An interview with Edward Norton is rare. He usually does not discuss his acting work in the press. Universal may have forced him on a couple talk shows to promote The Incredible Hulk but the only other projects hes made Hollywood rounds for were The Painted Veil and, oddly, Death to Smoochy.
Norton engaged the press again to discuss the documentary By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. Norton produced the chronicle of Obamas historic election, from the beginnings of his candidacy to his win on November fourth. HBO will air it beginning November 3.
Filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams could not have had the foresight to know the documentary would culminate in a win. The project started as just a profile of a historic candidacy. Norton actually thought it would take six years for his presidential campaign to succeed.
Our initial presentation of it was just that he represented a generational shift in national politics, Norton told the press conference. We thought there was value in documenting his experiences as he entered the political fray. We didnt set out to make a campaign film but I think at a certain point, it became clear to us that it was a document of how this momentous piece of history was achieved from a certain perspective.
Once the Obama campaign picked up momentum, Norton and the filmmakers knew they were at the forefront of capturing history in the making. Whatever Obama is able to achieve in the next four years, and no matter what he cannot, Norton feels the film captures the important moment.
I don't think anything will ever diminish the significance of the achievement of his election, Norton continued. I think sometimes you have to take the broad lens with a piece of work like this and say that maybe its a noble and fine ambition for it to be just a good document of how a certain moment transpired so that people can look back on it. Whatever the ultimate review of his presidency, people can say this moment was a singular moment in American history and heres at least one document of how it was experienced, how it transpired, how it came to fruition.
After the press conference, Norton hung around to chat with a group of reporters a little bit more about the documentary. Those expecting gruff, intense resistance were instead treated to a lively open discussion about politics and filmmaking. Perhaps those were the skills required to secure the filmmakers access to Obamas campaign.
In the beginning it was [Robert] Gibbs, who was his press secretary as a senator, Norton said in one more press conference anecdote. When it became a campaign, there was a whole new level of hurdle to clear because [David] Axelrod and [David] Plouffe were completely negative on the idea. Axelrod in particular was vehemently opposed to anything because hes very savvy and probably rightly didnt think that they needed to make themselves vulnerable to that. I was calling him on the phone trying to, I dont want to say spin it, but explain it, rationalize it as in some sense what it became, saying this is not something that has an intention to affect the outcome. We just want to document this.
With that background, Norton continued the discussion in the hallway of the Langham hotel in Pasadena, CA. Any passersby would be hard pressed to figure out a group of reporters were interviewing a movie star. It looked more like a friendly leader, in casual blue jeans and plain white shirt, holding court amongst friends.
Question: How would you articulate the importance of this election? Was it just that he is the first African president?
Edward Norton: Just? Just the first African American president? Thats a little reductive. You dont think thats one of the three or five biggest moments in American political history?
Q: Obviously it is. What I meant was is there more to his importance than that? Would you care to expand?
EN: Well, I think its pretty self-evident. I think that the election of the first African American president is pretty simply put. I think it speaks for itself as a seminal moment in American history.
Q: What was the highlight of the project for you?
EN: Thats a good question. I think there were certain moments in it, at each of the moments when we realized that in fact he was actually going to achieve the next rung. When it became clear that he was going to become the candidate, if you had started where we started and known him at the moment, it just was thrilling. It was thrilling in a selfish sense because I just couldnt believe that we were as intimately inside the process of watching this take place. So each time he achieved the next rung I think we all kind of felt almost head spun by it and it felt like a great privilege to have covered it somehow.
Q: Did you get new respect for American democracy through this experience?
EN: I did actually, yeah. I think its one of my favorite things. Actually, a lot of people have said to me about the film that they understood the Iowa caucus for the first time watching the film which I feel like that in itself is a minor achievement because I think that whole section of the film about Iowa is a great portrait of American democracy in all of its wonderful messiness.
Q: How much were you out on the campaign trail with the filmmakers?
EN: Its hard to explain. Not that much. I was kind of more like wrangling access.
Q: How instrumental were you in convincing Obama to let you in?
EN: Pretty directly from the get go. We went down and saw him. He was very gracious and I actually think he had a lot to do with us being allowed to stay in the mix when the campaign started. At one point I said to him, If this kicks off, there will be a lot of people around you who will tell you to push us out. And I said, Please dont let them do it. I think he had a very direct role in pushing back on his own campaign heads and saying, I think we should let this continue.
