Climbing the success ladder is tough—especially in the entertainment business—and actress Lindsey Morgan is a true testament of that. The Texas-born-and-bred beauty had aspirations of being an actress, but fear often blocked her path. That is, until she decided to just go for it.
The journey of making her dream into a reality wasn’t an easy one. Lindsey had to endure her fair share of bad auditions, minor roles and hearing flat out “no.” But, like any tale of the underdog, Ms. Morgan finally found her way to the top. First, it was with an Emmy-nominated role on ABC’s General Hospital. Now she’s starring in the CW sci-fi drama, The 100.
Flip to see what else Lindsey had to say about her come-up story. —Martinique Swan
Photo Credit: Marc Cartwright
Vixen: How did you get into acting?
Lindsey: I’ve always liked acting since I was little. I kind of describe myself as a 50% introvert and 50% extrovert. I love acting, but I was always kind of scared of it. I was very shy and I had stage fright growing up. I feel like I’ve worked up my nerve my entire childhood, but when I went off to college, that’s when I finally decided to pursue acting. Out of everybody’s astonishment. Fast forward, I am in college doing plays and one day my professor told me I should pursue film. I still to this day don’t know if he was implying that I was an awful theater actress (laughs). I lived in Austin, Texas and they had a small film community going on there, so I decided to pursue it.
It was a rocky start. I had a really bad agent and went on a lot of bad auditions except for one as a series regular on NBC’s Friday Night Lights, which was filmed in Austin. I got very close to becoming a series regular on Friday Night Lights, so close it freaked me out. I didn’t get the role, but that gave me the confidence boost to think “Hey, I can do this.” I made the bold decision to drop out of school and moved to LA. I enrolled in classes in L.A. and kind of created my own little college, which included 20 hours of rehearsing. I was never a big fish in Texas, but in L.A. I was microscopic out of a million. It was hard at times, but I worked my ass off. I remember one of my first L.A. auditions Lacey Chabert from Mean Girls was there and I said to myself: “Oh God, I am moving back to Texas.”
Tell us about The 100.
The 100 is based on a post-apocalyptic America 97 years after a devastating nuclear war. The entire human race is knocked out because of these nuclear bombs and the only survivors were residents of the space stations that were orbiting the Earth at the beginning of the war. The space station itself is breaking down, vital supplies are scarce and residents don’t know if they should go through a painful death or just go back to Earth. The government decides to send 100 juvenile delinquents to test the waters and see if the earth is livable again. The show is basically about the 100 against this new world and the 100 against themselves because they have to work together to coexist in this new society.
Any crazy fan stories ?
I was on General Hospital at the time and I was in the gym locker room changing. All of a sudden this old Russian woman started yelling at me, ” Christina!”—my character’s name on General Hospital—she then proceeded to lecture me about my character. It was the weirdest encounter.
What was your first job ?
I was the assistant manager of a TV warehouse in Houston, Texas. I only called myself the assistant manager because it was just me and the manager who worked there. The warehouse was such a small mom & pop type store, it was amazing we stayed open as long as we did. The store was also a buy, use, sell… which was interesting. We had a lot of crazy customers trying to sell us their shit, usually shit no one wanted (laughs).
What did you buy with you first big paycheck?
A pretty pair of Christian Louboutins! I got a big paycheck from a movie I did and to celebrate I bought a pair. After that, I told myself I would wear them forever (laughs).
What movie or TV show inspired you to become an actress?
My mom took me to see Big starring Tom Hanks when I was little. I remember the FAO Schwartz keyboard scene and how fun that was. That moment made me want to be an actress.
Worst rejection?
When I didn’t get the Friday Night Lights gig. I was pretty heartbroken about that.
What was it like seeing yourself on screen for the first time?
I was in this indie movie called Detention and I went to a private screening. It was cool and also cringe-worthy. I was like, “Oh my god, I gotta get a nose job (laughs).”