Meet Erika Marks | Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erika Marks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erika, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
“You don’t have to do anything” – Robert Di Niro

Where I went to college, In Madison, Wisconsin, the opportunity for film training was fairly minimal. My junior year, I was taking a film acting class being led by my advisor with only two other students. The Harry Potter-esque room we were studying in could not, under any circumstances be considered a classroom, which somehow only made us want to be there more.
One lesson, we were discussing the awareness an actor has to have about framing and my professor pulled up the clip of Robert Di Niro being shaved in The Untouchables (1987). It is mostly an overhead shot with Di Niro framed center with very few cut aways. We study how he plays every corner of the screen, gesturing all around his framing, never going out, and embodying a flawless Capone.
After breaking down his performance, my professor pulls up another Robert Di Niro clip being interviewed about his approach on acting. The whole interview is full of great advice, but the one line that stuck out to me was simply; “You don’t have to do anything.” Hearing this quote after watching one of the most technically beautiful scenes I had seen, was not what I had expected from him. But what I ended up realizing is that (shocker, I know) he was right. There is so much work, technical aspects, character breakdown that happens before you get on set, but once you are there, all you have to do is live. By trusting the work that you, and the people around you, have done, truly “you don’t have to do anything” except be.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My favorite thing about being an actor in LA is the answer to this question, because there truly is no “one path” someone takes to this career. I started acting when I was a kid, community theatre, school plays, etcetera. That wasn’t enough to scratch the itch for me, so I started storyboarding film ideas before school for my friends and I to act out over recess. We would imagine there were cameras on us, we had other classmates be the directors, and certain playground equipment were the stationary cameras (I was 7, don’t think into it too much). As school went on, puberty became a nightmare, but that awkwardness fueled a new type of acting for me – sketch comedy. I had been doing summer camps at Second City since I was a kid and was very familiar with the structure of short form sketches. This awkward comedy culminated in a shot for shot remake of Monty Python and the Holy Grail I did when I was 14. Highschool came around and I desperately wanted to fit in. I joined volleyball (sports are cool right?), but quickly realized I did not have a passion for it. Later in the year, a friend of mine convinced me to audition for the spring musical, and there it was again, passion. I balanced fall volleyball with spring theatre as much as I could, but my junior year I had been cast as the lead in the school play being put up during the volleyball season. Guess which one I decided to do? That’s right, VOLLEYBALL! Just kidding, I did the play.
That same year I was the lead in a short film that was being directed by a Northwestern student and he asked me one day on set, “So, do you plan on acting as a career?” and my whole world changed. That was the moment I realized I COULD ACT AS A CAREER. I could do the thing that brought me the most joy and passion I’d ever felt for the rest of my life. Being from Chicago, raised in a very scientific and analytical family, this was not something I would have ever even thought was a possibility, and the second it was, there was no looking back. I went to college and got my Acting Specialty Degree, I studied at the Actors Studio at Pinewood Studios in London, the Conservatory at the Second City Chicago, Speiser/Sturges, the Christiansen Acting Academy, AFA, and many more. My first day touring the theatre at the University of Wisconsin Madison, my advisor, Jim Stauffer, told me “If there is anything else in the world you like doing even a fraction as much, do that instead, if this is not the ONLY thing for you, you will not succeed.” And he was right, here I am in Hollywood, working as an actor and pursuing my passion every day because this truly is the only thing for me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a HUGE fan of haunts and anything spooky. At these locations or on these tours I have come to meet an incredible array of people, and the commonality seems to simply be a sense of fun. A few weeks ago, my mom was here visiting, and we went over to Catalina Island, and I barely got a taste of the ghostly adventures that could have been done there. So, me with the resources I would need to throw together the perfect haunted week, would get out my The Strange Side of Catalina book, take two days there and check out every spot we had access to. Then I would head to San Diego to see the Waley House, it’s been on my “to-do” list for months and spend a day or two out there checking out the other notorious locations. IF I could get an invite to the Magic Castle, we would do a dinner show there (I LOVE magicians and slight of hand), followed by a night of dancing at the Viper Room, and spend a night in Suite 1200 or Room 928 (spooky readers, you get it) at the Roosevelt Hotel. And in the morning, a hike up to the Hollywood Sign. It would, of course, be ideal if this imaginary haunted vacation would happen in October, but I’m not fussy. Spooky has no season.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
To be an artist, it takes a village. It takes friends who will call you to help with an audition from the bathroom at their day job, a mother who has never once questioned my career as an actor, the manager who is not only my biggest fan, but biggest advocate, and every single person throughout my career who has decided to take a chance on me.
If I were to list every person who deserves a shout out for what they have done for me, we would be here for days. But we have to start somewhere so let’s start at the beginning:
Mama Marks first and foremost, has supported me from the first moment I “made a movie” as a child, to coming with me to every premiere since. Her drive and passion in her field is admired by all, but none more than the little girl who looked just like her. My wonderful manager, Kacie Newport (BAM Management), who the moment we locked eyes, we knew the dream team was about to be born, she is not only an incredible manager, but an incredible friend and human. My agents at Aqua, Courtney Peldon and Blake Viglione, for all the work they put into me and their confidence. Kimberlee Peterson, who I met as a photographer, but ended up inspiring me to create art with her over the past 16 months and foster a confidence in myself I did not have before. And all my friends who are there with me for every casting, every rejection, every tape, everything, I love you guys.

Website: erikakmarks.com

Instagram: @erikakmarks

Youtube: @erikakmarks

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9141845/

Image Credits
Lotta Photo (for all photos)