As her career expands from North of North to major Hollywood films, Anna Lambe is embracing bigger roles—and bigger possibilities.

PHOTOGRAPHY Andy Jackson
STYLED BY Cassie Anderson

Anna Lambe recently learned something about the power of saying yes—and she has Louis Vuitton to thank for it. When she was invited to the brand’s Resort 2027 show, the 26-year-old Inuk actor’s first instinct was to verify that it wasn’t a scam. Once her team confirmed it was real, the pleasant surprise crystallized a philosophy she now carries with her whenever opportunity presents itself.
“It felt like having a foot in the door, and once the door is open, we push it wide open and we don’t stop; we run into the room and take up as much space as we can,” says Lambe, a self-described “Tumblr kid” who loves alternative fashion and winged eyeliner, and credits Inuit designers for instilling a love of color into her wardrobe. For her, being welcomed into the world of high fashion speaks to a larger reckoning with what it means to be seen. “There’s a difference between being humble and making yourself small. There’s this expectation that you make yourself small, you don’t disturb too much, and don’t take up too much space. But you kind of have to.”
Lambe’s résumé suggests she’s been doing exactly that. Her first acting role, in the 2018 film The Grizzlies, earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Canadian Screen Awards. She went on to star in the television series Trickster, which earned her another Canadian Screen Awards nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and HBO’s True Detective: Night Country, before landing a starring role in North of North. The second season of the hit comedy series—in which she portrays a young Inuk mother who, after making a very public exit from her marriage, sets out to reinvent her life and find her footing in her work and community—will premiere on Netflix later this year.

Now, Lambe is entering a defining moment in her career, with roles in two of fall’s most high-profile releases: the Brad Pitt–helmed survival story&nbsp;Heart of the Beast and Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network sequel, The Social Reckoning. She also headlines the forthcoming In the Heart of the South, a psychological thriller centered on Inuit artists that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It’s an impressive lineup for any young actor, but particularly for someone who is intentional about highlighting Indigenous culture through every aspect of her career and the choices she makes. She wears that responsibility with pride, but it can also be complicated. How do you advocate for representation without allowing it to define—or limit—you as an artist? It’s a question Lambe considers often as she navigates the expectation to speak for an entire community.

“There’s always that label attached to me, which paints me in a different light,” she says. “It isn’t bad and it’s not wrong. It’s not intentionally hurtful or othering, but it is othering—and it feels unfair.” She continues, “How could I be reflective of an entire group of people? That doesn’t make sense. That is an unfair amount of pressure and responsibility to put on someone.”
It’s why her part in The Social Reckoning has made such an impact on her as an actor. Booked through an open-ethnicity casting that invited actors of all backgrounds to audition, Lambe’s character—a fictional coworker of real-life Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, portrayed by Mikey Madison—isn’t defined by her Inuk identity or required to draw on it to move the story forward. Instead, she was able to decide how much of her lived experience she wanted to bring to the role, giving her greater freedom to experiment. “Aaron Sorkin’s a very trusting and wonderful director who respects your craft and wants you to respect his,” says Lambe. “But it was just so new to me that I didn’t have to root this character in who I am and where I come from.”

Lambe’s relationship with the film’s central subject, social media, is complicated. While based in Ottawa, Ontario, she appreciates how the platforms keep her connected to family and friends back home in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost city. “I do love the community aspect and being able to connect with people,” she says. But she is also, by her own admission, chronically online—and acutely aware of how that same connectivity can be manipulated, with algorithms capable of sending people down increasingly dangerous and even radicalizing paths. The Social Reckoning, she says, offered a cathartic outlet for some of the frustration and anger she feels about the “predatory” nature of social media.

Heart of the Beast presented a different kind of challenge. It was her first Hollywood film, and she spent most of her time acting opposite a dog. And when it comes to being the only actor top-billed alongside Pitt and costar J.K. Simmons, she has just one thought: “Period,” she says. “I am grateful and I did my job.”

North of North remains her “crown jewel,” striking a rare balance: representing the humanity of Inuit culture without centering the story around trauma. “It feels like a real reflection of who we are and how we navigate things,” she says. “I’m really glad audiences internationally have felt either seen and heard or inspired by it.”
The show’s themes of independence, self-worth, and finding the courage to start over have connected with audiences far beyond the screen. “So many young women—and women in general—have told me that they have left abusive relationships after watching North of North,” she says. “Even though it might just feel like television on the surface, it is telling women that they are important...they do have power.”

Now, Lambe is hungry for more opportunities of her own. “I think I really thrive in that romantic comedy world of cute, cringe drama,” she says. “I also want to do something like Thelma &amp; Louise so badly. And the next season of Fargo, too—that’s my jam.”
She’s doing what she can to speak those roles into existence. And, fittingly, for Lambe, it all comes back to opening doors. “If people don’t know that you want to be in their project, or that you’re a fan of their work, you need to let them know,” she says. “Then that door could potentially open and maybe they’ll consider you. Closed mouths don’t get fed, so I’m going to yap away.”

HAIR: Wesley O’Meara HONEY ARTISTS
MAKEUP: Aya Tariq THE WALL GROUP using LA BEAUTÉ LOUIS VUITTON
MANICURE: Elizabeth Garcia using ESSIE
SET DESIGN: Catherine Pearson JONES MGMT
PRODUCED BY: Emily Adar
PHOTO ASSISTANT: Yeongwoo Jung
SET DESIGN ASSISTANT: Ann Kelly

Make Way For Anna Lambe

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