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EXCLUSIVE: Motherless Brooklyn star Edward Norton REVEALS Lionel Essrog is an underdog hero
Motherless Brooklyn hits cinemas this weekend. Ahead of its release, Edward Norton reveals the factors that drew him towards the movie and his take on the central character Lionel Essrog.
When the intriguing trailer of Motherless Brooklyn released, we couldn't stop thinking about the restless Lionel Essrog and his need to untangle the mystery revolving around his mentor and friend Frank Minna's murder. The lonely private detective living with Tourette Syndrome has been brought to life by the Oscar-nominated star Edward Norton. Not only does he essay the role of Essrog in Motherless Brooklyn, but Norton has also penned, directed and produced the Warner Bros' crime drama. The actor revealed why he couldn't stop himself from signing the project.
Norton shares he came across Jonathan Lethem’s genre-bending novel Motherless Brooklyn almost 20 years ago and instantly fell in love with its hugely energetic, highly unlikely narrator. Although Lionel dubs himself as a freakshow, Norton saw in him a universally human quest to untangle the threads of who he is and how he might rise above a chaotic world. Norton also revealed he has always found himself drawn towards stories on the underdogs and Lionel Essrog is an underdog hero.
“I was very taken with this orphaned kid who grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, who is afflicted with Tourette Syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder; yet, who is also extremely bright and has this compelling way of seeing the world. There was a very positive side to Lionel’s obsessive personality, which is that he holds information, as he says, like ‘glass in the brain.’ Lionel can’t let things lie, he can’t not pull on a thread, he can't stop thinking about things that haven't yet fit together. So, as a detective, he has a relentless compulsion to figure out what's really going on around him that I found exciting and moving. I’ve always been drawn to underdogs and I fell in love with Lionel as a kind of underdog hero,” Norton says.
Apart from Norton, Motherless Brooklyn also stars Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bobby Cannavale, Cherry Jones, Michael Kenneth Williams, Leslie Mann, Ethan Suplee, Dallas Roberts, Josh Pais, Robert Ray Wisdom, Fisher Stevens, Alec Baldwin and Willem Dafoe.
Check out the trailer below:
Motherless Brooklyn releases on November 15 in India. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
