Edward Norton, the guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, has been one of our finest screen actors for 30 years. He’s a three-time Oscar nominee, twice nominated before the age of 30, and it’s looking increasingly likely that he’ll pick up a fourth nom later this month in recognition of his touching portrayal of the gentle folk singer Pete Seeger opposite Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown. He already was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and he is nominated for Critics Choice and SAG awards.
Described by the Los Angeles Times as “the Gen-Y actor’s actor, the inheritor of the great acting mantle worn by such luminaries as Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman” and by Cineaste magazine as “one of the most powerful actors in American films… one of those genius-touched chameleons like Alec Guinness or Daniel Day-Lewis,” Norton has starred in films such as 1996’s Primal Fear, 1998’s American History X, 1999’s Fight Club, 2002’s 25th Hour, 2006’s The Illusionist and 2014’s Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Over the course of a conversation at the LA offices of United Talent Agency, the 55-year-old reflected on the lead-up to his big screen debut, which catapulted him to stardom; how he came to do some of his best work for auteur filmmakers David Fincher, Spike Lee, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Wes Anderson; why he was so impressed with his A Complete Unknown director and costar; plus much more.