Q: Were there any moments where he said, No, not now?
EN: Well, theres one in the film. If you see the film, when hes getting his haircut.
Q: How do you feel about what hes accomplished in his first year in office, with the stimulus, closing Guantanamo, his mortgage crisis plans?
EN: I wouldnt say that our film has anything to do with that. The film is a document of I think the process of his campaign and his movement achieving the White House. I think theres really nothing about it thats in any way a comment on anything after that.
Q: As an environmental activist, what do you think of his environmental policies?
EN: I mean, I have a lot of personal opinions but I don't think theyre really germane to the film per se and our releasing of it. Im not really here to comment on Obamas successes or failures.
Q: What are you doing personally for environmental causes?
EN: I mean, I work on a lot of different things along those lines. Thats something I think Ive, in a pretty demonstrative way been an advocate for environmental [initiatives.]
Q: Whats the most pressing issue right now?
EN: I think thats a complex question. I think certainly you could argue that carbon loading in the atmosphere is kind of the biggest macro problem but collapsed fisheries, anything. There are an awful lot and theyre pretty interlinked.
Q: Do you plan to follow the documentary with another one on Obama?
EN: No, no, not in particular. The documentary will come out on DVD and stuff but I don't know that theres a sequel to that in particular. We dont have a plan to cover his second bid for the presidency or anything like that. This was an experience that was kind of lightning in a bottle. It snowballed and we happened to be there to catch it. I think it was a pretty unique opportunity. I dont expect to have an opportunity like that too many times.
Q: This year is the 10th anniversary of Fight Club. How do you reflect on that important film?
EN: I mean, all of us who were involved in it love that film and I think the best films are the ones that form their own relationship with an audience over time, that kind of escape the vicissitudes of critical and box office reaction in the short term and find their own way to their audience over time. I think that film certainly feels like one of those ones that rippled out from pure person to person and became what it became more through peoples relationship with it than through any kind of intermediary like a critic or anything like that.
By The People: The Election of Barack Obama premiers Tuesday, Nov. 3rd on HBO.
Norton engaged the press again to discuss the documentary By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. Norton produced the chronicle of Obamas historic election, from the beginnings of his candidacy to his win on November fourth. HBO will air it beginning November 3.
Filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams could not have had the foresight to know the documentary would culminate in a win. The project started as just a profile of a historic candidacy. Norton actually thought it would take six years for his presidential campaign to succeed.
Our initial presentation of it was just that he represented a generational shift in national politics, Norton told the press conference. We thought there was value in documenting his experiences as he entered the political fray. We didnt set out to make a campaign film but I think at a certain point, it became clear to us that it was a document of how this momentous piece of history was achieved from a certain perspective.
Once the Obama campaign picked up momentum, Norton and the filmmakers knew they were at the forefront of capturing history in the making. Whatever Obama is able to achieve in the next four years, and no matter what he cannot, Norton feels the film captures the important moment.
I don't think anything will ever diminish the significance of the achievement of his election, Norton continued. I think sometimes you have to take the broad lens with a piece of work like this and say that maybe its a noble and fine ambition for it to be just a good document of how a certain moment transpired so that people can look back on it. Whatever the ultimate review of his presidency, people can say this moment was a singular moment in American history and heres at least one document of how it was experienced, how it transpired, how it came to fruition.
After the press conference, Norton hung around to chat with a group of reporters a little bit more about the documentary. Those expecting gruff, intense resistance were instead treated to a lively open discussion about politics and filmmaking. Perhaps those were the skills required to secure the filmmakers access to Obamas campaign.
In the beginning it was [Robert] Gibbs, who was his press secretary as a senator, Norton said in one more press conference anecdote. When it became a campaign, there was a whole new level of hurdle to clear because [David] Axelrod and [David] Plouffe were completely negative on the idea. Axelrod in particular was vehemently opposed to anything because hes very savvy and probably rightly didnt think that they needed to make themselves vulnerable to that. I was calling him on the phone trying to, I dont want to say spin it, but explain it, rationalize it as in some sense what it became, saying this is not something that has an intention to affect the outcome. We just want to document this.
With that background, Norton continued the discussion in the hallway of the Langham hotel in Pasadena, CA. Any passersby would be hard pressed to figure out a group of reporters were interviewing a movie star. It looked more like a friendly leader, in casual blue jeans and plain white shirt, holding court amongst friends.
