Meet Romy Nordlinger

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Romy Nordlinger. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Romy, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
I truly believe that there is enough to go around. Enough work, enough of everything. I personally feel better when I am able to give back or help out even if that help is not returned. It always comes back to you indirectly and ultimately, the way I live my life is far more important to me than what I achieve. That is not to say that I don’t want to achieve great things, but I believe that what we do is ultimately tied to who we are as human beings. Your success is not just a sum of your resume highlights, but rather a composition of your actions, your thoughts, your generosity of spirit. At the end of the day, I have to live with myself and when I look in the mirror, I want to be proud of who I am. There is great joy and dignity in that. I notice that some people are perhaps frightened to help or be generous with a lead or a referral or whatever it may be because they may be feeling that there’s not enough for them. But when you let go and know that there is plenty of abundance for everyone, you realize that it’s not a race and that you’re fine where you are and with who you are, This leads to ease and comfortability with yourself – and happiness! Ultimately, isn’t that what we all wanted to do? Be happy and content and to share and to be ourselves.

Someone once told me that it never really ends, the ‘success ladder’. We’re all on a rung of it and ultimately, no matter how far up we move there’s always someone underneath us, and there’s always someone above us. That’s the nature of career and life and everything. No matter what we do or how far up we get, there’s always going to be someone who may be on a higher rung of the ladder, but there’s also someone looking up to you on the ladder in the same way.

There are moments when you are ‘up’ and feeling creative and things seem to be flowing your way.. But there are other moments where you might be feeling stuck or less secure or have gone out of your comfort zone – or had something challenging happen in your life that you are contending with or a disappointment perhaps. We are ALL constantly up and down in that ladder of life. No one is exempt from the highs and the lows of life and we ourselves are the only ones that can truly define our own success and make meaning of this life we’ve been gifted with our own way. I prefer to live knowing I’ve done all I can to be kind and giving on the journey. There have been times when I’ve reached out for advice or help and even one word of encouragement or lead makes such a difference! There’s always enough to go around.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m an NYC based actor/writer/producer and audiobook narrator. Just as it sounds, I wear a lot of hats! Basically, I’m a storyteller.

I graduated from the University Of The Arts with a BFA in Theatre and went on to perform at regional theatre’s as well as numerous Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway productions.
My film/tv credits include many supporting and leading roles in independent films and co-star/guest starring roles on Law & Order, BULL, MANIFEST and FBI.

As a best-selling SOVAS Award winning Audiobook Narrator, I’ve narrated over 300 books.

I’ve also been a theatre teaching artist in libraries and homeless shelters for over 12 years. It’s been an honor and a joy to help cultivate literacy and social skills, while fostering art and self-awareness/esteem in underserved communities throughout NYC.

I began writing plays about 8 years ago and some of them include THE FEELING PART, BROADVILLE, S*X & SEALING WAX, LIPSHTICK and currently I’m working on a play called MOTHER OF ALL CHOICES (for which I received a grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Center) that deals with choices in mothering/or not mothering and societal influences that seek to limit a woman’s choice.

Currently I’m very excited about my original solo play GARDEN OF ALLA which had its West Coast premiere in LA at Theatre West this past summer which I wrote and performed. It’s just been nominated for three Robby Awards – LA’s oldest and most prestigious award for theatre. I was nominated for best actress (opposite two of my favorite actresses of all time – Elizabeth McGovern and Amy Brenneman), and the show was also nominated for best video design and best sound design. I’m very proud of the talented team and the director Lorca Peress. It’s a piece that I’ve been working on for over five years and it’s taken a great deal of willpower and work as it’s played around the country and gone through many edits and revisions. It tells the story of Alla Nazimova who was a meteoric success (not unlike the Madonna of her times from 1916 thru the 20’s). She was also an LGBTQ+ trailblazer. The Shubert’s named a Broadway theatre after her she then went on to become the highest paid silent film actress in Hollywood and one of the first female writers and directors in Hollywood. Her SALOME is noted as being a landmark film in LGBTQ+ history and her GARDEN OF ALLA on 8080 Sunset Boulevard was hailed as ‘The Camelot of Hollywood’ and a place of artistic and s*xual freedom for the greatest of stars, writers, directors, composers. It was easier to say who didn’t check in than who did! You could really see the stars ‘come out’ there – and the place is legendary. But her story has been all but written out of the history books.

