There are many different types of personality types in this world, but getting to the point, there are those who do not get it done and those who do. The latter is an inherently driven individual who, in many instances, creates their own opportunities. Never taking no for an answer, they forge their own success, and a fitting example of this type of person is veteran Actress Ginger Lynn.
A lively individual with a zest for life and a clear sense of who she is, Lynn is one of the few stars from the adult entertainment world who transitioned into mainstream film. Extremely passionate about art in general, Lynn is someone who has stared down anyone who has doubted her, proving them wrong.
At this stage in her career, with a lengthy list of credits to her name, Lynn has shone in the Horror genre, delivering memorable performances in many films, including 2005’s The Devil’s Rejects. Recently starring in 2025’s Dorothea, she shows no signs of slowing down, with numerous other films in various stages of production. Inspiring and full of motivation, Ginger Lynn sat down to chat about her entertainment career, working on Dorothea, her forthcoming book, and more.
Cryptic Rock – You have built a long, successful career in entertainment over the last four-plus decades. One of many twists and turns, how would you describe your journey in film?
Ginger Lynn – Good question. I’ll do a few verbs quickly. Unbelievable, exciting, fantastic, marvelous. I love what I do. When I get to talk about it or share the experiences, it just keeps the excitement growing. Acting, playing other characters, is one of my favorite things to do in life. Don’t get me wrong, I love being me, but it’s so much fun to say, do, wear things, be something other than yourself.
Most people know that I started in the adult entertainment industry. I remember going to my first premiere, and I was nominated for Best Actress in this movie. I’d never seen myself on the big screen before. I got there, and I sat down. I cried. I thought my acting was so horrible. I’m like, “How can I be nominated for Best Actress in this?” I decided to go to acting school. I studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse for five years.
After adult films, the Vice Academy series really helped take off. I’ve been working for over 40 years now on a regular basis. I’m lucky, and I’ve worked hard for it. I’m grateful to be a working actor. That’s not an easy task these days, unless you’re big, rich, and famous already.
As I’ve progressed over the years with my acting career, I keep getting better roles. I have eight films right now that have not been released. I was recently in Los Angeles for another movie. It’s just amazing.
I’m about three-quarters of the way finished with my autobiography. I’ve had so much fun going down memory lane. I sent the first 250 pages to Christy Canyon, who is a good friend of mine. She sent me some notes about little things.
Cryptic Rock – It seems very exciting. Your success is a testament to your passion, hard work, and dedication. As you said, you went to acting school, so you genuinely cared about your craft.
Ginger Lynn – I want to be the best that I can be at whatever it is I’m doing. I don’t care if I’m making a grilled cheese sandwich. I’m going to make a damn good grilled cheese sandwich!
In the beginning, I was young and dumb. I was just natural. I would just say my dialogue. I’ve won over a dozen Best Actor Awards. Just last year, I received my first Best Supporting Actress in a mainstream film; I won it for the movie Dirty Blonde (2019). I’m not stopping. I’m going to be like Jessica Tandy. I’m going till I’m 180!
Cryptic Rock – Congratulations. That must be very rewarding and exciting to receive such an honor at this stage of your career.
Ginger Lynn – It’s amazing. It fuels my fire. It makes me want to do it more. If anything, this is very odd. Normally, for a female actress in Hollywood, once you’re in your thirties, unless you’re big and famous, your career kind of slows down. The older I get, the more roles I’m getting. I’m working non-stop, and I couldn’t be happier.
Cryptic Rock – Wonderful! As you said, you have been working for quite a while now, and you mentioned most recognize you from your work in the adult entertainment industry. You transitioned into mainstream films relatively early on in your career. Often, there is a stigma around adult entertainment, and it is hard for an actor or actress to transition into mainstream film. You did it, you found success, and you did a lot of cool projects. What was that experience like for you during that time period?
Ginger Lynn – I’ve always been very optimistic. I don’t take no for an answer. When I decide I want something, I go for it. That’s what I did.
I remember the first scene that I put up in front of Bill Cakmis, my acting instructor. It was a scene from a play called The Key. In this play, there is a couple, and they’re going to exchange keys. It’s all about the relationship building up to that point. There were probably 200 people there, between the audience and those in the class. We’re on stage, we kiss, and then we back away from each other. Well, what happened was there was a string of saliva, and we’re six feet apart from each other. It’s just bouncing. Every time I talk, the string’s bouncing. Every time my partner talks, it’s bouncing. I lost it. I couldn’t stop laughing. It was hysterical.
