A character actor is an actor that specializes in playing eccentric or unusual people rather than leading roles. Most people can probably think of a handful of the more famous actors on film and TV (Walton Goggins, Judy Greer, John Carroll-Lynch, Lance Reddick and so on). Some viewers relish in the little game they play that connects the dots to all these roles and where they saw them. Be sure to add the following name to your list and your radar: Linda Collins. While she’s certainly not a household name, and like all great character actors, maybe she won’t be – and that’s the point. Quietly pursuing projects that might fall more into the indie world or even streaming land, Collins has carved herself a fine foundation.
And it gets better- she’s also a trained musician. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Olivia (a pianist, vocalist and Sacred Music Director) and Gaylon (a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force and Production Manager at McDonald-Douglas Aircraft), moved with her siblings to Tuscaloosa, Alabama when she was young. Collins would go on to garner scholarships to University of Alabama, Duquesne University (bachelor’s of music, Summa Cum Laude) and Northern Illinois University (master’s degree in music). After several years of performing as a professional musician in the United States and Canada (Collins performed principal horn with the Winnipeg Symphony, Naples Philharmonic and Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. Her musical theatre / orchestra performances include Showboat with Robert Morse and Elaine Stritch, and the Toronto staging of The Phantom of The Opera), Collins moved to New York City and in 2010 devoted her time and passion to acting.
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4943150/
Her newest projects include the online drama series, Clique, from Ish Brown. Collins also starred in Paper, a film alongside Blacklist’s Lukas Hassel. She would again star with Hassel in an episode of A Couple of Guys. Collins’ resume includes the Nick Kunze-written, Eden Wright-directed thriller, Cutter. In Cutter Collins is Katheryn, a nutty hair salon owner. Collins garnered accolades for a hardly redeemable character in the indie film, Perception. Written and directed by Andres Irias, Perception tells the story of immigrants from two points-of-view: a Honduran mother who is pressured to migrate, and an American teen from a white supremacist family who is taught to hate immigrants. Collins, who also served as executive producer, took home the Award for Best Supporting Actress at the Omaha Latino Festival for her role as Lauren/the wife of the white family. Perception also took home the award for Best International Film at the Brightside Tavern Shorts Film Festival (2021).
A definite career springboard is the endearing film Three For the Road. Collins is Liz, who takes on a journey of many levels with two other women after meeting in yoga class. Three For the Road is directed by David Patrick Wilson. Collins keeps viewers on their toes, as well as rolling with laughter with Liz’s fashion-maven, and married-several times role. That’s what she does – Collins can make audiences cry, cringe or rejoice – just like any great character actor.
Levi Colston