Interview with Stephanie Lynn

Stephanie Lynn grew up in Vermont and was always performing – whether putting on plays for her parents as a child, or doing shows in high school, Stephanie was a natural actor. But when the time came for college, Stephanie took a detour: “I was avoiding the fact that I was an artist and went to a normal college instead of art school – I tried to be a doctor for a semester, a lawyer…” Through a Fine Art’s minor in painting, and various acting classes Stephanie attempted to remain true to herself.

When she graduated and moved to New York, Stephanie still felt attracted to law and ended up working as a legal aide in hopes of determining whether or not she wanted to sign her own “death sentence known as Law School,” while knowing that her true passion was art. Interestingly enough, Stephanie was attracted to law (specifically litigation) for many of the reasons that she is attracted to acting.

“Being a litigator is a lot like being an actor because it’s all about relating to people. It’s about understanding the art of manipulation – one way or another, for better or worse.”

And so, Stephanie came full circle and rediscovered her passion for art. “Coming from a family of artists, I've always had a lot of art in my life – I don’t think I could ever spend a day away from art.” One of her favorite quotes is ‘Life is short but Art is long’ because it begs the question: “what do we even matter in the grand scheme of things? Art is what people leave behind.”

To that end, Stephanie laughs about a friend who was mad at her for not following politics and election news and on a similar note Stephanie cites her disillusionment as a partial inspiration. “It's one of the cheesier reasons why I'm drawn to acting. I feel like if you really care about an issue, then making a film is what will change people. Voting doesn't do anything. In politics people don't know what to think.” She continues: “When art affects other people, it does what it's truly meant to do – and film is a great forum for that. Schindler's List is a great example of keeping the memory of Holocaust survivors alive.”

As for other inspirations, Stephanie references Kate Blanchett in the role of Bob Dylan. “You forget that she’s a woman. It’s amazing that she was able to pull that off.” Stephanie is also a fan of Julia Roberts for more reasons than one – one of which is that “Roberts kinda looks like my mom. My mom is also my inspiration.” She goes on to muse how she would love to play Julia Roberts’s daughter at some point in the future.

Regarding Stephanie’s recent projects she’s doing a web series called Sister's Grimm, about crime-fighting-fairy-tale women. Stephanie is Sleeping Beauty. She’s also been doing a lot of commercials and most recently an Indie feature entitled The Graduates which she looks forward to promoting in Ocean City.

As for theater or film, Stephanie prefers film although it’s a close call. “They’re not necessarily comparable. Film is all about ‘the experience’ in a very real way -- whereas with theater you have to magnify. With theater, there’s a totally different energy and experience and there’s nothing like the high of performing in front of people. With film the camera gets inside of you; it picks up every subtle little move. You're supposed to live out moments in front of the camera.”

On a final note, Stephanie states “I hate really preachy political films, but I do like documentaries and films that do things in a subtle way. I think it's important to see all the sides of different issues. On that note, people should be careful about what they put into films.”