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Summary
- Collider's Perri Nemiroff speaks with A Complete Unknown's Edward Norton.
- In this interview, Norton emphasizes learning to "let go of the burden of history" in portraying iconic figures like Pete Seeger.
- The actor also reveals the challenges of mastering the banjo and talks about the weight of subtlety in portraying characters alongside impactful scene partners like Scoot McNairy.
The three-time Academy Award nominee, Edward Norton, has recently been seen in a broad spectrum of projects, tickling audiences in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion, as a billionaire buffoon, a playwright in Wes Anderson's acclaimed Asteroid City, as well as Seth Rogan’s outrageous Prime animated series Sausage Party: Foodtopia as an alarmingly charismatic bagel. Now, Norton is back to grounded reality in James Mangold’s much anticipated Bob Dylan musical biopic, A Complete Unknown.
From the director of Walk The Line comes a pivotal story of astronomically famous singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (in a career-topping performance by Timothée Chalamet). Beginning in Minnesota to the folk houses of Greenwich Village in New York City, A Complete Unknown follows Dylan through to his controversial 1965 concert at the Newport Folk Festival, becoming one of the most memorable moments in rock ‘n’ roll history. In the film, Norton plays folk troubadour, Pete Seeger, writer of iconic protest songs and mentor to Dylan. In addition to Norton, the film co-stars Elle Fanning (The Great), Monica Barbaro (Top Gun: Maverick) as Joan Baez, and Scoot McNairy (Speak No Evil) as Woody Guthrie.
In this interview, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with Norton to discuss McNairy’s quiet and beautiful portrayal of Guthrie, the skills required for the role of Seeger and how the film compares musically to 2002's Death To Smoochy, and how an audio clip of Seeger’s laugh helped Norton tap into his take on Seeger.
Edward Norton Had to "Let Go of the Burden of History"
Image via Searchlight Pictures
PERRI NEMIROFF: One of the things that I read a lot about in our press notes was there was a heavy emphasis on, yes, respecting the real people you're playing, but also making these versions of them for the movie your own. So, I was wondering if you had an “aha moment” with Pete [Seeger], something you did in prep or on set that made you say, “I know who my Pete in this movie needs to be?”
EDWARD NORTON: That's an interesting question. You're 100% right in observing that there's a very different psychological burden and problem, not only with a real person but someone who's very iconic and known for their work. I give a lot of credit to our director, Jim Mangold, because he was a good therapist for all of us, for Timothée [Chalamet] and me and Monica [Barbaro], in particular, in terms of almost saying, “Remember, we're not doing a documentary. Focus on the juicy, difficult interactions between them interpersonally and let go of the history. Let go of the burden of the history.”
There are little things that activate a character for you. Sometimes, it's clothes — I got a wonderful gift from one of Pete Seeger's daughters. She sent me an audio clip that she had of him laughing, and it was a very particular [laugh]. She said he was a smiler and a nodder but that if something hit him and the laugh exploded out of him, it was short and sharp. Those kinds of little things will make you go, “Okay, I've got an angle into the feeling. Maybe I've got something.” You know what I mean?
Timothée and I, early in rehearsal at one point, were talking about how they don't see each other for a while and would Dylan and Pete Seeger hug each other? You go, “I don’t know!” And I called Joan Baez, and I said, “Can I ask you a funny question about Pete? If you didn't see him, would he hug you?” And she went, “Oh my god, no!” So, sometimes it's just a teeny little weird little key of access that will make you feel like you've got some quotient of the essence of a thing.
'Death to Smoochy's Got Nothing on Pete Seeger's Banjo Skills
"It was very, very tricky."
Image via Warner Bros.
So, those are the little details. Here's a big detail — learning to play the banjo for this movie. Opening this up to your entire career, I'm curious, what was the most challenging skill you've ever had to learn for a role, and how does this compare?
NORTON: The banjo is up there, right up there. I have played guitar a long time, so I wasn't literally learning how to move my fingers on the left hand. That's a big jump. But the types of instruments Pete Seeger played, these large 12-string guitars and this especially long-necked banjo that he had, and then he was an absolute virtuoso on the right hand on the banjo in ways that I’ve heard even people like the guy in Mumford & Sons say, “Yeah, I can't play that old clawhammer style.” Something like that. So, it was tricky. It was very, very tricky. It was more difficult than my music in Death to Smoochy, let's just say that.
'A Complete Unknown' Masters the Weight of Subtlety
From Eriko Hatsune to Chalemet and Norton, sometimes a glance can convey more than words.
The next thing I wanted to hit on was two of your scene partners. The first one I wanted to ask about was Eriko [Hatsune], who I think has an incredible presence in this movie. I love the fact that I felt the weight of her presence in every single scene.
NORTON: It’s very nice of you to say that. Toshi Seeger was a force. If you talk to anybody, they said she was the den mother of all of it and that she was very, very… His daughter told me that it was Toshi who stopped him from really losing his mind that night in 1965. And almost working backward from there, I thought, "Eriko feels like a pillar." You know what I mean? She's got this ramrod kind of sense. There was a little thing when Dylan came to the studio, there were certain things Jim was very adept at, which is those visual check-ins between people that make you realize that she had a lot of power in these situations.
There are a lot of cuts to her that I like. They’re such short shots, but they say so much.
NORTON: I agree.
Before I get to my other scene partner, I'll just go down this path because one specific scene I wanted to ask you about, where they do cut to her in a perfect moment, is the Rainbow Quest scene, when Bob shows up late.
NORTON: That's the one I'm talking about!
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This might be me overthinking a scene like this, but I love moments when I can see the wheels in an actor's head turning. What is it like tackling a scene like that where you're hitting all the right bits, but you're giving us access to the fact that he's changing how he's interacting with Bob in that moment? We are seeing a shift in their dynamic when he's trying to figure out what to do there.
NORTON: I think it’s very astute. But I also think, yes, because Bob's become a star, and I think what you're observing is the accommodation, a willingness to accommodate, which is a shift, like from an older brother. And at the same time, what I find very tender in a lot of that phase of it there and in the party scene is, at the same time, you realize that Dylan was not showing up for almost anybody then, and he shows up for Pete and that Pete appreciates it deeply. There's a way that Jim sustains this thread of their alliance through Dylan's shift that I think is directorially quite masterful, actually. But I agree with that observation.
Scoot McNairy Gives a "Beautiful" Performance as Woody Guthrie
"It's a nonverbal performance, almost."
The other scene partner I needed to ask about was Scoot [McNairy]. I want people to talk about his work in this movie more than I've been hearing thus far because I think he's exceptional. What was it like working with him as a scene partner, and how much did you carry those scenes with you? Because again, similar to Toshi’s influence on Pete, I can feel Woody's influence on all the characters throughout the entire film.
NORTON: On all of them. Yeah, I agree. And also, I think it’s not insignificant that Jim chose the sound of Woody Guthrie to start the film. It is the injection of his voice that takes you into the film, and before he's even been seen, Pete Seeger is referencing him in court as kind of the North Star that he was for so many of them, despite his own addictions. He was a very dysfunctional person in many ways. And I agree with you, Scoot... It's a nonverbal performance, almost, and so much comes through his eyes in assessing Dylan. There's a transference that takes place from him. It’s beautiful. He was wonderful to work with.
A Complete Unknown opens in theaters on December 25.
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At the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, a young Bob Dylan shakes up his act on the folk music scene by going electric and siring rock as the voice of a generation - defining one of the most transformative moments in 20th century music.
Distributor(s) Searchlight Pictures
English (US) ·