Hollywood’s Soft-spoken Intellectual
Sources of pictures: (Left)- included with interview, (Right) contributed by Daniela
Reprinted without permission
While Woody Harrelson acts like a playful kid during interviews, jumping around barefoot, his Hollywood colleague and one-time attorney to Harrelson’s Larry Flynt in Milos Forman’s People vs. Larry Flynt, 30-year-old Edward Norton is rather a thoughtful, soft-spoken intellectual. Forman is in fact his favorite topic for conversation, as he considers him to be his mentor and Norton even gave him a role of priest Havel in his directing debut, Keeping the Faith, which is closing this year’s Karlovy Vary film festival.
Despite a half hour delay - Norton did make it to Villa Premiere the previous night - he was taking one media after another like on a factory production line.
This is a long stretch of interviews.
Oh, this is nothing.
What was the longest you’ve ever gone through?
Five times this. In the United States, when they have a press junket the first day you do 85-minute television interviews. This is a walk in a park.
You’ve been jumping from a table to table here, it seems that everybody here really wants to talk to you, the famous actor.
I don’t know. If I thought people were sitting down to talk because I was famous, I wouldn’t do it. I don’t think it’s really worth anything. But I don’t think that’s why people are here, it is a film festival and I think people are here because people are interested in films and love films. I think that’s what’s nice about a smaller festival like this as opposed to Cannes, which doesn’t seem to be about films at all. It seems to be much more about that other thing, but that’s why I’ve never gone. And this seems that it’s about people coming to talk about films and the only reason I do this is because people are enthusiastic, too. And that’s the only reason why I do it, because I love films too, I like talking about films.
Do you have a favorite character?
I couldn’t really pick one. You get involved with each one, I can really focus on whatever I’m doing. I haven’t seen very many movies after I’ve done them, after they come out.
Because you’re worried about the result?
No, no, no, because I’m finished. I’ve experienced it. I’d say my favorite - I’ve never been in a film that I was really unhappy about. I think they come off at least pretty well and at least some of them. I thought Larry Flynt was an exceptional film and The Fight Club. The Fight Club was probably my favorite film that I was in, as a piece of cinema. I think David Fincher, in my generation, is one of the top cinema artists, I think he’s like a sculptor. He is doing things with the medium that are actually new, if that’s possible.
What defines you as an artist?
I wouldn’t comment on this question. I don’t know. I think all you can ever do if you are true to your own internal indicators and not what other people are saying on the outside is follow themes of stories that interest you. I’ve been very lucky that I’ve gotten to work on very different sorts of things but my favorite films that I worked on, probably at the end of the day have been on some levels exploring things that are dysfunctional in the culture that we live in.
Where is this coming from, this interest of yours in dysfunctional issues?
Story telling at its core is, I think, our way of collectively analyzing ourselves. It’s a way of seeking out meaning. Since everyone was in caves I think people have been telling each other stories to try to get at the root of certain truths about all of us and certain things that connect us. And sometimes naming things that are unhealthy has a very cathartic effect. In this country, you have this amazing example when President Havel came out and delivered his New Year’s address, after years and years of Communist leaders saying that the country was prosperous and flourishing. Catharsis is important. It’s always amazing to me when the critical community say, they act as though the film itself is the thing that’s unhealthy for examining something that’s unhealthy when in truth I think it’s essential.
Have you always wanted to be an actor since you were little?
I’ve been doing it since I was little. I think there is a point in your life when you have to make a decision whether that’s something that you’re really going to do and I don’t think I knew in an adult way that I was necessarily going to do it.
What made you go for that direction in life?
I kept ditching opportunities to do everything else.
Will you continue directing movies?
I don’t know, I’ll certainly direct movies at some point. I don’t have any immediate plans to do it and I think it would be really fun to do one that I’m not acting in because it would be a little bit more relaxed.
You’re now working on a film with Robert DeNiro and Marlon Brando, The Score. How’s it to work with icons like that?
It’s been great. I’m about half way through. They are both terrific. Marlon has a fairly small part in it, but DeNiro is phenomenal. He is like breathing through oxygen, he is so good, so good, he’s real minimalist. He is all gesture-if he could get rid of the words, he would get rid of the words.
HANA LESENAROVÁ, VLADAN SÍR
(Source: PREMIERE)
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