Katie Norris is an actor/singer/ songwriter/photographer from the suburbs of Maryland. Her passions for performing began before she could even really remember. We are honored to have her here on our celebrities’ channel, as a consequence of an email interview which we conducted with her, so people glue yourself here to know more about this rising star.
1. Who is Katie Norris in flesh and blood?
Katie: Katie Norris is an actor and a singer/songwriter from Maryland. She moved to New York City after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in theater and music from Frostburg State University, Md. After only a few months in NYC, Katie joined the Big Apple Circus for a tour working on the crew running the novelty stand during shows and taking down the tent and most everything in it during load in and load out. She saved her money from the tour and sold her car giving her enough money to move back to NYC and dive back into the business of acting and singing. Katie has played large roles in 3 films and 3 of her original songs are in 2 films. But she is most known for her role of Super girl/Linda Lee Danvers in the film, “Confessions of a Teenage Super girl”.
2. Would you please tell our readers a bit about the role of a Super girl, which you played in the ‘Confessions of a Teenage Super girl’?
Katie: The character of Super girl in this film is the silver age comic book version of Super girl – girl of steel, faster than a speeding bullet, Superman’s cousin. She is very genuine. She stands for justice and all that’s good. As a super heroine, she’s about as great as they come! But her secret identity, Linda Lee Danvers, is often troubled. She first came to Earth at age 12 when her planet exploded, unlike Superman who arrived as an infant. She can still remember her parents and her home. Once on Earth, she expects her cousin, Superman, to take her under his wing. He keeps her in an orphanage instead of allowing her to be adopted or living with him, so that she can be his “secret weapon”. This doesn’t allow poor Linda too much social growth. So where Clark Kent pretends to be awkward in social situations, Linda actually is!
In the film, Linda gets a date with the man of her dreams! But the date goes wrong when her duties of Super girl take over and she has to leave Rick dining alone. She is also haunted by awful nightmares that manifest into reality by the end when she is forced to face a supernatural power that appears to have control over her.
3. Talking about your music career, my next question is, what kind of music do you perform?
Katie: The music I write is mostly pop/soft rock, kinda like Tori Amos meets Alanis Morissette meets Vanessa Carlton. In my life I have sang everything from musical theater to rock, jazz, country, and opera. I love to sing just about anything! I have also written in many different genres. I’ve composed several sonatas and written a few short musicals. But my favorite music to write is the music that appears on my EP entitled, “LITTLE SECRETS”. It’s definitely a little reflection of who I am and I’m quite proud of it. I’m looking forward to making my next album soon. “Little Secrets” will be released in July. I’ve had to push the release date back from May to July because of some scheduling conflicts. But it will be available for sale online and at performances beginning in July. If you’d like to hear some of my songs, please feel free to visit my music site on myspace (myspace.com/katienorrismusic). I’ll be posting information about the EP release party in a few weeks as well.
4. What are the forthcoming events you are looking forward to?
Katie: I just finished shooting for the film “…if it does not last”, so I’ve been looking for my next project. I’ve also been long overdue for a visit to some of my dear friends in Las Vegas, San Francisco, and L.A. So I’ve taken this opportunity to head out west for a few weeks. I’m looking forward to visiting friends and checking out the west coast scene.
5. Katie, what are your other interests besides your work?
Katie: I’m very open-minded. I like to do a lot of things. I like to try new things too. I like rock climbing, hiking, bowling, playing basketball, ice skating, seeing shows. But mostly I love to sing. I admit, I sneak off to karaoke more often than I probably should just so I can sing and rock out. Improve performance is one of the most fun things I can think of. Add singing? It’s heaven. I also like to watch movies and I love laughing till my sides hurt with my friends. Pizza and diners at odd hours are definitely top on the list as well.
6. How are you able to snatch out time for so many things? I would appreciate if you can share your working and lifestyle with us.
Katie: Well, first off, you need entirely too much energy! Growing up in Maryland my parents could never keep me still. They would try and “wear me out’, as they would put it by signing me up for dance class. But of course I couldn’t just take one class; I took every dance class they offered for my age/skill level. And when that still wasn’t enough, I did Soccer…and then added horseback riding, figure skating, clarinet, choir, fencing, gymnastics, acting in the plays, singing in the musicals, and teaching myself keyboard. And then I went to high school. I continued all my activities but dropped soccer in exchange for field hockey and cross country, and then also added lacrosse. And for some reason I became a member of our class council as well and still managed to hold all honors for most of 11th and 12th grade.
