Exclusive: Edward Norton Talks Miles, Comedy, & Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Edward Norton stars as over the top Miles in the new Netflix movie, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. We got the chance to hear from Norton regarding his role in the movie, and so much more. Check out what he had to say below.
On being comfortable doing over-the-top comedy with his character, Miles: “When someone like Rian [Johnson] calls and says, ‘You know, I’m basically going to run a summer camp for deeply unserious people and I need people who are willing to ham it up.’ It was printed in the invite. But I do think when you’re with a group of people and it becomes apparent that the words repetitive and boring have never been applied to any of them it’s a lot of fun. I think the experience of, like a summer theater troupe”.
On joining a comedy ensemble: “For a lot of us who came into this through theater or just that idea of being in a repertory company, an ensemble, it has a special pleasure. It reminds you of your high school drama club, for those of who were dorky enough to be in the high school drama club. But there’s a funny irony to making films or doing theater, which is it’s a bunch of adults playing dress up and pretending to be other people. And it’s kind of amazing how much seriousness we layer over that in so many of the things we do. So, when you strip that off of it, and I’m not saying, obviously this is a hardworking bunch of people, but I think when you liberate yourself from any pretention to be doing anything other but entertaining the audience, entertaining yourselves, entertaining each other, it’s incredibly wonderful. And after a year and a half in your pajamas, it’s especially great.”
On knowing the film would be funny while in a fitting with costume designer, Jenny Eagan: “Actually, in the wardrobe thing, you know, they often have the polaroids up of everybody who’s been in before you. And I came in pretty late and I, you know, haven’t met anybody. And I looked at the polaroid wall and thought, this movie’s going to be pretty funny. And I saw Dave Bautista in the crocodile skin bikini, and I thought –there’s at least one really good laugh in this
Film.”
On whether he modeled his character Miles on any current billionaires: “What’s amazing, Rian [Johnson] and I have been talking about this a lot, the list of people it could be grows longer every day. And even some of the ones we might not have thought were candidates have proved themselves to be just in recent weeks. I said to Rian I think that it’s sort of like Carly Simon’s song, ‘You’re so vain, you’ll probably think this song is about you.’ I think that there’s a lot of tech illuminati who probably will and should think that it’s in reference to them. Men and women.”
On shooting a scene in Belgrade with Janelle Monáe that didn’t make the film: “We were trying to think of things that they might’ve done in the bar when it was good, when we’re bonding. And I knew that Janelle and I have a Bowie uber fandom, and I knew she had covered ‘Moonage Daydream’ in shows, but not recorded. Then we got talking about that. Then we threw out the idea, ‘What if there was an open mic night back in the Glass Onion bar back in the day?’ And Rian indulged us with two takes. I knew someone at Gibson, and Gibson rushed me a replica of Mick Ronson’s Black Beauty Les Paul. So yeah, we actually had the guitar. But Rian cut it. Let’s be clear. Rian cut it.”
On his favorite memory from set: “Daniel [Craig] did a thing. I asked him what drink he’ll have, and Blanc said, ‘What do you have?’ And I said, ‘Well, I have everything.’ And I think he ad-libbed this because it’s not in the script, right? He goes, ‘Oh, well, in that case, I’ll have a Chateau le cristo pastis s’il vous plait.’ It was so good. Then he immediately laughed and he turned and he said, ‘Did I go too far?’ And we were like, ‘Don’t change a thing.” But I found the clip, so I’ve made Daniel saying, ‘I’ll have a Chateau le cristo pastis s’il vous plait’ as my ring tone for him.”
On Johnson’s ability to weave a misfit cast of characters into a cohesive ensemble cast: “I think the reason that Knives Out was so much fun is that Rian has done what Agatha Christie was doing which is actually weaving it into the zeitgeist of the moment. He’s found a way to have all the fun of the convention and the mechanisms and the traditions. But laced through with jokes about how no one can remember what country Marta’s from, and an alt-right cousin. And I think anything, you can see the times you’re living in, and characters who represent the foibles of our moment, gives it that extra thing. And I think in this, maybe even more abundantly so, but I think to take something and make sure that it’s for the audience that it’s of the moment that they’re living in, I think that’s like, that’s not trying to revitalize the old trope and the old costumes and the thing. Because then it’s kind of like someone observed once, that if something’s opaque, you watch it in a different way. If you can see through a thing and see yourself and your moment in it, you enjoy it more. Or relate to it more. And I think Rian has pulled that off very uniquely within this kind of rekindled affection for the form.”
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now out on Netflix! Make sure to check it out and let us know what you think!
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Cr. Eric Charbonneau/Netflix