Lee Norris – One Tree Hill

Q) What are the current projects you are working on?

A) I am currently working on “One Tree Hill” playing Mouth. That’s keeping me busy these days. I also just finished up this past year a movie called Zodiac, which is coming to theaters in January. Other than that, I am just hanging out in Wilmington and enjoying doing the show.

Q) Please tell us about your character Mouth on the show “One Tree Hill.”

A) He’s sort of the quintessential nice guy that a lot of people probably went to high school with. He’s the nice kid that gets along with everybody and sort of flows from group to group. You can’t really put him in a box. You can’t really say he’s a jock, a geek, etc. He just fits in with everybody. He’s a lot of fun to play. He’s nice, but he has some interesting talents like karaoke singing. He’s also had a little bit of bad luck with the ladies recently and he’s looking for some change. I think change is on the way. That’s a good thing!

Q) What made you originally want to be a part of the show?

A) I was actually in college when the pilot first came out. My agent called me and said this pilot was going to be shooting in North Carolina. I went to Wake Forest University, which is a small private school in North Carolina. I was a child actor and loved it, but I had decided at one point in my career that I was going to college and was going to put my acting career on the back burner (unless something really great came up). My agent called me about “One Tree Hill” and said it was a TV show that was going to be filming in the state where I was going to school and I should at least take a look at the script. I did take a look at it and it was originally called “Ravens.” It was just really well written. “Dawson’s Creek” was just sort of going off the air and I knew they were going to be looking for some kind of teen show to take over that demographic. I thought that “One Tree Hill” had a lot of characteristics to “Dawson’s Creek,” but it wasn’t trying to be it since it’s a different show. I thought it was really smartly done and I liked how they incorporated different literary quotes into it. I was an English major in college so that really appealed to me. Also, I loved the character of Mouth. I just thought he was a really fun guy and I saw that he was different from a lot of the guys that you see on teen soap operas. He’s not the six foot-one hunk with chiseled features that is just wooing girls left and right. He’s much more of a real character and I could certainly relate to him. I thought it would be nice to play someone like that on TV. That’s why I was drawn to the show and I have just been fortunate that the fans really responded to my character. That helped me to become a series regular because I started out as a guest star.

Q) What is new or different about your character this season?

A) I think that he’s growing up a little this year. In the past, he’s stayed pretty close to that “nice guy” image. Recently in an episode, he went to a party and got a little drunk. That is sort of out of character for him and a lot of things came out of his mouth. A lot of brutal honesty was spoken about his friends and the girls that he likes. That was, certainly, really different for him. I think he’s coming into his own more as a man. He’s becoming a man, he’s learning his limits and what he can and can’t do. I think that as the season progresses, you are going to see him become more confident, which is a nice thing. He’s going to learn more about who he is and I think that will really transfer over to his relationships with girls. I think that will be fun to watch!

Q) What is new about the show this season?

A) This season is really fun! In addition to all of the love triangles that we are known for, I think the show is incorporating a little bit of mystery this year. We’re not trying to be ” Veronica Mars” or “Lost,” certainly. There is some mystery in Tree Hill and I think people that are watching the show now are seeing that Peyton’s brother may not be exactly who he says he is. He’s becoming a little bit of a creepy stalker. There are some other mysteries always with Dan and killing his brother, if someone actually knows about it or if he is hallucinating all of it. There is also mystery in the water for Nathan this year. He had something very strange happen to him under the water and he’s coming to grips with that. I just think that there are a couple of unknowns out there that are really plaguing these characters and it’s going to be fun to watch how these mysteries affect every character from Lucas, who is sort of the center of the show, right on through Mouth, my character and the adults, etc.

Q) What about your role continues to challenge you?

A) I think that the most challenging thing about Mouth is that because he is sort of the “nice guy,” he doesn’t do a lot of outrageous things. The challenge for me is to make him likable and continue to be interesting. Nice people, while they are fun to have in your life, aren’t always the most interesting people to have around in your life. I try to continually take what they give me, which is great material, but put my own spin on it. I try to make it so that, even though he is a nice guy and doing things right of the most of the time, that he is human, believable and real. I think that the greatest challenge for any actor is to make a character human and real. In particular, with a nice guy like this, it is important to keep him as an intriguing figure. Certainly, the writers have a lot to do with that with what they give me, but it is also up to me as the actor, as well.

Q) What has been your most memorable moment from filming?

A) I would say my most memorable moment from filming was just the entire episode “With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept.” That was the school shooting episode. That whole experience was very memorable for me just because it was such an intense shoot and it really demanded a lot of the actors and of the crew. It was so memorable because everyone really rose to the occasion. We take a lot of flack in the press sometimes for being a soapy teen show, but that was an episode where we tried to show we were more than that. I really think we accomplished it and I think it’s an episode we’re really proud of. I also think it was memorable because of how hard everyone worked. We went into that set every day dealing with that brutal subject matter, particularly my character whose best friend is now waving this gun in his face. That was really challenging stuff and I’ll never forget when I watched that episode. Sophia Bush and I watched it together that night and both of us were just kind of silent the whole time. When it was over, we just looked at each other and we were like, “That’s awesome! This is something that we can be proud of and this is what our show should strive to do.”

Q) What is it about the show that continues to draw in so many viewers?

A) I think that we have a lot of different characters on the show that appeal to a wide range of people. We have the good looking guy in Chad that a lot of girls go after, and James as well. We have the vixen in Sophia and Danneel. We also have story lines for the adults. The adults on our show are some of the most incredible actors and people. Moira Kelly is a hero of mine! It’s so fun to watch and I hope that people are interested in my character. I also hope they are interested in the storylines that the writers are able to come up with to breathe life into these characters. It always surprises me, obviously, (because I do get teenage girls and teenagers that come up to me that watch our show and that’s certainly our core audience) when people my parents’ and grandparents’   age that are watching the show. It just blows me away and I think that for a lot of them it is a great escape. It takes them back to their high school days. Everybody has gone through high school and all the drama that brings with it. I think it’s fun whether you are going through it now as a person or whether you are looking back on your life because you can relate to it.

Q) What do you do in your spare time?

A) In my spare time, I try to work out (although I haven’t been doing a great job of it lately). I sort of fell off the wagon. I try to lift and I love to play tennis when it is warm outside. We’re lucky to have the beach here in Wilmington so I am a big beach guy. Also, recently, my girlfriend sort of got me into cooking. I don’t know if she tricked me into it, but I don’t know how she was able to do it. I am really enjoying it and now I am addicted to Food Network. Our favorite is the Italian chef, Giada [De Laurentiis], and we’ll watch her and take her recipes and try to make them at home. It’s fun and I guess I am becoming more domesticated. I know that my girlfriend is really happy that I’ve taken a liking to cooking.

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A) I’d like to send out a big thank you to all of my fans and supporters. I’ve been very lucky in my career to have people as intelligent, funny and great as my fans are. The reason I know that is because I’ve gotten to do a lot of signings through the show and a lot of public appearances where we actually get to meet our fans. I also post on a message board on one of the “One Tree Hill” fan sites. I get to talk to a lot of them from all over the world. I am just so blessed to have these really intelligent, funny and wonderful human beings for fans. I really am lucky! They really inspire me to do what I do. They inspire me to go to the set every day and try and create this character that will be fun for them to watch. Obviously, thank you for the support and I hope I am giving you enough back for all that you do for me.