Question: How would you articulate the importance of this election? Was it just that he is the first African president?
Edward Norton: Just? Just the first African American president? Thats a little reductive. You dont think thats one of the three or five biggest moments in American political history?
Q: Obviously it is. What I meant was is there more to his importance than that? Would you care to expand?
EN: Well, I think its pretty self-evident. I think that the election of the first African American president is pretty simply put. I think it speaks for itself as a seminal moment in American history.
Q: What was the highlight of the project for you?
EN: Thats a good question. I think there were certain moments in it, at each of the moments when we realized that in fact he was actually going to achieve the next rung. When it became clear that he was going to become the candidate, if you had started where we started and known him at the moment, it just was thrilling. It was thrilling in a selfish sense because I just couldnt believe that we were as intimately inside the process of watching this take place. So each time he achieved the next rung I think we all kind of felt almost head spun by it and it felt like a great privilege to have covered it somehow.
Q: Did you get new respect for American democracy through this experience?
EN: I did actually, yeah. I think its one of my favorite things. Actually, a lot of people have said to me about the film that they understood the Iowa caucus for the first time watching the film which I feel like that in itself is a minor achievement because I think that whole section of the film about Iowa is a great portrait of American democracy in all of its wonderful messiness.
Q: How much were you out on the campaign trail with the filmmakers?
EN: Its hard to explain. Not that much. I was kind of more like wrangling access.
Q: How instrumental were you in convincing Obama to let you in?
EN: Pretty directly from the get go. We went down and saw him. He was very gracious and I actually think he had a lot to do with us being allowed to stay in the mix when the campaign started. At one point I said to him, If this kicks off, there will be a lot of people around you who will tell you to push us out. And I said, Please dont let them do it. I think he had a very direct role in pushing back on his own campaign heads and saying, I think we should let this continue.
Q: Were there any moments where he said, No, not now?
EN: Well, theres one in the film. If you see the film, when hes getting his haircut.
Q: How do you feel about what hes accomplished in his first year in office, with the stimulus, closing Guantanamo, his mortgage crisis plans?
EN: I wouldnt say that our film has anything to do with that. The film is a document of I think the process of his campaign and his movement achieving the White House. I think theres really nothing about it thats in any way a comment on anything after that.
Q: As an environmental activist, what do you think of his environmental policies?
EN: I mean, I have a lot of personal opinions but I don't think theyre really germane to the film per se and our releasing of it. Im not really here to comment on Obamas successes or failures.
Q: What are you doing personally for environmental causes?
EN: I mean, I work on a lot of different things along those lines. Thats something I think Ive, in a pretty demonstrative way been an advocate for environmental [initiatives.]
Q: Whats the most pressing issue right now?
EN: I think thats a complex question. I think certainly you could argue that carbon loading in the atmosphere is kind of the biggest macro problem but collapsed fisheries, anything. There are an awful lot and theyre pretty interlinked.
Q: Do you plan to follow the documentary with another one on Obama?
EN: No, no, not in particular. The documentary will come out on DVD and stuff but I don't know that theres a sequel to that in particular. We dont have a plan to cover his second bid for the presidency or anything like that. This was an experience that was kind of lightning in a bottle. It snowballed and we happened to be there to catch it. I think it was a pretty unique opportunity. I dont expect to have an opportunity like that too many times.
Q: This year is the 10th anniversary of Fight Club. How do you reflect on that important film?
EN: I mean, all of us who were involved in it love that film and I think the best films are the ones that form their own relationship with an audience over time, that kind of escape the vicissitudes of critical and box office reaction in the short term and find their own way to their audience over time. I think that film certainly feels like one of those ones that rippled out from pure person to person and became what it became more through peoples relationship with it than through any kind of intermediary like a critic or anything like that.
By The People: The Election of Barack Obama premiers Tuesday, Nov. 3rd on HBO.
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
I will chop this up to another Hollywood liberal justifying their political views and push schemes of liberal politicians. If he would actually step back and look at all factors I am sure his opinion would be very different. We are talking about a man who lives in one of the most screwed up states in the US.. They have the highest deficit. Lack of a shall issue ccw law has allowed crime to flare up to the worst numbers of almost all states combined!!
I am sorry but not person in favor of poplur political schemes has any value, if you want to know real worthy politics take a look in libertarians, they look at all the liberals and conservatives like they are morons and they are! Why? Maybe cause they bicker over their own agendas too much like little kids instead of getting things done.