When I think about directing a film, the thing that stops me short is wondering if I'm a natural at it the way I think you, and PTA, and Fincher are born directors. Maybe some people's talent is in understanding the ways that film communicates, without dialogue, without plot.

Edward Norton

Categorized in : Thinking People Understanding

The best films of any kind, narrative or documentary, provoke questions.

Edward Norton

documentaries narrative kind

The more you do your homework, the more you're free to be intuitive. But you've got to put the work in.

Edward Norton

acting motivational inspirational

At this point in my life I'm not bent on proving anything, really.

Edward Norton

bent prove

It's better for people to miss you than to have seen too much of you.

Edward Norton

too-much missing-you people

It must be good to be in Germany and France, because I have completely forgotten what it is like to be proud of your government.

Edward Norton

germany proud government

Life, like poker has an element of risk. It shouldn't be avoided. It should be faced.

Edward Norton

elements risk should

Sometimes we don't see certain things until we're ready to see them in a certain way.

Edward Norton

vision dream way

I tend to relate to a character in terms of the arc: what's interesting is where he starts versus where he ends up.

Edward Norton

ends character interesting

All people are paradoxical. No one is easily reducible, so I like characters who have contradictory impulses or shades of ambiguity. It's fun, and it's fun because it's hard.

Edward Norton

fun character people

When people come together too young, they try to become one person. As you get older, you realize that you don't want to become one person because then you lose the person you are.

Edward Norton

together trying people

I don't have anything to prove to anybody, which is a lovely place to be.

Edward Norton

lovely prove

There are so many people who are conscientious and caring about others. I've spent time working in countries where I really noticed the absence of civic concern, care for other people. I've been in other countries where I feel a palpable, almost tooth-and-claw attitude between people - Machiavellian, me and mine. And you can take for granted being here, with all the bloviating and the media, on a day-to-day level, people in this country are really pretty concerned for each other.

Edward Norton

caring attitude country

I've always thought of acting as more of an exercise in empathy, which is not to be confused with sympathy. You're trying to get inside a certain emotional reality or motivational reality and try to figure out what that's about so you can represent it.

Edward Norton

confused exercise reality

I think that the environmental movement is wisely moving away from a largely emotion-based argument for the spiritual or intrinsic value of Nature with a capital "N" and evolving toward a very hard-nosed case for the economic value of natural capital, ecosystem services, biodiversity, etc.

Edward Norton

spiritual moving thinking

I'm fascinated by the ways in which people express themselves, because their responses are often counter to what they're actually feeling. Like when they're frightened, they tend to freeze. When they're angry, it doesn't always come out as volume. There are wonderful contradictions in the way that people express their emotions.

Edward Norton

feelings people way

Instead of telling the world what you're eating for breakfast, you can use social networking to do something that's meaningful.

Edward Norton

use meaningful world

I never think that a film should answer questions for you. I think it should make you ask a lot of questions.

Edward Norton

film answers thinking

Sometimes creativity is a compulsion, not an ambition.

Edward Norton

creativity ambition sometimes

I almost forgot what it's like to be proud of my government.

Edward Norton

be-proud proud government

I like it when the deeper you go with the character, the more you see the layers start to peel away.

Edward Norton

layers deeper character