our first guest is an Academy Award nominated actor who stars in a new film that's called
the score it opens on Friday please say hello to the very talented Edward Norton
I've watched it for years and now I'm actually sitting well glad to have you here how's your
summer going it's going great what kind of stuff do you do are you not working now you
got some time I have been working really hard and just just finished so um I've I've been in
New York about 10 years so uh where are you from originally I'm from Baltimore Baltimore
there's someone else one that's typical you know one person class
it's a small City that's right they start and then they think oh geez maybe I'll get caught
and uh I you know I've I've been um I've actually been apartment hunting because I've lived here 10
years I've been saving up my money working hard that's all New York City is about looking for
another for an apartment so um it's it's been interesting because I've been going
around and there's been a um there's been sort of a rumor that I've I've caught a whiff of that
somebody named Rudy has been seeing some of the apartments are in front of are you kidding about
this no I'm serious and I you know of course I postulate that it's his honor and except that
it brought up a couple thoughts one being why is a guy who's you know working in Hollywood
and a public servant who's claiming he has six thousand dollars in the bank looking at
the same places aha so I'm uh that made me wonder so my my theory was uh my theory was
that he's he's showing him to the girlfriend yeah but then he's gonna back he's going to
show a few downtown Lofts and then say you know they're doing great things over in Jersey City
and we're gonna Annex it anyway go over there yeah it's all gentrified it's very nice no but it's
um I've been out of New York too long so it's been have you found a place you're going to be
able to move in soon I'm I'm having to mortgage um the life of my entire family to even consider
it but but um when you come here uh you have fun it's I mean it's a great if you're coming in for
like three days New York is is heaven you know if you've got to live here it's hell but three days
you can have a lot of fun do you get to have any fun oh yeah you know I mean I've lived here a long
time I really love it but um but I I got back you know I got theater tickets and what are you
gonna go see well I saw the producers oh sure but well that's a that's a tough ticket that's
a tough ticket for any I'm sure everybody knows but I but I think my ringer was that I directed
um a movie that Dan Bancroft was in and Anne Bancroft is married to Mel Brooks well there
you go so there you go so yeah so but then I got this story from Anne that you know Mel's
like not not just dulling him out like she she actually told me that someone
came up to him on the street and said you know like Mr Brooks you know I've
got to get a ticket my my husband's got a week to live and he said not good enough
wow not good enough
so I but I managed to get them I managed to get some tickets and um I was with a bunch of friends
you know they were really impressed we went to Chinatown for some dim sum and like Veteran New
Yorkers you know we knew we couldn't catch a cab we'd get jammed up in traffic so we went over we
jumped on the red line we went up to Times Square we got there perfect time we walked out it was
beautiful night we're going to the theater we're going to the producers you know we're excited
they're just bringing our step we get toward the theater there's a mob of people hoping for a death
or a cancellation and and uh and we're going we've got tickets you know we've got tickets
to The Producers we're gonna see Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and the producers and there's
people with Hats there's such a crowd they've got control crowd control people with hats and
there's a woman going you know if you are hoping for a cancellation Wade over here with the other
diluted people if you are if you are waiting to pick up a ticket wait over here if you have
tickets over here once again Nathan Lane is sick and will not be performing no oh my God my one of
my friends literally looked like he'd been shot through the through the stomach he looked up
wow we decided to go anyway
wow so we went and it was like you know our Garfunkel subbing in for example honestly
that's not the same that race is a great question because you got to have understudies you know and
and the poor guy who I mean that's a talk about a thankless uh uh Anonymous position to be in
whatever we actually it wasn't our Garfunkel I was kidding but which would that would I would
really oh yeah no no you'd have something there you'd have had something my friend he's brilliant
but but he's not so how was the guy there was a guy his name was Brad Oscar and we saw him at a
restaurant later and he could not have been better he was he told us he had three rehearsals none
with Matthew Broderick none with the orchestra and he was flawless flawless and it was and the
audience was going crazy for him so that's one of those specials now have you had a chance to
go back to see it with the intended cast I have not yet so um you know oh that's an ugly story
yeah oh my God it was I mean you know you know you you're there you hope you're impressing your
friends everything's going your way Suddenly It's Regis Philbin yeah wow that's sad
have you seen it yeah you haven't seen it you know I I Mel came to the set of Keeping the Faith when
we were shooting in the synagogue one time and he told me that that's what he was working on
and thank God I said to him you're going to make amend you know like because he he and so now he
he credits me with foresight but but um it is actually everything it's cracked up to be the
hype is is is totally earned now when we come back here I want to talk a little bit about uh your uh
uh film experience how you got into film it was kind of an odd audition wasn't it was it was am
I right about this it was a nationwide Talent hunt or some kind of a deal yeah I never I can
never remember what stories have gotten made of it oh good so some of them are true some of them
are not some of them are not true we'll make up another one while we do this okay okay you're
gonna think of a good story we'll be backwards is this the complete list of your film work
Primal Fear 1996 Oscar nomination that was your first film experience that was my first film well
that's pretty good you get the nominated for an Academy Award in your first try out that's
amazing now is that was that the talent hunt uh film yeah yeah it was it was not as it was
an extraordinary circumstance but I I'd been I'd been doing theater in New York for a lot
of years I mean I'd been here a long time and uh there was a casting director who had seen me in
the theater here a lot so it wasn't completely out of the blue but they were seeing a lot a lot
of people because they wanted someone unknown all right so it was it was um it was very very
fortunate everyone says I love you uh the people versus Larry Flynn rounders American History X
uh another Academy Award nomination right there Fight Club and uh Keeping the Faith wow man sure
and Woody Allen you worked with Woody Allen I worked with Woody
this is a lifelong ambition whatever people come on who have worked with Woody Allen
