In this episode of Dirt, we talk to award-winning actor and Professor of Acting Lindsay Beamish about how failure can guide a life's work.

Lindsay Beamish has been a professional film, television, and theater actress in Los Angeles and New York City for over twenty years. She was most recently seen in the film Forgetting the Girl for which her performance received favorable reviews in The New York Times and Variety. Before that she appeared in the independent film The Greatest, starring Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, and Carey Mulligan, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Other film work includes John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Lindsay's performance in Shortbus was notably reviewed by David Ansen in Newsweek and Tom Carrao in Film Monthly, was awarded the Lulu Award for Best Supporting Actress, and was nominated for a Gotham Award (NYC). She appeared with the film at the Cannes International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, and the Bergen International Film Festival (Norway).

A content warning on my conversation with Lindsay: we do mention parenting through trauma responses, so if that’s not your bag, you might avoid this episode. Otherwise, thank you for listening. 

Colleen Cunningham is a Senior Strategist for Equal Justice USA, a member of the board of The Oxygen Project, and also my best bud, the person I feel most able to fail in front of. In this episode we talk about anxiety & perfectionism, mothering during a pandy, ego, and our erstwhile dreams of being actors.