North of North’s Anna Lambe on Who Gets to Tell Inuit Stories
interview + written ALBAN E. SMAJLI
Anna Lambe’s first short film remains in her laptop’s downloads folder, where she plans to keep it because it still feels “too vulnerable to share”. Her recent acting work includes In Heart of the Beast, alongside Brad Pitt, and a film with Aaron Sorkin. The Inuk actor from Iqaluit leads North of North as Siaja, a young mother finding work and somewhere to live after leaving her husband. The comedy is filmed in her hometown, with its second season premiering on Netflix on November 5. Two seasons of performing Siaja’s more embarrassing scenes have made Lambe less guarded in her own life. She singles out howling like a dog in her underwear as one experience that helped her become more willing to be silly. She also contributes to Siaja’s wardrobe, suggesting Inuit designers and naming Laura Pia Churchill’s amauti-style pink parka among her favourite pieces.
Anna wears a total look by 3.1 PHILLIP LIM and heels by COUTGO
Lambe previously hesitated to describe herself as an actor, a reluctance she now attributes to imposter syndrome. Over the past eighteen months, projects that allowed her to make her own performance choices have helped her feel confident in her work. She favours television’s pacing for the time it gives her to understand a character and develop their story. “Even if my work sucked, it no longer dictates my sense of self-worth as Anna,” she says.
Her character Yura in In the Heart of the South takes somebody else’s story to further her career. Producers regard Yura’s background as permission to access the community’s experiences through her. Lambe challenges the idea that belonging to a community automatically gives someone the authority to depict its trauma. “Basic representation should no longer be the baseline,” she says. She describes the experience of playing Yura as “sitting in the skin of someone that I could become, but never want to”.
Anna wears a coat by HYKE and heels by COUTGO
Anna wears a coat by HYKE, heels by COUTGO and a necklace by Chanel
Alban E. Smajli
Let’s start with a fun fact. You once said you made a short film yourself sitting in the downloads folder of your laptop but never released it. Is it still there?
Anna Lambe
My short film is still sitting in the downloads folder of my laptop! And she will remain there a while more. I am grateful for what making my first short taught me about filmmaking, about patience, and about the logistical feat that is every production ever made, but it still feels too vulnerable to share.
You used to call yourself “someone who acted”. Where are you with the word “actor” these days?
I think my confidence as an actor has definitely grown in the past 18 months. I have done a few projects that have pushed me as an artist and have given me a lot of creative freedom to make fun choices. After watching these projects and digesting them as an audience member I feel much more bold in calling myself an actor. All that being said, the expectations I have for myself and the line in which I finally feel like I can “call myself an actor” is purely based on my insecurities and imposter syndrome. I don’t think there’s a moment in which any actor earns the title “actor”; simply acting makes you an actor.
Why that grace doesn’t extend to myself and hasn’t until now is purely internal, and not something I project onto anyone else and encourage others to not limit themselves in the same way I have.
You also called yourself “deeply unfunny”. Two seasons of North of North must have tested that theory.
I think through North of North I have become a lot more expressive, and that includes in my sense of humour. Before North of North I was incredibly shy and introverted, and struggled with expressing myself openly and vulnerably in social settings, which I think contributed to finding myself deeply unfunny. I was always poised, thoughtful, and observant, which are good qualities to have, but I think it was a protective mechanism out of fear of people finding me annoying, unfunny, or disruptive. After two seasons of North of North and having every vulnerability broken open and broadcasted for millions to see, including howling like a dog in my underwear and kissing my TV dad, I definitely feel much more willing to be silly in my personal life.
How much say do you get in what Siaja wears?
I get some say in Siaja’s wardrobe on North of North - but our costume department is amazing, and in season two we had Alex Reda as our head costume designer, surrounded by a great team, and Laura Pia Churchill who was our Inuk costume designer that worked with and designed many items seen throughout the show, including my wolf mitts and my fur trapper hat.
They lead the vision and I add input on what I think makes sense for Siaja, and then costumes build on that vision and we collaborate to find the perfect wardrobe. I also always try to name-drop Inuit designers I love and want to wear, and sometimes we end up getting their pieces, which is thrilling. Some of my favourites have been jewelry by Heather Dickson Designs worn in the winter ball finale, a raspberry Dias Designs parka I wore in episode 5, an amauti-style pink parka made by our Inuk costume designer Pia Churchill in episode 4, and so, so many more!
Anna wears a total look by EMPORIO ARMANI
And off set, it feels as though a film’s press run now comes with its own fashion campaign.
I think fashion and film is having a really interesting and fun crossover right now that feels reflective of the 50s and 60s era of designers creating costumes for actors in film. Jonathan Anderson doing costuming for Challengers, the way attending fashion week for any of the major houses goes hand in hand with film or tv press runs, and actors’ press photo shoots being opportunities to endorse and make relationships with fashion brands. They have always been deeply connected, but I think the scale at which it is happening now is interesting and reflective of everyone’s desire for prestige and exclusivity.
