Edward Norton is an actor who has acted in both the broad categories of films. He has found himself in major productions like The Incredible Hulk and Knives Out 2 as well as in indie films like Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch. Thus, it’s safe to say that he certainly knows a thing or two about acting.
But even then he doesn’t hold a favorable view regarding the method-acting phenomenon. In fact, Norton said that journalists have hyped up this phrase so much that its real meaning has been lost. The actor even revealed that he hasn’t acted with anyone who has actually done method acting.
Edward Norton Thinks Method Acting Has Been Misinterpreted
In a 2010 interview with Vulture, Edward Norton revealed his feelings on method acting and stated that entertainment journalists have diluted the term. He expressed that he doesn’t consider himself to be a method actor either. Norton said:
“I’ve never called myself a method actor. I never got much out of that whole line of thought, personally. The problem is there’s this romance, this sort of legend of the method and the actor’s studio and Lee Strasberg. But the truth is that the actual distinction between what these different ideas were, and what is what, has been totally lost… The truth is, every lazy entertainment journalist, basically they say that someone’s a ‘method actor’ if they do anything.”
So what is method acting? Norton said that its true meaning can be found in Lee Strasberg’s definition. He said,
“Method as Lee Strasberg described was the idea that your emotional memory and your sense memory was the conduit through which you accessed all of what you needed for the work — and it was the deepest and most intense way for you to bring out the deep truth of a certain piece of work,”
Norton even stated that he hasn’t worked with anyone in his career, who he could say with certainty, was an actual method actor. In fact, the Fight Club actor said that he doesn’t think famed artists like Robert De Niro and Daniel Day-Lewis are method actors either.
Edward Norton Discredits Daniel Day-Lewis And Robert De Niro As Method Actors
In the interview with Vulture, Edward Norton also refuted popular claims that famed actors like Robert De Niro and Daniel Day-Lewis are method actors. He criticized the media and fans for using the phrase- method acting interchangeably with commitment and concentration.
Norton said:
“What people started saying was the method was, in fact, just kind of realism. De Niro gaining weight in Raging Bull is not like the method. It’s just commitment. Even when people say that Daniel Day-Lewis won’t leave character on the set, I don’t relate to that as method. I just relate to that as an actor with an intensive commitment to staying inside the reality of his character. I think that’s a concentration technique.”
The Glass Onion actor’s words on method acting aren’t something everyone agrees with. However, many fans of these stars did grudgingly admit that at some point entertainment journalists did conflate method with pure commitment. As a result, now anyone dedicated to their project gets the label of a method actor. But what’s next for the actor? Edward Norton will be seen next in Asteroid City alongside Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, and others.
Asteroid City is set to release on 16 June 2023.
Source: Vulture
