A consistently first-rate actor who has impressed audiences and critics alike in a disparate array of roles since his film debut, Edward Norton hit the big screen with a scene-stealing turn in 1996's legal thriller "Primal Fear". Remarkably thoughtful and articulate, the Yale educated Norton shied away from disclosing personal information to the press, but when discussing his work proved a fascinating interview subject. His renowned reticence served his debut film well, fooling the casting agents for "Primal Fear" and landing the role of the schizoid Southerner by affecting an accent (reportedly perfected by repeated viewings of 1980's "Coal Miner's Daughter") and inventing a Kentucky birthplace. An unknown to movie audiences, the young actor's anonymity made his performance as the altar boy turned killer all the more riveting and believable. His shining work in the compelling if uneven film earned him a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination. That same year, he gave two other acclaimed supporting performances portraying attorneys. In Woody Allen's curious musical "Everyone Says I Love You", Norton was featured as Drew Barrymore's prepster love interest. The appealing actor proved a competent comedic actor, even pulling off his unexpected singing quite well. Norton rounded out the year with another skillful performance as lawyer Alan Isaacman in Milos Forman's biopic "The People vs. Larry Flynt". Sincere and likable in this film in what may be described as a slightly innocuous role, his next work would be a definite departure.
After adding 30 pounds of sculpted muscle to his formerly reed-like frame and shearing off his medium brown hair, Norton transformed his boy next door look into a monstrous skinhead powerhouse for his starring debut as a brilliant and startlingly violent white supremacist in the controversy plagued "American History X" (1998). Playing Derek Vinyard, a dynamic young leader of a neo-Nazi movement, Norton took the viewer on a journey through the character's evil acts, his realization and regret, and his horror that the legacy of his desperate hate had been passed on to an adoring younger brother (Edward Furlong). Norton uncovered a character who, despite his deplorable rhetoric and shocking actions, is more human than evil, an even scarier force to comprehend. The buzz surrounding the film (centered on the bizarre antics of fledgling feature director Tony Kaye) threatened to overshadow the power of Norton's performance. Demanding that his name be taken off of the credits, and accusing Norton of editing the film to serve his own narcissistic purposes, Kaye, a British commercial director and self-described 'hype artist', may have tainted the film's reception, but his protestations were unable to drown out Norton's undeniable accomplishment in a performance that earned his second Oscar nomination, this time in the Best Actor race.
Also in 1998, Norton turned in another in a series of excellent performances, as Worm, the aptly named slimy poker ace in "Rounders". Fresh out of prison and down on his luck, Worm enlists the help of a friend (Matt Damon) who has given up the underground gambling life to attend law school. Norton's fast-talking con man all but takes over the movie, injecting plenty of spark into John Dahl's visually arresting but somewhat predictable atmospheric piece. Next up for Norton was the drama "Fight Club" (1999), starring alongside Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter in a strange tale of self-help group dependence and underground violent secret societies.
While now well-known for his film work, Norton started out with a prestigious stage career that began in his childhood, making his professional debut at age eight in a dinner theater production of "Annie Get Your Gun". Work in "Pippin", "Peter Pan" and "Godspell" followed. While attending Yale as a history major, Norton also performed on the university's stage. A move to New York led to some off-off-Broadway work and he later caught the attention of legendary playwright Edward Albee, who was so impressed with the young actor that he cast him in a sought after role in the premiere of his play "Fragments" in 1994.
Engaging and uniquely well-spoken, displaying little of the Hollywood attitude that all-too-often accompanies actors capable of his intensity, Norton has in fact consistently praised the actors and directors with whom he has worked. Having such a rapport with and respect for the professionals in his business, it would seem only natural for him to add the actor-director hyphenate, and he set out to try his hand, helming the feature "Keeping the Faith" (2000), and starring along with fellow actor-director Ben Stiller. In the film, Norton and Stiller respectively played a Catholic priest and a rabbi who fall in love with the same woman. Norton next co-starred with Robert De Niro in "The Score" (2001) where he played a young con man. He appeared with his girlfriend Salma Hayek in "Frida" (2002) and had starring roles in both "Red Dragon" (2002) the prequel to "Silence Of The Lambs" (1991) as well as Spike Lee's crime drama "The 25th Hour" (2002).
In 2003, Norton was seen in the remake of the classic 60s heist feature "The Italian Job," which also co-starred Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron and had Norton breezing through yet another now-familiar, unchallenging role as a dangerous wolf in sheep's clothing. He next played King Baldwin the Leper in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Ridley Scotts historical epic taking place in the relative calm between the 2nd and 3rd Crusades of the 12th century.
Copyright © Baseline 2007.