Andrew Robinson
Edward Norton is, without a doubt, one of the best actors in Hollywood. He’s been nominated for three Oscars – Best Supporting for Birdman (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Best Supporting for Primal Fear, and Best Lead Actor in American History X. So, why doesn’t he get many gigs anymore?
IMDb.com – the ultimate guide to movie and TV – currently has Norton working on one upcoming project. The movie, titled Motherless Brooklyn, is expected to be released on November 1st, 2019. Edward Norton stars, as does Bruce Willis, Leslie Mann, and Willem Dafoe. There’s one catch, however: Norton is also the director. So, in the one project that he is set to star in, he cast himself. Why is that?
Well, for starters, Norton is a perfectionist. He has been known to throw fits, yelling at the directors/writers to rewrite certain scenes if he doesn’t deem them to be perfect. In fact, Birdman (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) portrays Norton’s character, Mike, in a way that Norton is notorious for acting in real life. (WARNING: NSFW language). It’s tough for anyone to work with a true perfectionist, let alone one with Norton’s pedigree. Furthermore, writers and directors rarely like to be told that they’re wrong by actors, so it makes sense that Norton has struggled to garner many roles in recent years.
In Norton’s first ever credited full-length film, Primal Fear, he received the aforementioned Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He starred in three movies, including Primal Fear, in 1996. He took a much-deserved break in 1997, but came back with a head of steam in 1998, starring in two films, including the universally-beloved American History X, for which he received his Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. 1999 saw his role in Fight Club, which is another universally-beloved film in which this writer would have loved to see him receive an Oscar nom for his performance. After that, he starred in six films from 2000-2003, including the prequel in the Dr. Hannibal Lecter saga, Red Dragon.
Though he had rewritten films that he had starred in previously, Norton’s reputation for being difficult to work with began to heat up when he worked on the set of The Incredible Hulk (2008) as the titular character. Tim Roth says Norton re-wrote scenes every day. Despite the film being well-received, Marvel released a statement just before filming for The Avengers – which Norton was believed to be starring in as Bruce Banner – that they weren’t bringing Norton back because they were looking for “an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.” Oof.
Since then, Norton has worked with director Wes Anderson three times (Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Isle of Dogs (2018) ). He only has eight other credited films in the past eleven years.
The considerable absence of Norton from Hollywood is a shame; he truly is one of the most talented actors out there. He’s this writer’s favorite actor. However, his tale serves as a warning to many up-and-coming actors and actresses: pick your battles. Sometimes, you’ll have to film scenes that you don’t deem to be 100% perfect. And, sometimes, that has to be okay.
Hopefully Norton will be offered – and accept – some big roles in the near future. This writer misses seeing him. Hopefully the strange career of Edward Norton will have one more major twist; an Oscar win.
