Le Grand Journal

"Michel Denisot (the interviewer) - While preparing this interview, I read many times that you are a nightmare for interviewers because you say very little about your personal life - which I understand perfectly since I act the same. Why are you so discreet?

Edward Norton - I think it’s better for the work, you know.

MD - You are at the same level as actors like Brad Pitt or Sean Penn, that are often present in the gossip press, but, unless them, you are very discreet. You only like to talk about cinema?

EN - Yeah, I think cinema is much more interesting than me. (smile)

MD - Yeah, that’s what you say- The film you’re at the Cannes film festival for is one in which you are actor and producer. It’s called Down in the Valley and it’s presented in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival. In this film, you play the role of a cowboy, who is frustrated and tender at the same time.

EN - Yes. C’est vrai (said in French, meaning « That’s right »)

Everybody applauses and whistles.

A French actor seating next to him pretends to be shocked by the fact that he is applauded just for saying that and asks - Can you say something else than « C’est vrai » ?

EN - J’ai besoin de pratiquer (« I need to practice »)

The interviewer then asks the cinema journalist at the table to say two words about the film, before the spectators can see an extract, adding - Two words, like Edward Norton, who is every time answering to the questions by two words.

The journalist - Edward Norton is one of the two best actors of its generation with Sean Penn. He sums up the film, and then the extract (sooo great) is shown.

MD - That was a beautiful extract of the film. What is your technique as an actor? You didn’t go to the Actor’s Studio, so what technique do you personally use to incarnate a character?

EN - Each one is different. With this character it has a lot to do with its clothes. With this guy, I think you have to start with the right pair of boots. It makes you walk differently. Things like that. But, you know, I think this is a very psychological film. So, you learn to ride a horse and you learn to shoot the guns, things like that, but it’s sort of a fantasy, so you have to use your own.

Then the French actor (who is supposed to be a comic one) asks EN to make a picture with him for his mum - which EN accepts immediately, laughing.

The journalist - Do you - as the character you play in this film does - have the impression that you are in Hollywood a lonesome cowboy. You have the same kind of career than Sean Penn, you have directed a film like he did, David Morse plays in this film and acted in Indian Runner directed by Sean Penn. Do you feel, like him, a little bit alone in the Hollywood system?

EN - No, I think there are many interesting artists working in films. Hollywood is a very strange thing: there’s the business part of Hollywood, with a lot of films coming out of it, but that’s not the totality of American films. There are also a lot of interesting independent films, with great actors.

The journalist - Your filmography - AHX, Fight Club, 25th Hour - shows a lot of characters that are very deep and difficult to hold.

EN - Yeah, I try to let them go (laughs).

Then follows a short interview of Evan Rachel Woods, where the actress thanks EN for taking care of her during the shooting, thinks he’s awesome and hopes she can work with him again.

No reaction of EN on the set ( !?)

MD - Are your familiar with Cannes ?

EN - I came here when I was nineteen with the Euro Pass. That’s the only time. (smiles)

MD - This morning you discovered the special atmosphere of Cannes, in particular the photo call, which an actor cannot avoid and to which you consented. (the images of EN during the photo call are shown). What do you think of it ? Does it seem to you as something important, absurd, shallow, profound ?

EN - C’est ridiculous (with a French accent, instead of « ridicule »).

The journalist - I think that, after Keeping the Faith, you are now writing another project. I think you have just finished writing a second film.

EN - Almost. Very soon. Next year, I think, we’ll make it. It’s from a novel called Motherless Brooklyn.

The journalist - Will it be a light comedy as the one you directed the first time. Awkwardly enough, you usually play heavy characters, but you directed a comedy.

EN - This will be a film noir.

MD - Thank you for being here with us tonight. A journalist said that looking for facts of your life is like looking for Bin Laden in the mountains of Afghanistan. We know very little about your life - which is to be respected...

EN - All right, what do you want to know ? (laughing).

The French actor - Do you know Paris Hilton? (she is in Cannes and was on the same show the night before).

EN - No, je ne sais pas (I don’t know her) (smiling).

MD - Do you know anyone in this year’s jury ?

EN - Javier Bardem.

Journalist - What about a lady ?

EN - Yes, I have an actress friend in the jury.

Then they insist on showing EN the fall (they call « ridiculous » in English) of the other French actor on the set, before he arrived.

EN (feeling for him) - C’est magnifique (It’s wonderful).

MD - Referring to your film Keeping the Faith, you said it also was an homage to the French cinema, particularly to Truffaud. Is it true ?

EN - Oui, c’est vrai. J’aime beaucoup Jules et Jim (Yes, it’s true, I love the film Jules and Jim). I love the love triangles.

The French actor asks him if he knows two French directors (Gabriel Aghion and Gérard Pirès, who have done stupid comedies that worked very well in the box office - which is not mentioned). EN answers he’s heard of the second one.

Before showing a report about Paris Hilton in Cannes, MD asks EN if he knows who she is, explaining she was here the day before.

EN - She’s everywhere! I think you would have to be buried under a rock not to know her.

Presenting briefly her resume, another journalist on the set mentions that she is now embarking in a new carrier as an actress and says that EN could act in a film with her one day...

EN - J’espère que non (I hope not)!

MD - What are you planning to do tomorrow, are you going to see Star Wars (wich is shown in Cannes on Sunday).

EN - Non, je n’ai pas le temps (No, I don’t have time for that).

MD - You will take care of your film and then you will leave ?

EN - Je retourne à Prague (I will go back to Prague).

MD - You are shooting there, right ?

EN - Oui (yes).

MD - You speak French because you like French cinema ? We just mentioned Truffaud, but you often refer to it.

EN - Je parle un peu, mais j’entends beaucoup (literally, he said : I speak a little, but I hear a lot. Probably meaning that he understands better, or that he often has the opportunity to hear french).

MD - Thank you a lot for being with us tonight.

EN - mon plaisir (my pleasure - which is a literal translation, not correct, but very sweet, since he seems to begin a sentence speaking about his pleasure)."

[Thanks again to Fleur for letting me know about the interview and for providing the translation. Thanks also to Stéphanie for letting me know that they had posted the video]

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