Red carpet interview with Edward Norton
Interviewer: Zoe Ball
Q. Congratulations on your nomination and on what is one of the most amazing movies of the year, Birdman.
A. Thank you.
Q. How are you feeling about the award tonight? How are you feeling, with the competitors? You are up against marvelous actors.
A. A lot of them are my friends so this whole year has been unusually tense with my friends in the mix. Mark Ruffalo is one of my old friends and New York compatriots and Ethan Hawke as well. Steve Carell is a friend of our family and Bennett Miller and Wes Anderson and Alejandro and Ralph Fiennes. These are all long time friends and colleagues and it is triply fun when everybody is together.
Q. Is it like a traveling family circus?
A. I don't know, there is something nice about having your gang kind of all together in the mix and I feel like Mark and Ethan, these are like career high performances for them and they inspire me and so it is just, it is a lot of fun. I find that a lot of fun, we have all known each other a long long time, so it is a lot of fun.
Q. How was it to spar with Michael Keaton in incredible scenes?
A. I grew up watching him, literally when I was a kid I used to flick the cable guide channel to find Night Shift in the schedule. And so Zach Galifianakis and I used to talk about what an influence he had on a lot of us and so it was great, great fun and he is so funny. But the biggest challenge with Michael is not laughing during the take because he is so ‑‑ he does so many unexpected fun things.
Q. Tell me if there is any truth in the IMDB little secret that says there was a tally of who corpsed the most during takes and Emma Stone was the winner?
A. I don't know about that, I think she played it very cool. I think Michael ‑‑ I was not good on that score, Zach was not so good on that score. I think I am the one that is expected to hold it together. I am supposed to be serious and ‑‑
Q. Good luck tonight on so many fronts, both for Birdman and Grand Budapest and wonderful to meet you.
A. I had a very lucky year working with those two great filmmakers. It was great fun.
Q. Lovely to meet you. Edward Norton.