The one big problem that I kept running into with doing more activities than time allowed was that I stretched myself so thin that sometimes coaches and teachers would be aggravated that I didn’t dedicate more time to their specific activity. But I was so deep into everything, I couldn’t just quit anything. And I also never became more than a little better than average at any of the things I did. I couldn’t dedicate enough time to one thing to get really, really good at it. I was good, but not as good as I probably could have been. BUT… I wouldn’t trade it for the world!!! Doing all those things growing up has made me able to balance a crazy schedule later in life and it has given me the knowledge of when too much is too much. And it has also given me endurance and drive that is priceless in this business. And I think all those skills I acquired have really helped to develop my acting and music skills.
My lifestyle is very much what I want it to be. I’m doing what I love and I just want to keep moving up and forward and keep improving every day.
7. I read it somewhere that you are learning Japanese, how far the statement is true?
Katie: I am learning Japanese. It began as a sort of a dare actually. I was singing in a Japanese karoake bar in NYC and this guy was testing my abilities. He made me try every style of song in the book. Then he said, “O.k. now let’s see you do one in Japanese then.” I knew I couldn’t do it and told him so. But he put the song on anyway and it made me look ridiculous.
So I went home that night and downloaded a very SLOW Japanese song. I got the lyrics off the artists’ site. And while I did my laundry the next day, I listened to the song over and over staring at the symbols on the page that were the lyrics. Luckily I had the phonetic spelling (called romaji) across from each line. Before my laundry was done I had figured out that each syllable matched a symbol. So I made a legend and memorized each symbol. The next day I went in to the same karoake bar and put in the song. And I did it!!! I couldn’t believe it myself. And the shocked Japanese staff said I pronounced everything really well, off course because I was copying the accent of the singer. But it was so fun trying to ‘decode’ the language that I decided to just learn the whole thing. – As I said before…too much energy. So I’ve been working on it since. After 2 months of self-study, I found myself between gigs and in need of some extra cash so I got a job as the hostess at the Japanese restaurant downstairs from the karaoke bar. It was great for practice and I met some great people from all over the world.
My filming schedule picked up and so I could no longer work there. But I still practice my Japanese a few times a week at least. I love to learn. – Kouyatte nihongo wo manabimashita.
8. Katie, please share one thing that changed your life, if any?
Katie: The one thing that has really changed my life is the recent death of my friend, Bob Hollinger. He was an amazing man and one of my very first friends I made when I moved to NYC the first time. He was so full of energy and life and his death came as such a shock I didn’t want to believe it. But after all the tears, it really made me think, what if tomorrow is my last day? Would I look back on my life and be happy about it? Even though I had lived such a full life, my answer was still ‘no’. I had still been timid and a little afraid of things that I really shouldn’t have bee. There were risks I should have taken and I realized I was the only one getting in the way of myself. Since the day I found the tragic news, petty little fights don’t matter and I say ‘yes’ to every opportunity no matter how big and scary it seems, even if it’s just to see what might happen if I do say ‘yes’ ’cause we already know what will happen if you don’t take the chance – nothing.
9. What advice would you like to give to the budding artists?
Katie: Don’t wait. Don’t wait for the call. Don’t wait in the waiting room at an audition. Always be doing something to help yourself move forward. While you’re waiting for the call from the casting director, make your own movie. Post it online. We are blessed with the glory of the overpowering age of technology; use it. Go out and sing at open mics or anywhere. Whatever it is that’s your art. Because then whether or not you get the call, you’re still moving forward. Always keep looking for the next thing. My experience in this business is that those who know what they want and go after it with everything they’ve got are the ones that get it.
10. Finally, we would like to have your thoughts on the Instablogs News Network and all its related sites. Which one is your favorite?
Katie: Instablogs News Network is kinda like a free online magazine. It’s got the scoop on anything you wanted to know about anything, from food to gadgets to movies and music to world views. I love to scan the whole page and pick a category to really dive into. I also love that readers can leave comments and rate articles (‘star it’). This week I read about Brad Pitt and his designer diaper bag on eBelle5. And I read about India and Brazil’s agreement on peaceful use of n-energy (The Indian Express) through Instablogs News Network. Can’t really pick a favorite though. It’s all a good read.
Now it’s time for a rapid fire round:
1. Describe yourself in one word.
Katie: Multi-faceted
2. What is the best feeling in the world?
Katie: Singing in front of a huge crowd of people.
3. What is the worse feeling in the world?
Katie: Being stood up.
4. If given a chance, you’d like to play the role of?
Katie: Polly in “Crazy for You”. – That’s been my favorite role since I first fell in love with theater.
5. Best song/lyric/theme that makes you feel complete.
Katie: There’s no one single song or line that is my favorite. But one on the top of the list is “The word impossible simply means it hasn’t been done YET”. And my favorite to live by when I’m really angry – “The best revenge is living well.”
6. If given a week’s holidays, how would you like to spend them?
Katie: Visiting my friends in Europe. I’ve never been over there and I miss them terribly, especially Dilara, Laura, and Jo.
Last but not the least, we’d like to thank Katie for this wonderful interview and wish her luck for all her future endeavors.
