off before? Maybe. But did we have an absolute blast shooting for the stars, and living out bucket-list-level storytelling dreams on our tiny budget? One thousand percent.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m an actor and writer who has always preferred to do things on her own terms, and film and theatre are no exception. Through my adoration of these mediums, and working closely with folks who know way more than I do, I’ve learned the skills to produce and complete my own projects – an ability I have found incredibly freeing among the uncertainty of an artist’s life. Reorienting my brain from ‘waiting to be chosen’ for projects, to the confidence in making my own projects when I have a story to tell has resulted in getting to spend a lot more of my time doing what I love. That’s not to say I haven’t grown exponentially by working with amazing new folks, but it does mean that I have also been able to be in control of opportunities to consistently expand and build new creative skills, and through that I thrive.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My itinerary for a week would definitely be based around food! Blue Jam for brunch, Tipsy Cow for a burger, and Nomura Sushi with their housemade pineapple sake for dinner. My go-to sights are the gorgeous Getty Museum, the Santa Monica Pier, and any number of art galleries downtown. On our way home, we’re stopping by Happy Days Café for gluten-free churros, fresh mint coffee, and coconut ice cream.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to Ann Hurd, my magnificent partner-in-crime on the series “Marnie & Nora”. She’s an incredibly talented performer, voiceover artist, writer, editor, painter, and all around an amazing friend and killer teammate. Her dedication to her craft is unmatched, and she’s one of those people you can’t wait to have all the success, because she deserves every inch of it. Ann is a hilarious, brilliant human, and I am so grateful to call her my friend and collaborator.

Website: sammilappin.com

Instagram: @problychameleon

Twitter: @problychameleon

Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/marnieandnora

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3204017/

Image Credits
@JadeBlairsPhotography, Marnie & Nora Production Team