There are things you do for the fun of doing them or to work or to hang with certain people. But the projects that I've invested myself in and cared about most deeply have absolutely been activated by a desire to chase something that I relate to, or that I see as having the potential to speak to someone else directly.
Edward NortonI'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 NortonWhen you have a pipe salesman with a business called Macabee Pipes, I'd say you've got your tongue planted firmly in your cheek.
Edward NortonWhen 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 NortonWhen I'm looking for Zen and I'm not saying this facetiously at all - I would really rather surf, scuba dive, or fly my plane. And, when I feel tension about the grind of work, it's not getting the money to make films versus making films that constitutes the grind, it's all this stuff.
Edward Norton