How much of yourself did you recognise in Yura when you read In the Heart of the South?
From the moment I read the script, I felt both seen and called out by Yura. As an actor, I am frequently reading scripts about identity, culture, and community and trying to navigate when I have the right to take up space or opportunity in telling a story and what that even means. I think there is a huge grey area that needs to be explored in storytelling regarding privilege, access, and exploitation of identity and culture for social or financial gain. I think across many minorities we have spent since the creation of film and television fighting for representation and the right to tell our own stories. We have made leaps and bounds in representation, and now we are at an interesting point where basic representation should no longer be the baseline, and navigating how privilege and access plays into how we tell stories is necessary. Just because someone belongs to a community does not mean they have the right to create poverty porn, or stories centred around trauma they do not understand but think audiences will respond to. We, too, as people part of the communities we are trying to represent, can flatten our own into two-dimensional characters, or caricatures, or misrepresent them entirely.
Yura is guilty of this - taking someone else’s story and making it her own in an attempt to gain opportunity and further her career. Can she tell this story? Technically, yes. And production companies want her to because they feel because of her background she has the right to a well of specific cultural and identity-based stories that they can only access with somebody of that background. Yura, to them, is an opportunity to something fresh, and they, to Yura, are an in to the industry. This results in a moral compromise from Yura, with the end goal being a step further into the industry.
I feel like I am constantly navigating this dance, trying to be the best community member I can and avoiding compromising my beliefs about trying to build on every win we have in representation to be able to tell stories that are multidimensional, thoughtful, and meaningfully representative of the community at the centre. Walking away from In the Heart of the South felt like walking away from a cautionary tale of what could happen if I am not careful, and playing Yura felt like sitting in the skin of someone that I could become, but never want to.
Anna wears a coat by AKKI
Anna wears a coat dress by MERUERT TOLEGEN
Anna wears a dress and heels by VALENTINO and a coat by MERUERT TOLEGEN
What caught you off guard on Heart of the Beast?
I have been fortunate enough to work on some large television productions that have helped me understand what working on a set of that size is like, the logistical feats that they are, and how quickly the machine moves to get things done. The most unfamiliar thing, for sure, was working with a dog as my scene partner for all of my scenes. It ended up being a wonderful lesson in being present as an actor, though. When you’re performing, the goal is to always be as present as possible to capture the real feeling of the character and the scene, and when you’re working with an animal, the only thing you can be is present. They will give you as much as you give them, and they will do things that are unexpected and you have to be ready to react to anything, including crawling across your lap and licking your face while you’re driving into the sunset, which Uber who played Odin was fond of doing.
And how did you feel walking onto Aaron Sorkin’s set?
Working with Aaron Sorkin was a dream. I was incredibly nervous for this project - uncharacteristically so - because it was a Sorkin film with an incredibly star-studded cast and a great script. From the moment I came to set, Aaron was so warm, the cast was lovely, and Vancouver crews are always great. Aaron was very patient with me while I worked through my nerves, and then I found my groove. I am so grateful for the opportunity and the patience that I experienced on this set and will always look back on it fondly.
Where do you feel most at home as an actor?
As an actor, I definitely feel like I have found my footing in comedy, and tend to thrive in that setting. I love working in television and the pacing of filming - there’s a lot more time to find your rhythm and a lot more material to sink your teeth into, which helps me understand building out characters and arcs better. As an audience member, I love thrillers and horror, it has always been my favourite genre to watch because of how primal the feelings it brings out are. They are also genres that have huge footprints in the indie space which are great spaces for creativity and exploring concepts, so horror and thrillers can be great places to find fresh and exciting things to watch. I want to keep exploring genres to see where else I might thrive - I haven’t gotten to do anything sci-fi or action-y yet, and definitely want to give it a go.
So you trust yourself now.
Absolutely. I’ve gone through so many life events and changes in the past 18 months, both career-wise and personally, that have made me a lot more confident and sure of myself as a person that I think has translated to my perception of myself as an actor. More than ever I feel capable of good work, I feel like I have done good work, and even if my work sucked, it no longer dictates my sense of self worth as Anna. All of that together makes me feel like, 100%, I trust myself as a newly self-identifying “actor”.
Anna wears a total look by MOSCHINO and heels by COUTGO
Anna wears a total look by MOSCHINO
talent ANNA LAMBE
photo BRENT CHUA
styling JUNGLE LIN
editor ALBAN E. SMAJLI
hair WESLEY O’MEARA (HONEY ARTISTS)
make up AYA TARIQ (THE WALL GROUP)