My transition was fun. I should say it was difficult, but in reality, it just happened so naturally. I had an agent, Ruth Webb, who handled Linda Blair, Mickey Rooney, and some of the Rat Pack. This was a long time ago. I even went to The Hollywood Reporter. I don’t give up. I just keep going and going. My agent wasn’t getting me any auditions.
I also went to Variety magazine, and they had an open call for a film called Wild Man (1989). I sent in my resume and my headshot all by myself. I went in. I auditioned. I got a callback. I auditioned again. Then I had a third callback where the director was going to come in. I’m sitting there, and we’re waiting for the director. A friend of mine, Freddie Lincoln (who was in 1972’s The Last House on the Left and became an adult director for a while), walked in. I asked him, “Are you up for this movie, too?” He says, “No. I’m the director and the producer of this film.” I said “No way!”
What I found really interesting was that I don’t think Freddie thought I had the chops. My auditions were recorded. My first transitional film was directed by someone who had come from the adult world as well. From there, Dave Dakota picked up. I did Dr. Alien (1989) with Judy Landers. Then the Vice Academy films came along, and it hasn’t stopped since then.
Cryptic Rock – Your determination is rather inspiring. You have also worked in different genres. You obviously worked in Sci-Fi, Comedy, and Horror. You seem very driven. Did you go out and pick what you wanted to audition for, or did you go with whatever was available?
Ginger Lynn – Most of the films I’ve been cast in have come to me directly. I can’t honestly remember the last time I auditioned for anything. I’ve proven myself to the point where people know that I suit up, I show up, I do my job, and I put every bit of my heart and soul into it on everything that I do.
Cryptic Rock – That leads into the next question. Let’s talk about your Horror contributions. You worked with Rob Zombie on his 2005 film The Devil’s Rejects and 2016’s 31, two substantially recognized Horror films. Furthermore, Rob Zombie is a well-respected director in the Horror genre over the past two decades. Do you feel like those were great experiences for you, giving you more work moving forward into the last decade?
Ginger Lynn – I have so much gratitude, respect, and love for Rob and Sheri. They wanted me for The Devil’s Rejects. They call my agent. They’re looking for me; 99% of my jobs, they come to me. I got cast as one of the women in the cabin scene with the two couples wearing skin masks who run out. That was the role I was cast in.
I’m also a martial artist and have been since I was 22. I was testing for my third-degree black belt. It was two weeks before filming, and I tore my ACL, my MCL, and my meniscus on a double roundhouse. I had a cast on my left leg from my thigh down to my ankle. I called my agent and told him what happened. He said, “Okay. Let me call Rob.” He didn’t really go into detail about what had happened, actually. He just told Rob that I couldn’t run. So, Rob writes in the scene for me with Sid. That was not in the script. That wasn’t part of the movie. Working with such an amazing man as Sid Haig was unbelievable. If you watch my scene in The Devil’s Rejects, you only see me from the front, the right side, and the back because my left leg is in a cast, straight up the left side. I received a lot of attention for doing that role. I feel really good about my performance in it. I really have to thank Rob for starting my Horror film career.
I did a film in 1989 in South Africa called Buried Alive, starring Donald Pleasence, Robert Vaughn, and John Carradine, which was based on Edgar Allen Poe’s Buried Alive. I had done Horror before Rob, but Rob really set my Horror career in motion.
Cryptic Rock – It is interesting to hear about all that. Sometimes, when someone acts in a Horror film, they may not be a fan of the genre, yet they find success there. With that being said, are you a fan of Horror movies?
Ginger Lynn – I love Horror movies, and I watch them once a week. I’ve been in front of the camera, so I know that it’s all fake. We’re making a movie. We’re making a fantasy come true. I’m the girl who, when I watch a Horror film, you don’t want to sit next to me – I scream, I punch, I cover my eyes, and I can’t watch. I just got goosebumps thinking about it. I actually still enjoy Horror films even though I know what’s behind the curtain.
My favorite of all time, don’t laugh, this is because it was my first, and I was 12, is The Exorcist (1973). It was the first time I’ve been to a movie theater, and I went to see The Exorcist. I peed my pants, literally. I went home after the film, and I talked to my mom and dad about it. I was like, “I’m afraid that the devil is going to possess me.” They just brushed it off.
My bedroom was located above our dirt cellar, where the furnace was. When I went to bed that first night, I could hear everything in the dirt cellar, and I’m thinking I’m going to be possessed. My parents had already shrugged it off and told me that I decided to go, they let me, and now deal with it. I would wait till my parents went to sleep. I would crawl out of my bedroom on the floor and sleep in the tiny space between our bedrooms so the devil couldn’t get me (Laughs).
