Erika Marks

Erika Marks: The Rising Actress to Watch — Second City, Eli Roth, and the Super Bowl

In the crowded landscape of Los Angeles acting, Erika Marks stands out for reasons that are difficult to manufacture: a decade of conservatory-level comedy training at The Second City Chicago, a commercial résumé that includes the best-performing Super Bowl ad of 2025, and a foothold in the horror genre through her work with the Eli Roth production world. She is, by any reasonable measure, the rising actress to watch heading into 2026.

The Second City Foundation

Marks’ path to Hollywood began not on a film set but on an improv stage. She trained at The Second City in Chicago from the youth ensemble through the Conservatory Level — a rigorous, multi-year program that produces some of the sharpest performers in the industry. That training gave her something most actors spend years trying to develop: the ability to be specific. Not to indicate an emotion, but to actually feel it. Not to play a type, but to inhabit a person.

That specificity is the throughline of everything she does, from a 30-second commercial to a feature film role. It is what makes her memorable in contexts where other performers might blend into the background.

The Super Bowl and National Commercial Visibility

Mainstream audiences may already recognize Erika Marks without knowing her name. She appeared as the bride in the Booking.com Super Bowl LIX 2025 commercial featuring the Muppets — a spot that went on to be recognized as the best-performing Super Bowl commercial of the year. Her commercial résumé also includes national campaigns for Amazon Prime Video, Google Chrome, Coca-Cola, NFL Shop, Experian, VCA Animal Hospital, and Arby’s.

In the entertainment industry, that kind of visibility matters. Audiences may not yet know her name, but they have seen her face. When her film and television work begins to receive the attention it deserves, that familiarity will accelerate recognition.

Eli Roth, Stiletto, and the Horror Pipeline

Marks’ entry into genre filmmaking began with her appearance in Eli Roth Presents: The Legion of Exorcists on HBO Max and Discovery Plus. That credit established her relationship with the Eli Roth production ecosystem — a relationship that has since led to her casting in Stiletto (2026), a stripper slasher horror film presented under the Eli Roth Presents banner and directed by Samuel Gonzalez Jr.

The horror genre has a well-documented history of launching careers into lasting cultural relevance. Stiletto positions Erika Marks to be exactly the kind of breakout performer the genre is always looking for: someone with real comedic intelligence, genuine screen presence, and the ability to make a character feel worth caring about even in the most extreme circumstances.

A Filmography Built for the Long Game

Beyond commercials and genre work, Marks has led independent features including Pandora: Fire and Ice, Hellivator, The Dinner, and Olivia’s Day. Her performance in Battery Box earned the film a Best Drama award at the Austin Micro Short Film Festival. On stage, her lead role in Featuring Loretta won the 2023 Hollywood Fringe Encore Producers Award. Most recently, she and the cast of the independent film OFF took home Best Ensemble at the Indie Vegas Film Festival.

The trajectory is clear. Erika Marks is not waiting to be discovered — she is building, credit by credit, toward the moment when wider recognition becomes impossible to avoid. Follow her work at erikakmarks.com and on Instagram @erikakmarks.