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OUR COACHES IN ACTION
Brian Norris
Owner, Lead Teacher & Coach
A working actor for over 25 years, Brian is recognized most for his recurring roles on the final season of AMC’s acclaimed drama Halt and Catch Fire, Hulu’s original noir drama series Reprisal, and ABC's long running daytime series General Hospital.
Notable recent credits also include Recurring Roles on season two of HBO’s prestige drama Perry Mason and ABC’s long-running daytime soap General Hospital, along with supporting roles on Walker (CW), The Rookie: Feds (ABC) and the political thriller feature film 88 (Amazon).
Brian started his career as a child actor, making his television debut in San Francisco on the CBS hit Nash Bridges. Notable recent credits also include The Rookie: Feds (ABC), New Amsterdam (NBC), S.W.A.T. (CBS), Into The Dark (Hulu), Longmire (A&E), Castle (ABC), Veronica Mars (CW), Mad Men (AMC), Community (NBC), Perry Mason (HBO), The Cleaning Lady (Fox), and the political thriller feature 88, which premiered at the Tribecca Film Festival. Brian has voiced numerous video games and commercials, including hundreds of spots as the National Campaign voice for Wendy’s Fast Food.
Brian has taught and coached actors for 10+ years. In class, he loves helping actors find the space and safety to get unstuck by understanding and taking ownership of their craft. In audition coaching, Brian's goal is to help you figure out who the role becomes because you're the one playing it, while still honoring the needs of the script and story. And as a Career Coach, Brian loves demystifying the industry and helping clients see their careers as the ultimate choose you own adventure, with only your imagination to limit you.
Brian opened The Norris Studio to create a home for professional actors looking to level up their onscreen craft and career, in a community of kind, wacky, and non-competitive fellow artists.
Tiffany Commons
Teacher, Coach, Studio Admin
Born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, Illinois, Tiffany has been a performer at heart since an early age. Laughter was always present at home and she was usually the one that started it and kept it going! Tiffany has been a working actor for nearly 10 years with credits including "Modern Family" (ABC), "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS) and "This is Us" (NBC), and Doctor Odyssey (ABC). Outside of TV Acting, Tiffany has dabbled in improv, sketch and stand-up comedy.
I feel like I have finally got to a point in my acting where I do it for me and the story I want to tell - not for what I THINK someone would want to see. And that makes it fun and free. I hope that I am able to work with others to also get to that point too...and book the job...obvi."
From Brian: "Tiffany is joy personified. It's impossible to work with her and not leave smiling. Her coaching instincts are always spot on, probably because she's a working actress who actually watches a ton of the shows on TV. I'd work with her on anything, but my goodness does that woman understand multi-cam comedy!"
Gwen Carole
Virtual Commercial Coach
Gwen started her performing career as a dancer (with a BFA from the University of Arizona) where "back-of-ballet-class jokes" was one of the first special skills on her resume. Growing up in a family where improv games were quality time and The Simpsons was never missed, she developed an early knack for comedic timing and purpose in making people laugh.
Aside from her relatably goofy dance/re-enactment videos that have blown up social media, Gwen has appeared in many commercials for clients like Bosch, Supercuts, Little Ceasars, ESPN, Viasat, CA Lottery, Ethos, Paycom, TAB Bank, and Youtube (among others). You can also spot her in Welcome to Chippendales on Hulu.
Gwen is a big fan of treating yourself no differently than you would your best friend... especially when it comes to auditions and acting work. Taking shame out of the game, knowing your specific strengths, and creating an authentic and playful audition that feels suspiciously easy is the GOAL!
David Chan
Coach
Trading Virginia humidity for LA sunshine, David landed in LA with big dreams and a few questionable haircuts. Fast forward to today and you may have caught him on shows like Grey's Anatomy, St. Denis Medical, and Quantum Leap, among others. Alas he's still trying on new haircuts. In addition to acting, David has been shooting headshots for actors for over 15 years and has worked as a writer, DP and director on various projects alongside his colleagues.