There are so many Horror films I love. That one, my first experience, for two weeks I did that. I was literally petrified. Part of the reason for that is that my great-grandfather was a Southern Baptist minister; told me all about hell and damnation, the devil. I’m thinking, “I’m going to be part of the devil’s team.”
Cryptic Rock – Many can relate to your experience with The Exorcist. Many, most likely, saw that movie entirely too young. The Exorcist is still a movie that gets to you to this day. It is terrifying to think that an entity is going to take you over.
Ginger Lynn – I would think so. I was actually watching something about the behind-the-scenes and the making of The Exorcist. They were not just the making of, but the audience, the reaction, and the way the whole world received it. People were passing out. It had such a huge impact on society. I’m sure other films from people from different generations have similar experiences, but just not with the same film.
It actually helped me in my mainstream Horror film transition because I wanted to make people scared like I was. Not in a mean way. Every time I think about it, my heart starts to beat a little fast.
Cryptic Rock – It is a form of inspiration.
Ginger Lynn – Yes! That’s the word I was looking for. Thank you.
Cryptic Rock – Continuing with the fright theme, you star in the new film, Dorothea, which is a different kind of Horror film. This is not a straight-ahead Horror movie, and it certainly has a lot of Black Comedy. How did the role come about for you?
Ginger Lynn – Chad Ferrin has come to me and cast me in three or four films. We work really well together. Chad’s a very interesting man. He’s not the easiest to work with or form, but we found this common ground. I bring in everything I have. Then Chad normally just goes, “Let’s move on,” if he needs me to do something differently. I had made a choice in a movie I did for him called Pig Killer. There’s a rear-view mirror in a car. I’m looking into this mirror and reflecting. My choice was to cry, just tears rolled down my face. I did it, and Chad went, “That was beautiful. Let’s try something different.” I adapt. I work well with others.
Cryptic Rock – Oh, wow. This film features an exciting cast, including you, who we recognize from other projects, such as Lou Temple from various movies and, famously, for his role in The Walking Dead.
Ginger Lynn – Yeah. I love Lou. He’s one of my favorite people. We’ve done a couple of movies together now, and I have so much respect for the man. He’s wonderful. A lot of times, when I go on to a mainstream set, I can feel the curiosity, the judgment, and the discomfort that I sometimes bring to the set.
I worked on NYPD Blue, and David Caruso was a dick and such an asshole. He wouldn’t even talk to me. There were only two people on that television series who were nice to me; one of them was Dennis Franz, who was an angel. We just hit it off and bonded. We’re both from the Midwest, the Chicago area. Sharon Lawrence was the other. They were the only two people who were nice to me.
That happens quite often on movie sets with actors who haven’t done what I’ve done before, such as in adult film industry movies. I don’t know if I make them uncomfortable, if they don’t think that I belong there, or if they don’t think I’m good enough. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t really care. I bring in whatever I have to every movie I’m doing.
Chad Ferrin, who directed me in Dorothea, has allowed me to play some amusing, awful, mean, and silly characters; I’ve really got to do a wide range of characters for him. I hope we work again soon.
Cryptic Rock – That is great to hear. Interesting what you say about working on mainstream sets, considering that you worked in the adult industry. You seem like a very well-rounded, intelligent person. You act, you are a martial artist, you are multifaceted. Sometimes being underestimated is a good thing because it surprises people or proves them wrong. Do you enjoy being underestimated?
Ginger Lynn – Absolutely. A lot of times, at first, people don’t know what to say to me. I make people either really comfortable or really uncomfortable. It’s one or the other.
I got cast in 1994’s Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. I did two of them, III and V. The first one I did was with John Rhys Davies, Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and this amazing cast of characters. I was underestimated, and I kicked ass. Everything was going smoothly. Mark Hamill was nice. Everybody was nice. There were no issues with anybody. It was a really cool set.
In the game, you choose your character. When we filmed, there were three endings to every story. When you play the game and interact as one of the characters, you have to choose which direction you go. You make up your own story. One of the story endings was that Mark Hamill kissed me. Great. Let’s do it, baby! I got to the set that day, and we shot something in the morning. I was in my Rachel Coriolis coveralls.
One of the ADs came to me and said, “Can we talk?” “Sure.” She took me into a stairwell off the set. She was very uncomfortable, couldn’t look me in the face, and she finally got it out. She said, “I am so sorry, but Mark refuses to kiss you until you can prove that you don’t have HIV. You need to go get a test.” I felt that lump right there in my chest, and then it started to rise. I was trying so hard to be cool about it, and I couldn’t. I began to cry. I said, “First of all, that’s ignorant. Secondly, if there was an issue, it should have been brought up before he started filming. I’m calling my agent.”
