Interview - Actress and Poet Katherine Norland, The Girl Next Door

Actress and poet Katherine Norland (Photos courtesy of Katherine Norland)

MONDAY POPCORN
This Particular Girl-Next-Door (Katherine Norland) Really Lives Next Door.
By Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com SHARE
Monday, April 20, 2009

Like many, Katherine Norland battles expectations and life itself. Several months ago, the Minne-snow-ta-born (her words) actress and poet talked about how people have reacted to her as she broke into the film business in Los Angeles. "It's weird," she pondered, contemplating how certain people in the business have treated her. She spoke of a well-known casting director in Hollywood who repeatedly castigated her during a seminar she had paid good money to attend, telling her that she was "too pale", that her "face isn't symmetrical" and she'd "never be leading lady" in Hollywood. "I'm paying him money to tell me why I'll never do it because of the way I look!"

Ms. Norland said she understood in the case of television commercials why one would want everything to match when representing a product but in film and television such specificity in look would appear to be more relaxed.

Referring to the same casting director: "I'm not one to speak mean of people but he reamed me out," she said. "I pictured these actresses in my head who have made it," said Ms. Norland, who is married, recalling that Uma Thurman had an asymmetrical look and that Nicole Kidman, the Academy Award-winning actress, was "much paler than me."

The St. Peter, Minnesota native said that her manager insisted that she send out her casting photos for acting roles using contact lenses that ensure matching eye colors. Ms. Norland was born with a condition called heterochromia -- eyes of different colors. At times, the condition along with Ms. Norland's abundant talents, has helped enhance the characters she has played. On other occasions she may have been denied roles because of the exacting nature of those in the business. As the actress explains her unique appearance, it is apparent that heterochromia is not so unusual. "I read somewhere that it happens to one in every eight million people," cited Ms. Norland, mentioning that Jane Seymour, Kate Bosworth and David Bowie have heterochromia. (For years stories have circulated that Mr. Bowie was punched in the eye as a young boy during a fight, causing one of his eyes to turn a different color.)

During parts of the conversation it felt that Ms. Norland had a few things that she wanted to get off her chest about identity and the path to a career that can be paved with as much heartbreak as fortune. "It's hard to, you know, when part of you wants to be yourself and be different and then somebody who's promoting you wanting you to fit in and not stand out -- be like everyone else," Ms. Norland said, sounding a little exasperated at the dilemma so many actresses in Hollywood experience. Asked further about the casting director who verbally lacerated her, and about big screen male actors like Pruitt Taylor Vince, who has a slightly inverted eye, and Forest Whitaker, the Oscar winning performer who has what is colloquially termed as a "lazy" eye, and if sexism was at work, the answer was not clear. "I don't know," said Ms. Norland. "I don't understand".

What is understood is that Katherine Norland has talent. Quintessentially she is "the girl-next-door", she says. "That gets kind of boring really easily," she says, sounding as if she's about to laugh. Ms. Norland has oft-been mistaken for being a member in the elite classes and is frequently cast as a high society lady. "I blame it on the high cheekbones," she says as she flashes back to a story about a time at a film market event when a man who was interviewing or conversing with her made rude assumptions about her societal moorings. "By the end of the conversation I was chewing him out. Just because I have high cheekbones and I dress nice . . . you know, I grew up in a trailer court for crying out loud!" Obviously the issue of class and the perception of it where she is concerned, rile Ms. Norland to the point of irritation.

"I remember my dad sitting me down once and having this conversation about how we couldn't afford to buy ketchup anymore," she said.

"Looks are always deceiving."

Of her roles while she doesn't mind playing the character field as it were but loves comedy. "I usually do get the vixen or the husband-stealer" role, she said, laughing. "I'm playing a senator's daughter right now coming up in an urban action-adventure film called "In This Land We Die", which at the time of the telephone conversation was slated to begin filming in February. Ms. Norland describes the film as "wanna be gangsta, kind of out there on the edge". The film is directed by first-time feature filmmaker Arico Shango. She has several other feature films on the horizon, including what has been described as a psychological spiritual thriller called "Hole", directed by Joaquin Montalvan. "It's about exploring people's fears and then following three people: the victim, the serial killer and the profiler. Kind of interesting."

