"The challenge is how to build a facade (of a character in a film) and then slowly peel it away. And that's interesting and psychologically rich but it's interesting physically as well because movies are so fragmented, in the doing. They're schizophrenic as it is and they're often done out of order.

On a performance level, I like things that force you almost daily to recheck in with where you are (in the character's emotional life). I find that I almost have to put cards on a wall sometimes (because you're shooting scenes out of order). I didn't do that with Down In the Valley but I did it with (Director) David Jacobson almost daily as kind of a check-in. As in, 'How far along is this progress of revelation? How much do we want to show here?'

It's very nuanced, that kind of work so it's fun. It's hard. It's certainly one of the most challenging things about film, compared to, say, theatre. The tracking of a complicated character through a narrative that you're doing out of order.

You need good collaborators. I can do a certain amount myself but if I'm not in sync with a director about a certain essence like 'What is the nature of this moment?", then I could be lost. I could be throwing something out there that later, he realizes 'Oh, you know, I really needed more of this (feeling) here (in this scene).'

It may sound strange but when you're shooting a movie, you're really giving a director clay to sculpt with later. You don't (totally) know what the film is going to be until sometime later. Let's take a scene from Down in the Valley...and it's the two characters' first moment of conflict. You're not sure how far you want to take it, so you ought to do a few (takes) where it's a little gentler, some in the middle and some where its a little heavier. Because the director may need to tweak it later."

-- Edward Norton, Academy Award-nominated actor, writer, producer, composer and director best known for roles in Fight Club, Primal Fear, Rounders and American History X.