Born in South Bend, Indiana, Dean Norris began his acting career after studying at Harvard College. He made his screen debut as an ensemble player in the local comedy series Beyond Our Control, and later moved on to roles in several films and television programs. He made his film debut in the action comedy Disorganized Crime, which premiered in 1989. He soon had roles in films such as Lethal Weapon 2, Total Recall, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Playmaker, Starship Troopers, The One, Evan Almighty, Little Miss Sunshine and The Heartbreak Kid.
Norris was also active on television. Most of his early roles were on television movies, but he would later guest star in numerous television series. He played recurring roles in NYPD Blue, Windfall, Murder One, 24 and The West Wing, and also had guest roles in The X Files, Charmed, The Practice, Philly, Crossing Jordan, Boston Legal, CSI, Cold Case, Bones and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
His first regular television role came in 2003, when he starred as W.D. Twitchell in Termors: The Series, a television spin-off of the movie series of the same name. The series lasted for only one season. Five years later, he took another regular role, this time on the drama series Breaking Bad. He played Hank Schrader, a DEA agent investigating a possible new drug “kingpin” in the area, not knowing that it is his brother-in-law, Walter White (Bryan Cranston).