By Tristan Weisenbach
Editor-in-Chief
Actress Danielle Morrow may never have expected that her iconic role as Nora Dershlit, the crazy, pet chicken-owning super fan and kidnapper of “iCarly,” on Nickelodeon in 2010 would be so intriguing to fans.
In fact, her character was so popular that she even made a guest appearance years later as Nora on the spinoff series “Sam & Cat,” when she used her conniving tactics yet again to kidnap the character Dice.
However, her career as an actress and screenwriter goes far beyond the mischievous persona that she once played 15 years ago. She discovered her love for acting early on in her childhood.
“I was one of those kids that loved performing. I loved acting and making people laugh, so that was something I always loved to do,” Morrow said in an interview with The Signal. “If there was a play at school, I had to audition for it, so it was definitely something that I have always felt a connection to.”
Growing up in Thousand Oaks, California, Morrow spent much of her time at The Groundlings Theatre — an improv and sketch comedy venue in Los Angeles with many notable alumni, such as Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell and Maya Rudolph.
She was also a part of another community theater in Agoura Hills, California, where she improved on her comedic timing skills under the leadership of Ellen Marano, the mother of actresses Laura and Vanessa Marano.
It was here that Morrow met the casting director of “iCarly,” as the director’s children also took classes there with Morrow.
“She had me audition [for “iCarly”], and I went in there, I auditioned, and she really worked with me and helped me out with fine tuning things,” Morrow said. “And then from there, I sent it in and they liked what they saw and very kindly asked me to come perform and be Nora, and the rest is history.”
Morrow described the set of the show as fun and energetic, and was surprised to see how realistic the set design looked in-person. She also said the show provided her with good comedic acting experience, too.
“You were just being thrown things and you have to go with it, so it was a great experience in terms of really learning how to be on a comedic set, how to go with the flow when things are being thrown at you,” she said.
After making other appearances on “Sam & Cat” and “Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn,” Morrow returned to The Groundlings Theatre to continue her sketch work in a program called The Sunday Company. She worked alongside other individuals to write, pitch and perform brand new sketches every Sunday — an activity she described as “very time consuming, but very fun.”
After performing there for some time, Morrow decided to take a step back to focus on her family. Now married and a mother, she has since settled down and shifted her focus toward screenwriting.
She and her writing partner, Vanessa Marano, found a shared interest in exploring the romcom genre after Marano starred on ABC’s “Switched at Birth.”
“I feel like this year we're kind of getting in our groove of where our voices and our strength as writers are, and presenting that out to other people,” Morrow said.
While she couldn’t share many details at this time, Morrow said she is currently working on a Hallmark Christmas project, as well as another romcom project that is “steps away from possibly getting the OK to be greenlit and made.”
Screenwriting in the age of digital streaming services has its difficulties, according to Morrow. She said that despite there being so many platforms to watch content on, many services are hesitant to take risks.
“They really want the whole package before they put in more money, and so that's been hard because you really have to convince so many people to get on board for one potential project just before you can even sell it somewhere where it would have a chance of surviving and being made,” she said.
However, she stressed that rather than viewing our increasingly digital society as an obstacle, those who are interested in pursuing a career in acting or writing should use social digital platforms like TikTok and Instagram to their advantage to build an audience and form a community.
“Just building a community and not judging it, not being so harsh [on yourself] and just forcing yourself to just do the act of acting or writing or improvising or anything like that is going to really benefit you,” Morrow said.