Also interesting is that Ms. Norland is mistaken for being southern "all the time", which she is puzzled about. "Maybe it's because I have manners. I don't know," she says wryly, drawing a laugh from her interviewer. Southern Discomfort? No -- Ms. Norland has nothing against anyone from the American South; it's just that she finds it amusing that she has long been pegged as a southern belle. Told that no southern accent was detectable, she said knowingly, "that's the plan -- to be a chameleon." So far it seems to have worked. (She goes on to outline three categories of character type she has played, all of which show up on several sixty-second speed reels on her website: the girl-next-door versus the vixen versus comedy.)

As with all performers on stage or screen or elsewhere, Ms. Norland is self-conscious, specifically about her voice. "One of those things growing up as a teenager [was that] I would be made fun of all the time [for] having a baby voice, so it's been something I've been like really conscious of, of trying to sound more mature." (Katherine Norland didn't sound anything like a child during the interview.)

The conversation with the chameleon-like actress occurred in mid-January, on America's film calendar in the days just prior to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Katherine Norland didn't have a film at Sundance but at times during this mid-winter interaction her voice was very sunny. Ms. Norland spoke by telephone from her residence in Los Angeles and though she's a big screen performer her bread and butter is poetry, which she has been writing for a number of years. Already published and onto her second book of poetry, a significant measure of which was born out of pain, frustration and self-doubt, the actress makes poetry the forefront of her expression and passion. "Poetry has always been kind of a way I express myself. Get my feelings down. I call it -- it's much cheaper than going to a shrink."

These days when Ms. Norland is being cast in something she writes poetry from that particular character's point of view. She said it helps her focus and dig deep under the surface of the character she is playing.

"I call myself the Dr. Phil of poetry."

Ms. Norland's current book is called Poetic Prescriptions For Pesky Problems . "It's about how to solve problems in life turning to God instead of medication," said Ms. Norland, whose first poetry book was a faith-based work. "Whenever I would get myself into a funk I would just start writing and I would write poetry and by the time I got to the end of it I would have the solution to the problem I was going through." She politely offered to recite a couple of deeply affecting poems that she wrote. Here's one that she submitted:

Fame
by Katherine Norland

I step onto the red carpet, flashing lights, people shouting my name;
I feel like a fraud sometimes, I wonder about this so-called fame.

My life is now an open book, what can I possibly conceal?
The media and the tabloids could always uncover, and reveal.

There are no more secrets here, nothing is undisclosed in this place;
Not even dark circles, pimples or a little Botox in the face.

Followed like a hawk everywhere I go, everywhere I turn;
Waiting for the perfect shot to increase how much they earn.

Paparazzi, Paparazzi, spinner of ye old Hollywood lie;
What they can’t catch on film, with Photoshop they fool the eye.

No, nothing is sacred here, not panty lines or cellulite;
Held to an unrealistic standard, thrust into the lime-light.

Pushing you to the point of despair, more than you can take;
Front cover in bold caps, they broadcast your recent heartbreak.

Can’t live a normal life, can’t travel, if at all, for very far;
They know my license plate, so I’m forced to rent a car

To enjoy a festive gathering, or even hang out with loyal friends;
Till the caterers tip-off the Paparazzi, then our evening soon ends.

Can’t leave the house without make-up, fear of the worst-dressed-list.
They say awfully cruel things just to work you up so you’ll get pissed;

Then they can snap your picture with your snarled look
And write enough captions of fabrications to fill a book.

Some say that’s the price you pay, and it’s worth it to be famous;
But the tactics they employ are sometimes dangerous and heinous.

Just once I’d like to go to the store normal, not dolled up for some part
In my sweats, hair uncombed, and not worry when they take pix of what’s in my cart.

Though it seems it will never end, but truly short-lived is all fame;
Too soon will come a day they point and say “she looks like what’s-her-name!”