I feel that now more than ever, while we are again under censorship for our s*xual choices and identities, we must regain our history and tell stories of these trailblazers that have paved the way long before there were even words for it. We are standing on the shoulders of giants! I’ve watched so many varied audiences be very moved by the show – and I hope they feel empowered to tell their own stories. That is the power of art. And what a great feeling that is!

The show has gone through MANY incarnations (over a five year period) and at last, it is in the form I’ve always imagined it to be in. A hybrid of film and theatre – Nazimova comes back and ‘directs’ the story of her life via film – a beautiful silent film that unfolds behind me was created by Adam Burns and a sumptuous original Soundtrack by Nick T. Moore. It has played at many terrific NYC theatre’s and at The Kennedy Center.

I’m also currently working on the screenplay of GARDEN OF ALLA.

I’m in final edits for my short film THE FEELING PART (based on my full length play. It’s the first film I’ve written and it’s about an entirely different subject – loss, suicide and addiction. It’s a surreal and hopeful story and I worked with a talented film team (Hissy Fit Films). I believe that by speaking of subjects, such as depression/suicide, that have such a stigma, gives people permission to feel (perhaps) less alone, Less stigmatized. It should be in the festival circuit by winter and I’m very excited about it and the creative journey was a huge learning curve. It’s so empowering to find ways to tell stories that might, hopefully, make a difference in this world. As a storyteller I am committed to bringing our shared human condition (all aspects of it) to the light. I hope by putting my stories out there, audiences can feel empowered to tell their own stories!

www.romynordlinger.com
www.gardenofalla.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The most important lesson I’ve had to both learn, and unlearn by breaking habits – is to be true to myself. This has come from learning about myself, my goods and my not as goods, accepting them, and finding out what is most important to me – empathy, kindness & a sense of gratitude and appreciation. It hasn’t been easy and If I were starting again and I were to be offered any advice I think, be who you are would be the best advice I could hear – or give. You are what you create and what you bring to the world.

Also, I think giving yourself permission to fail, whatever that means, is incredibly important. There will be successes and there will be some things that are not as successful. All are equally important. It is the trying and the getting back up and doing it again even if you have not received outside recognition that is most challenging, and most important. Your trying IS the success!

When I first arrived in NYC after college, and even during college, I felt that I had to ‘be’ a certain type of person or live up to a certain standard. To please everyone. To try to fit in and and be approved of. It led to much ‘compare and despair’ and to not being authentically IN my own body. When you’re thinking of what others think of you, you can’t really act/write fully. You’re too in your head. I think a part of me felt I had to hide who I really was. And there’s always so much emphasis, particularly as a woman, to LOOK a certain way. As I got older, and it took MANY years to do this, I finally whittled away the mask. Now I believe in success on my own terms. Being the best person I can be. For myself. That is not to say that I still don’t feel pressure sometimes to ‘be more’ but, I’ve cultivated a sense of – myself. It’s really true, that thing you hear in acting school or what someone told you sometime or another – YOU are what makes the part or the text special. Your particular viewpoint. And no one else is exactly like you. Now I don’t try to hide my imperfections, they are part of what makes me human and makes me – me. I think my work has grown enormously for that reason. And I also just feel more comfortable in my own skin in general.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is by a man named Forrest Church who, on his deathbed, wanted to impart to his daughter the most important thing he had learned in life – “Do what you want, want what you have and be who you are.” It is through creating and even amidst the difficulties, that I feel most alive. Most myself. To thine own self be true.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
One of my acting professors in college, the immensely gifted Walter Dallas, noticed that I was insecure in myself and it was affecting my ability to express myself. To believe in myself. I was very grateful that he took me aside to speak about that and offer me this advice –and I’ll never forget it! He said “No matter what is happening in your day or in your life, or if you have a huge pimple on your face or something like that, just let it shine. Don’t try to hide it. Own it.”

I must admit that when he said it it really didn’t make as much of an impression on me as it did later on in life. I must’ve been ready to take it on years after and to finally really understand it. And I always think of it. Just let yourself, even the imperfections, shine. It sounds so simple, and yet it’s been challenging. At least for me.

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Image Credits
Charles Chessler Photography Bryan Hamilton Garry Kluger

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