Today we’d like to introduce you to Lina Zinecker.
Hi Lina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Performing, whether it’s been on stage or in front of the camera, has always been a big part of my life. As a child, I did ballet and loved performing in front of a crowd, wearing costumes, and transforming into someone else. When I was eleven my parents and I moved from Germany to Copenhagen, Denmark.
In order to make friends at school I took part in different theater productions and noticed how much fun I had that I continued acting on stage even after I had made friends. Three years later, my parents and I moved back to Germany and I started to perform in musicals, short films and plays.
When I was in high school I decided that I wanted to study acting in New York and LA. American movies and TV series had always been a big part of my life and I wanted to be in the places where theater and movies were created! One year before graduating I spent 4 weeks attending the New York Film Academy’s Advanced Acting for the Camera Workshop. That to me just confirmed that the US and New York City were where I needed to be to get my training.
A year later I began studying acting at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) at both their New York and Los Angeles campus. Since completing their program I’ve been living and working in New York City. I’m grateful to have been a part of commercials, award-winning short films and to regularly perform in front of an audience!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’m proud to say that I’ve been able to steadily advance in my career and make progress since graduating from AMDA. I think what really helps is connecting with people in your industry! I didn’t know anybody when I moved here and had to meet people on my own and get my foot in the door/ keep it open myself. I met amazing people at one of my first theater productions after graduating.
One of them ended up hiring me for two of her films, and we ended up winning awards together. You never know who you’ll meet! People you’re working next to might end up hiring you/ referring you to someone else. It’s a small world here; everyone knows everyone. My advice would be to really connect with others. And obviously: audition, audition, audition!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m passionate about performing on camera/ stage! My favorite genre is comedy, so any project that involves jokes and making others laugh gets me excited. It’s especially fun to shoot comedic material since you can sometimes feel everyone trying not to laugh and break character because you only get so many takes.
There’s a light-heartedness on set while also being aware of the added pressure to ‘get it right’!
‘Our Sense of Humor’, a short film I was in, started out as a scene that was part of a sketch comedy show.
The audience loved it so much that it was later turned into a short film.
I got to perform in both productions and seeing the difference between performing the same script on stage vs. filming it was very interesting and taught me so much!
I also do a lot of improv with The American Immersion Theater and Freestyle Repertory Theater. What I cherish about those experiences is that I never really know how the crowd is going to react or what they might say.
I have to quickly respond while staying in character. The roles that I play when I do improv have comedic elements but are also very dramatic and really challenge me as a performer.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Oh, wow! That’s such a good question. I remember living in Copenhagen with my parents and the church that we were a part of hosted many events for people to come together and get to know each other. Those events were usually for adults, so all of us kids got to hang out in the basement of the church.
We came up with the silliest games that usually included someone switching off the light and everyone being scared, but it was the best/funniest time ever!
I also loved when my parents and I would go on vacation together, and we’d spend hours just being at the beach, soaking up the sun.
No stress or worries just sunshine and trying out new food.
Back in Copenhagen, we had annual passes to a theme park called ‘Bakken’. Lots of core memories were formed during that time!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.linazinecker.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linainnyc/?hl=en