Katherine Norland writes at least three poems a day when she isn't working on a film set or busy attending to her son. At school she took courses in nutrition and business, with an eye toward being a dancer. "And then I thought I was gonna become a pastor. And I was actually studying to become a pastor when I felt the urge to become an actor," she said. Ms. Norland was going every Sunday to do a church service for inmates at a prison ministry when the overwhelming urge to act hit her. She had never had this inclination before. She was never in a play in high school. Ms. Norland drove eighty miles each way in Minneapolis to go to acting classes. In Los Angeles she continues to take acting classes even though she gets roles in films be they obscure films or more prominent ones.

"The only person that can stop you is yourself," Ms. Norland advised, "and I don't want to be responsible for my failures so I have to keep pressing forward." This last quote seemed like something the actress was saying more to herself than to her inquisitor.

Ms. Norland made the leap from Minnesota to Los Angeles in 2000. The actress recalled her friends and family saying of the move to Southern California, "'oh no, you're gonna get involved with drugs!' All they ever saw of L.A. is what they saw on the news -- that I was probably going to get kicked out and get hooked on heroin." Her family, she revealed, was "scared for their little baby girl," who has an older brother.

But whatever the family concerns, those paled in comparison to what the actress would face in her personal life.

Adversity hit Ms. Norland very hard in 2008. Her first and only child, born last year almost four months premature, had a ten-percent chance of living, weighing a pound and a half.

"They told me he was gonna die," she recalled.

One of her poems echoed the anger that she harbored toward an insensitive nurse at the neo-natal intensive care unit where Ms. Norland's son was clinging to life. Through it all her husband has been highly supportive and continues to be a solid center of companionship and strength for her. She credited him with being there for her in unwavering fashion when times were especially tough.

Ms. Norland recalled reading somewhere that the percentage of premature children born each year was greater than it was a decade ago. Not sure of the exact statistic she said, "don't quote me on that."

Today, Ms. Norland's son, Timothy John Norland, or T.J., as his mother calls him, is doing better, now 16 months old, although it is still a day-to-day struggle. "I'm definitely a better actress than I was before I had him because it opened up this wellspring of emotions that I never had before," revealed Ms. Norland.

"I've been plunged to the depths of hell and back" where T.J. was concerned, Ms. Norland said.

While the saying "tough times don't last but tough people do" applies squarely to Katherine Norland, things are looking up for the actress who cites faith as a resolute center of her life. She has appeared in films that have hovered beneath the Hollywood radar. She has appeared in several cameos and character roles on television series. Photos of her show off angular features and attributes, adding elements of mystery and allure to her persona, which during the course of this particular conversation is relaxed, introspective and well, akin to the woman who lives next door to you, perhaps unassuming, maybe a little coy or playful, but most likely strong or shy, depending on the mood she is likely to be in. For these and other reasons the characters Katherine Norland plays are sometimes dynamic, other times powerful, and still more times adventurous. As this article gets published she is filming a horror movie, some four months after the January conversation.

Poetry comes easily to the actress, who declined to give her age or even a ballpark figure (Her 20s? 30s? Higher up the age ladder?) With the interviewer eschewing the old adage "never ask a lady her age", Ms. Norland played charmer and eluder when gently asked to which age bracket she belonged, saying that "I have a different age for each character I play."

Cheeky indeed.

To further amplify, of her age Ms. Norland says, "it's flexible". "Whatever age the character is," she underlined cheerily, "that's the age I am."

"I'll say I'm 40 if I have to get a role," Ms. Norland admits. "Even though I'm not close (to forty) -- but I'll say it!" She adds that lately most of her roles have been for characters in their mid-20s, and has played roles of early 30s women. Of the characters she plays, Ms. Norland remarked, "no matter how different they are for me, there's always that core inside their being -- there's humanity that can be found. No matter how heinous they may be on the outside or how unlovely, there's always still something to love in the unlovable."

Katherine Norland also belongs to a cancer support group for people who have cancer or people who know friends or loved ones with the as-yet incurable terminal illness. The group We Start, founded by the late actress Wendy Jo Sperber, who died last year, has as a member Ms. Norland, in the group's writing division. Her website is www.katherinenorland.com. Her books can be purchased on Amazon.com.