Today we’d like to introduce you to Avery Norris.
Avery, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Ever since I was a young girl, I was outgoing and ready to put on a show for everyone. I would sing, act, and dance for anyone, sometimes against their will’s. I grew up a huge soccer player and thought that would be my track for life. That was until I went to high school and took my first theatre class. I learned to express myself in a whole new way. Sophomore year came around and I was cast in my first musical, A Chorus Line. I played Valerie Clark which made me a standout character with an entire solo song, dance, and scene. To think I had never performed in front of anyone before and here I was about to speak a 5-minute monologue, sing a song, and dance all on my own was crazy. It sounds cliché but that show, as the story of A Chorus Line demonstrates for its characters, showed me what I would do for love. Of course, my “love” was acting. From that moment on, I knew that I couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything else.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s interesting because my bumps in the road never had anything to do with my journey to become a professional actress. For me that was the fun part of life and my stressors were always more serious problems. Pretty much all of my life I’ve had struggles with both physical and mental health. It required lots of visits to doctors and missing events or classes when my body couldn’t give me enough energy for the day. Since all of my focus was on essentially staying alive and being healthy, I couldn’t afford to stress about my performing life as well. However, through all of my troubles I always turned to acting, singing, and art in general. Performance is my comfort, it’s my passion and my life. It’s a complicated life when you’re stricken with so many health issues but I’ve learned to find a balance to it and look at the bright side of it all. My health causes me to add many more daily tasks and concerns, but it has also given me an amazing ability to adjust to things. I find that when I put in the time to take care of myself, my “reward” is full energy and peak performance!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a recent graduate of SUNY Fredonia, I have found myself needing to stay busy. I think we as actors sometimes forget that there is more to our craft than just acting. When I’m not acting I’m writing scripts of my own, meeting other artists, reading books, seeing live theatre, watching movies and television, and of course taking time for myself, which is so important. If I need a day to relax and watch movies or tv while I’m sat on the couch, I don’t punish myself anymore for being “lazy”. In the end, even if I’m sitting around and watching media, I’m always researching or learning about how to better myself as an artist. “The only talent you need to act is a talent for working — in other words, the ability to apply yourself in learning the skills that make up the craft of acting.” This is a quote from a book called The Practical Handbook for the Actor. I read it my freshman year in my very first collegiate acting class and it is something that has stuck with me for years. I have always had the need to be busy and work hard. Whether it was something on my own, in a collaborative setting, a leadership position, etc. I’m forever learning to open myself up to more opportunities. I allow myself to always be ready to jump into projects and help others. It’s what makes me feel the proudest of myself and my craft.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I do believe in luck and I would certainly say it’s had a role in my life. However, not necessarily when it comes to jobs. I believe any job I have booked and will book is earned by hard work and preparation. But I would certainly say I’ve had luck with getting auditions. We can call it luck, we can call it fate, we can call it anything. Where I truly feel the luckiest is when it comes to all of the wonderful artists, collaborators, creators, and supporters that I have met my life. I really do believe the universe brings people into our lives for a reason. I feel lucky to have been blessed with a family that supports me with their entire hearts. I feel lucky to have friends that cheer me on with my successes. I feel lucky to have met my amazing manager, Ryan Andrews, who believes in me to the fullest extent. And, I feel lucky to have been connected with P.M. Lipscomb and Jonathan Gaietto because I would have never discovered my love for acting on camera without them. Being directed by P.M. and then acting alongside Jony in our film, Clowning, was the experience of a lifetime and what jumpstarted so many amazing opportunities for me. I’m so excited for people to see this story come to life soon. Clowning and Rosé All Day are my next movies to be released so I hope people are ready to see more of Avery Norris, because I’m excited to share my passion with them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.averynorris.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/averypnorris/?hl=en
Image Credits:
Grace Lattanzio (for the graduation picture) Czerton Lim (for the checkered dress photo) Taylor Morse (for soccer stage photo)
