The Mover And Shaker: Lindsey Normington on Playing the Villain in Anora, Representing a Community and Unionising a Strip Club
Words: Ramona Slick | Photographer: Andrea Riba | Production coordinator: Sofia Riba | Stylist: Valeria Semushina | Hair and Makeup: Emma Croft for Exclusive Artists | Videographer: Hannah Ceisler | Gaffers: Dylan Doren and Jonah Garland
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Sex work and political activism have always gone hand-in-hand. Take International Whore’s Day, for example; our community’s day of honor marks the anniversary of a protest against working conditions. Our mere existence as laborers has always been highly politicized, with systemic whorephobia to battle at every turn. At industry gatherings, you rub shoulders with socialist strippers, anarchist porn stars, and communist dominatrixes. As a community, we have remained fiercely organized and unrelenting in our fight for decriminalization and protection in the workplace.
In a post-FOSTA-SESTA world, our industry shifted in a dangerous direction. California limited labor rights in strip clubs by switching to employee status, undercutting the dancers. When I was scrolling on Instagram in 2022, I saw posts about a group of LA strippers striking at their club. I was thrilled to see them fighting for the right to work safely and shared post after post to my social media, hoping to spread the word.
Fast-forward two years, and I’m talking to Lindsey Normington, a featured actress in ANORA and the leader of the LA union effort. I’ll be honest: I’m fangirling a little bit. Not only did I see her give her all as Diamond on a gorgeous 35mm print last week, but I also know she’s made significant waves for our community. While her character in ANORA and her political reputation are both passionate, she speaks with a calm yet bubbly demeanor. Dedicated to making our voices heard through her organizing and acting, Lindsey refuses to be ignored.
How did you get your start in acting and the adult industry?
I have always wanted to be an actor. I have been in community theatre since I was a kid. When I went to college, I was unsure what I wanted to do because I was interested in creative pursuits. I was always questioning my survival. I started becoming interested in the idea of sex work and stripping particularly. I started selling panties. It's been a decade for me.
We started at the same time then.
This was on Tumblr and Reddit. Eventually, I was like, “Okay, I'm good at alluring people and using my sexuality as a tool to get money. I think the stripping thing- it's not just an idea, I think I can do this”.
JACKET: DOLCE & GABBANA | LONGSLEEVE: COS | BRA: LA PERLA | PANTIES: COU COU | TIGHTS: CALZEDONIA
I’d heard about you before ANORA through sex work organizing. How did you get involved in that?
I was dancing in Los Angeles before the pandemic, and then we lost our jobs. I got involved in virtual shows, which expanded my ideas about the creativity that stripping can hold and, more importantly, how strippers don't need random men to run the show.
Once things started opening back up, I went to a club called Star Garden in 2021. I worked there for a while until safety and security took a turn for the worse.
What happened?
In March 2022, we presented a petition asking for more safety guidelines at work. We were promptly locked out of the club. We were on strike, picketing for eight months. We were striking even longer than that and unionized with Actors Equity. We’re the first club to unionize with Equity and the second strip club to unionize in the United States. And then we went back to work. There was a lot of crazy union-busting, which was very sad and disheartening. Now, we're on an indefinite strike again.
“Okay, I'm good at alluring people and using my sexuality as a tool to get money. I think the stripping thing- it's not just an idea, I think I can do this”.
I have been following your strike since the beginning. I am in massive solidarity. Thank you for doing the work. Were you acting during this time too?
I've been consistently acting throughout these past six years in Los Angeles. This became a big opportunity, for which I'm very grateful.
The theatre kid-to-sex worker pipeline is so real, especially for strippers. You can never take the performer out of someone.
Yeah, the reason that sex workers make great performers, or particularly actors, is that we have all of this life experience that can be injected into a role. I'm very excited that filmmakers are starting to recognize sex workers as an underrepresented community. Literal representation by sex workers to play sex workers is important. I also want to go a step further. It doesn't have to be a sex worker role. I'm ready for everyone to see the value that we have in other artistic fields. They feel like they have to separate that part to be taken seriously. My life is an experiment to see if you can be loud and proud.
How were you approached for an Anora?
I recognized Sean at a party. Later, he messaged me and said, “Hey, I'm seeing about the strike and immunization effort. I'd like to talk.” And so you can imagine, that's the greatest thing that could happen to me. He asked me a million questions about my experience, particularly what it was like with the strike and the union, but also told me about the film. Finally, I did the tape, I was cast, and the next month, I was out there shooting.
“The reason that sex workers make great performers, or particularly actors, is that we have all of this life experience that can be injected into a role.”
Tell me about your character, Diamond. How was it being that character?
If you ask Diamond who the star of the movie is, it's Diamond. There's always a girl who thinks that she runs the show. She is a character who exists like a foil to Ani. Competition, jealousy, and security will always happen in the club. She feels like, “I have to scream to be heard.” There’s a lot to play with.
Did you draw from any personal experience for the role?
I'm a lot friendlier, but I recognize this jealousy inside myself. Diamond is a ticking clock in this film. When I started out stripping, that was more of my attitude as well. “This is about me, getting my money, and not being friends with anyone.”
How does this film reflect our community?
There's just so much pressure to represent the community in a good way. You experience the whole film through her eyes. You can't help but identify with her. She's not a witty side character or a dead body. To me, this story is a stitch in a wide tapestry of sex work stories of sex work. I'm hoping we hear more. Change is happening gradually.
DRESS: D&G | TIGHTS: WOLFORD | SHOES: MAISON MARGIELA
“To me, this story is a stitch in a wide tapestry of sex work stories of sex work. I'm hoping we hear more. Change is happening gradually.”
What are your thoughts on the ending of ANORA?
I love everyone's different interpretations. I love that so many of Sean's films have interpretive endings because you become a collaborator at that moment. That's why it sticks with you. I want to know what happened after. To me, she's gonna get back up and go back to work tomorrow. We've all been through an experience that ended that way to some extent.
How would you decompress after a work experience like what we saw Ani go through?
You gotta reach out. That's a really hard thing about being a sex worker; there are only so
many people who can take in a story. You can't always call your mom, that's hard. You have to have a community of people who understand what you're going through. You also have to take that sensation and put it into something creative.
You should be proud. I appreciate the work that you've done to make sure that workers are not exploited.
I'm very happy to be where I am right now. I've been training all my life for this moment. I'm so grateful to have had all that experience to propel me into the next chapter of my life. I'll always identify as a stripper. I've had people make fun of me at different times, like, “She's gonna be a stripper forever,” as if it's a bad thing. Like, “Yes, I will. And I'm extremely proud.” I love sex workers. I'm so proud to belong to a community of the most passionate, creative people I've ever met, and I'm excited for the world to see our stories. I want to inspire them to tell their own stories.
