Given the tales of editing room lockouts, script re-writes and disputes with directors in his past, we hope Edward Norton is fully prepared for a barrage of awkward questions about his next role. Because he’s just signed on to play a preening, egotistical and outspoken actor in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s new dark comedy Birdman.
It was just yesterday that we learned Emma Stone, Michael Keaton, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis had all landed roles in the film, which follows a struggling actor (Keaton) trying to mount a new play based on a Raymond Chandler short story.
Our hero is a man firmly associated with an iconic superhero role, now trying to re-ignite his career with the move into theatre. But among his many problems is the annoying leading man he picks for the show (Norton).
Stone is playing his daughter, who has emerged from rehab and taken a job as his assistant. Watts will be another member of the play’s cast and Galifianakis is a conniving producer.
Inarritu wrote the script with Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo and will start shooting in April in New York. Norton seems to be on a comedy kick of late, having appeared in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and its follow-up, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which is currently shooting.