we always have the question what what was that like you know I found him to be um uh
no he you know what I heard he was in a really good mood on our movie people told me that and he
um I found all the the rumors about him not talking and everything to be to be uh I think
a self I think people don't go up to him and so people don't talk to him so I just figured
I'm just going to talk to this guy and I I love talking to him he was he was we talked
about sports and movies and you know what I got along with him absolutely great I I loved him
what we've heard about him when we talked when we say we I mean me and a couple of folks watching
but is that as a director he is in enigmatic he doesn't give you much direction did you find that
to be true and if so is it good either either he really liked me and so he gave me a lot of
direction or he really thought I was really bad and so he gave me a lot of Direction I do recall
um Drew Barrymore and I played fiance's in that movie I don't know maybe she's told the story
too but the uh one of the first Big scenes we had was a scene you know classic Woody Allen
shot of us walking up Central Park East and you know along Fifth Avenue in the trees and
everything and and and one one long continuous talking Woody Allen New York Street walk shot so
um Drew and I you know we we really worked on it and and got it pretty down and the first
take we we went all the way through it she cried like right where she was supposed to
cry stepped off I turned and sang because it was a musical which is a little odd but
um and we looked at each other Drew looks at me like hey that wasn't so bad you know not
too shabby and um and he comes over and he goes you know okay kids you know because you know
who went he said uh he was well you know the thing is we we had a little traffic noise on that but it
doesn't matter because in every other way that was a total disaster oh my goodness so it's like
welcome to work with Woody and then how many how many takes did you have to uh pursue we got it we
got it in about it was a traffic issue but we we got it in about 10 probably uh speaking of uh well
that you know that's not bad not bad uh speaking of uh interesting uh cast and uh circumstances in
which to work on a film uh Robert De Niro yes uh Marlon Brando uh in this current film yeah well I
mean you know the guy if someone calls you and says we're getting these guys together to do a
dramatic reading of the phone book would you show up you want to you want to be there for that yeah
I think we could take that one summer in the park did they do that in the park I think Paul
you pick your family yeah yeah but um did you get along with dinero had you known him from before I
had I had met Marlon uh a couple maybe a year or two ago he saw a American History X and some other
films and he really liked them so I I met him and um and knew him to be a very funny very nice guy
and so that was comfortable with that but um Bob I had not met and was you know I had a little more
trepidation I I would think of of all actors a an actor might work with for the first time in a film
those two perhaps could be the most intimidating whether in fact they are or not well there's a
load stars that any any young actor is going to set their sights by and and either of them it
would be thrilling together it was um it put me in minds of like you remember the old George goebels
Line about the world being a tuxedo and you're a pair of brown shoes I felt there was times I I was
fighting fighting feeling like that so but but but they're both um they're both uh all that
they're cracked up to be and and Incredibly terrific in different ways was Marlon weird
on this film or was it because you know there's the the story that he was uh Dressed funny he had
odd makeup on and no Marlon had an idea about the character that he wanted to run with you know he
I I recall him saying at some point you know I was thinking of wearing a moo moo you know
and we're like Marlon it's a heist picture you're amazing you are rich little my friend no
I've been a I was around these guys a long time but Marlon Marlin Marlin's just funny he's just a
funny funny guy you know he has he has these great phrases like he I remember Frank Oz came in and
you know Frank was terrific he let us improvise but one time he came and gave Marlin a note real
fast and Molly went Hey listen bub you know you got to give me a little room to swing a cat here
you know I was like I leaned over to him I said what the hell does that mean you know and he and
he had he had some scene where he had to say to he had to say to Bob you know well you know what
would you say to four million dollars and and um and and take after take he kept saying you know
for a million Tomatoes four four four four million clams four million apples and finally someone said
Marley can you just save four million dollars you know get off the food kick you know it's like
but uh but it was great it was really great and and De Niro De Niro is a whole Bob is
Bob is like one you know I mean he's a real he's truly a genius working and he's everything he's
cracked up to me but he's um but he's also like he's got his own he's got bugs in here tonight
we got a guy supposed to come but he didn't because of the holidays uh and and was was Marlon
not speaking uh to the director that got a little that got a little grilled cheese sandwiches yeah
I don't know why that can't be a bowl of Doritos
no no that got that got a little um that got a little overblown did they not get along or was
it just silly oh no it was it was it was silliness um and and all all for the good of the film in the
end and everybody had a we had a great time I mean the the first time the first time that
I sat that we sat down to do an act a scene with all three of us I kind of let myself have
a little moment you know I was pretty much we'd been hanging out and it was relaxed but I sat down
and we were going to shoot this scene in a jazz club and um you know Marlin's sitting there and
Bob's sitting there and I'm sitting on a little couch and I'm thinking well you know this is
why I did it right here there's one on the left and one on the right and and so you know let's
let's mix it up let's let's do it and uh swing some cats yeah let's swing let's swing a cat
so is that so um so they roll you know they roll and there's kind of a hush around the
set because it was our first time all three of us and this is you know what they're going to be
selling so uh the we start and Marlon has this bottle of um of Aqua mineral you know I could
think and you know he's sort of talking about uh bugs actually is another thing and he's and
he's talking to Bob and he starts pouring and he misses his glass completely and he and he starts
pouring the water all down his front which I realize he's not perceiving so so I turn
I turn in the take to you know look at Bob to see if he's picking up on this and Bob's going
and they call they call cut someone's met sees the stains but yeah they they call
cut and Bob kind of Bob kind of goes and he looks he looks over at me and he goes he goes
was I sleeping and I said I said dinero and I said yeah I said yeah he goes
he goes how's your meeting hey nice job have a great summer Edward Norton ladies