I called my agent, and they called the union. The way we resolved the issue, Mark shut down the shoot for two days because my agent and the union came back and said, “If he’s insisting you have one, you make sure he gets one too.” If you know me and you don’t like me, that’s your right. You can feel and think whatever you want. I don’t care. If you don’t know me and you judge me, you’re a fucking asshole.
The whole attitude and set feel changed after that because he was mad that he was embarrassed and angry that they made him take one too. That happens occasionally.
Cryptic Rock – That sounds like a very frustrating experience. Looking at Dorothea more, your character is fascinating.
Ginger Lynn – I’m going to say, “Thank you,” because I made her. I chose slightly mentally ill and insane, but I added in a little bit of dementia. I don’t know if you picked up on that, but that combination was what I was going for. Both of those qualities made my character so much fun to play.
Cryptic Rock – The character was great. They were all great. They all make you feel a lot of empathy for the characters in one way or another. People’s Social Security being stolen and manipulated are real-world things that were interjected into this film. You see people take advantage of people who are maybe not mentally all there or elderly. It happens a lot.
Ginger Lynn – I absolutely love that aspect of it.
Cryptic Rock – Agreed. Obviously, this was a fun film to work on there for you?
Ginger Lynn – Most of it. The only part that wasn’t fun was after Dorothea killed me. It’s at night. It’s not too late, but it was chilly outside. I’m wearing that white dressing gown. Chad said, “We’re going to have Susan cut your arms, feet, and head off.” I’m like, “Okay.” I go outside, and they’ve dug this grave. It’s cold, it’s mud, it’s gross, and they had nothing to put down underneath me. They wanted it to be as dirty and real as it possibly could be.
I’m lying in this grave. I’m freezing so badly that I can hardly control my shaking. She starts sawing on one of my hands, and Chad keeps going, “Go, go, go, go.” Meanwhile, I’m getting cut and bruised. I have a photo somewhere in my phone that I had to take. Then she moved over to the other and got to the feet. When we went to have my head cut off, I’m like, “No, you’re not. Not doing it.” I am bruised on all four of my limbs where the knife has gone in, even though it wasn’t a real knife. The intensity that she was told to put into it hurt.
I haven’t seen the movie yet. I hope it came across in a way that made people feel something because I went out on a limb. I always do, but I was uncomfortable in my body. Was it worth it for me to get all my limbs cut off, or is that in the movie still?
Cryptic Rock – The sacrifice was worth it. It shows up very well in the film. Once you see it, you will appreciate the way it all came out.
Ginger Lynn – I’m very excited. As I said before, I’m three-quarters of the way down with my book. I’m doing 12 to 16 hours a day of writing to finish it up.
Cryptic Rock – Writing a book is always interesting because it gives you a moment to reflect on what you have done in the past. That could be interesting in many ways. What has that been like for you, reliving these experiences in your life and putting them to paper?
Ginger Lynn – I started writing it years ago. I wrote the first three chapters, which are very emotional. Things happened that were neither nice nor pretty. It affected me mentally.
I had to live through childhood horrors again. I didn’t write for about five years after I wrote those first three chapters. I was just, “I can’t do it. I’m too emotional.” Now, I am having so much fun reliving everything since then. Not everything was pretty since then, but it’s not affecting me emotionally. I’m enjoying sharing my stories.
I’ve got another director, Paul Ragsdale, and Angie De Alba (who are writers, directors, producers), to whom I sent a copy. I sent a copy to Christy Canyon and to another actress I’ve worked with and respect a lot, Ilene Sullivan. It’s been really interesting to hear the feedback.
I don’t look good on paper. I had a horrible childhood. I made porn. I went to prison. There’s so much in there that I really don’t look good on paper. The way I’m writing it is so real, raw, and honest that people who I’ve let read what I have so far are loving it. I hope to be finished soon. I take it as it comes, and it’ll be out when I’m ready.
I finally decided to self-publish. I’m going to do it through Amazon. I had an editor that I was working with, and he died. He was such a dear friend. He was in the hospital, we were talking, and I was his inspiration to keep going. When you get old enough, life is just boring. I won’t ever get to that place, but most people do. Mark Kerns had been a friend for 30 years, and he died.
I started talking to different editors and publishers. I decided on a medium-sized company. As you can tell, I talk a lot, and I write as I speak. There are a lot of words and a lot of things going on. I don’t have an editor anymore. I wrote my book. Every fricking word is my words. The nice thing about Amazon is that I can print as many as I want whenever I want.
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