Men of the Month: Ed Norton
Reprinted without permission
He got an Oscar nomination for his debut as a white-trash killer in Primal Fear, played a lawyer to a porn moul in The People Vs. Larry Flynt and followed that with Rounders, in which he blows Matt Damon off the screen as a low-rent cardsharp. But if Ed Norton prefers being bad to being nice, then he's excelled himself with American History X. As a California skinhead, he spouts neo-Nazi rubbish and takes part in a horrible racial murder before coming to his senses in prison. Clouded by as much Hollywood controversy as it is violent on, it confirms the 29-year-old as the best young actor in Hollywood
You don't seem to do big commercial films.
I'm just not going to function as a performer in the way a Brad Pitt functions. I don't have that to offer. But that's fine because my interest in the whole thing is pretty much in exploring a diversity of experiences and that's fun for me - getting down into interesting characters and milieus and roles. You know, American History X was a 6m film but it represented a character and a story that I wanted to take a shot at and explore and I'm really glad I did it.
Didn't you have to go in and re-edit the movie when British director Tony Kaye wouldn't finish it?
No, I don't know where people are getting that. I went in at one point last fall at his and the studio's invitation just to try and re-connect what was being done with the script. The irony is that there is really only one American History X that I've ever seen and it's the one he made.
So why did Kaye threaten to take his name off the film?
Tony said he wanted more time, so they gave it to him- two months- and he didn't do anything in that time. So we said: "We're going to take the last cut you gave us." But he got really mad and he's interpreted it as this gulf between the studio cut and his cut, but there is no "his cut". His cut is just this idea he has of what it could be if he could work on it forever.
Is he as mad as he sounds?
The thing about Tony is that he is as interested in hype art as he is in anything else and it's a little ironic that he's targeted his own film. It's so good. I don't mean to sound silly, but I'm as proud of it as anything I've worked on. I thought it was wrenching and I thought his work was absolute amazing. you are literally not going to see anything like it in the movies this year. I can't believe he's doing this, but I hope the media lets the film speak for itself.
When did you decide to be an actor?
I went to see my baby-sitter in Cinderella and there were little kids playing the mice. I thought if I was quick enough and signed up I could get in the play. But it didn't work out, so I had to take acting lessons.
Did you get on with Matt Damon when you made Rounders?
Yeah, he's a terrific guy. It was the first time I got to work with a contemporary which was fun for me plus, despite the fact that he's been caught by this whole media "golden by" thing, Matt's been doing this a long time and he's very serious about it.
You both played in the Poker World Series, didn't the other players hate you?
No, that's nonsense. The players were so nice to us. The nes that got to play with us were patting each other on the back because they knew our money was going to go right to them.
How did you get on?
I lasted about the first half-day, two or three sessions. Matt lasted a couple of hours longer than me. The tournament playing is weird; some big players went out before us because that's the nature of the tournament. You have one stack pf money and there you're out, you're only allowed to play with the 6,250 entry fee.
David Eimer
If you have new information on Edward Norton (and you can provide a verifiable and reputable source), please email me- Susan
Note: Articles and images have been posted without permission for noncommercial and nonprofit use
with no intention of copyright infringement. The purpose of this reprinting is to disseminate correct information about the
actors, films, and studios. I have included author names and links to sources whenever possible.