Having trained under and known Brian for over a decade, David wants to help actors find their truth in the material and to find their fun to achieve their own wins.
He's excited to join The Norris Studio team and is here to be your extra set of eyes and ears and your partner in crime.
Marc Winnick
Coach
Marc was born and raised in Los Angeles and has been acting and performing most of his life. He has worked on projects from every genre, such as the creature horror Shadow Puppets with Tony Todd, the heist comedy Guns, Girls, and Gambling with Christian Slater and Gary Oldman, the action thriller Code of Honor with Steven Seagal, and most recently, the sci-fi spy film Dark Asset with Byron Mann and Robert Patrick.
Marc has studied and collaborated with Brian for nearly a decade. Over the last few years, Marc has used his experience and love of acting as a coach, helping actors produce clear and specific self-tapes that are grounded and authentic.
From Brian: I could tell you that Marc is the best. I could tell you that he understands the specifics and intricacies of GENRE better than pretty much anyone. But the simplest thing I can say about Marc is that he's who I tape my auditions with.
Mapuana Makia
Virtual Coach
Mapuana's love of performing started in a small, humid drama room at the very back of her high school in Maui, Hawaii. That love has taken her to work in many places, including Los Angeles and Vancouver, BC. Her most notable credits include a Series Regular Role on Doogie Kamealoha M.D, along with Guest Stars on Fantasy Island and Two Sentence Horror Stories. She is also an ABC Talent Showcase Finalist.
Mapuana has known and worked with Brian for over 10 years. His coaching and classes have been the foundation for her professional career and creative process. Mapuana is proud to join the studio of working professionals who are constantly working to innovate as they shift with the demands of the industry.
Mapuana believes in consistent progress over perfection, working together to find what helps her fellow actors feel confident and grounded in their roles, and have fun and share some laughs along the way.
Billy Hayes
Coach
Billy Hayes is originally from the Appalachian mountains of VA. He's always found it funny that actors write bios for themselves in the third person…
I started working in the industry out of high school, moved to NYC to attend the Stella Adler Conservatory and stepped away from acting to work production, start a family, business, you know - adult stuff. But then a midlife crisis led me back to my true love - acting! - and I've been working with Brian ever since. As a teacher and coach, I love helping actors explore the beautiful chaos that makes them, them.
Recent credits include Margot’s Got Money Troubles (AppleTV+) and Misty Green (A24).
Kira Cook
Commercial Coach
Raised in Chicago, Kira began acting at 6 and had a childhood marked by performing in a Steppenwolf play after school by age 7 and doling out advice to Cubs fans outside her front yard at age 8. Kira has lived and worked n Los Angeles for over 15 years now.
She studied improv at Second City and UCB, did standup around town for years, produced shows at the Improv, and hosted a long-running alt standup show at Vlad the Retailer (IYKYK).
Kira has been acting and performing most of her life. Recent credits include Netflix's Tom Segura's Bad Thoughts, Nickelodeon's The Really Loud House, a lead in an indie feature and some voice work on AppleTV's Sunny. Commercially, she books consistently, 6-12 spots a year. Recent clients include Geico, Salesforce, JiffyLube, SlingTV, Golden Corral, Lingo, and Westjet.
She has also begun working as a session director so is intimate with the behind-the-scenes commercial auditioning, selection, callback, and decision-making process. She is warm and welcoming and will reliably have a way to make your audition come alive that's specific to you and your unique performative flavor. Now let's book you a job already!
Jonah Robinson
Virtual Coach
Where others may imagine themselves on a beach, Jonah’s happy place is doing scene study (on a beach). He comes to us from over a decade of experience performing on stage, in theaters from New York to Los Angeles, and reoccurs on the long running soap opera Days of Our Lives. When he’s not being a doctor on TV, Jonah is a script doctor and director- with a passion for creating stories with others and helping bring other’s visions to life.
Although Jonah is still newer to the Norris Studio, the growth and depth he has gained through working with Brian these past years has been exponential. There is rarely a time you won’t find him smiling and he loves to infuse that joy and play into every scene. He’s your teammate, big brother, and sounding board.