Edward Norton Did A Lot More Than Act For American History X

“American History X” is a hard-hitting story about intergenerational racism. Edward Norton stars as Derek Vinyard, a reformed skinhead who tries to rescue his younger brother Danny, played by a pensive Edward Furlong, from the clutches of the neo-Nazi movement. “American History X” was critically hailed and Norton received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his formidable performance. In his essay for The Guardian, “American History X” director Tony Kaye explains why he cast Norton in the role, and why the actor ended up working more behind the scenes. 

“When New Line sent me the script of ‘American History X,’ about the relationship between a neo-Nazi and his impressionable kid brother, it was deeply flawed. I thought I could manoeuvre around it: invent stuff, improvise, improve what was on the page. That was one of the reasons I went along with the studio’s idea to cast Edward Norton. At the time Norton was Hollywood’s golden boy, although personally I didn’t think he had enough weight or presence. I held some open casting calls but I couldn’t find anyone better than him. And one advantage of having Edward was that we had a shared vision of how to improve the script. In casting him I was really buying another writer.”

Norton’s collaboration with Kaye on the script, rewriting much of the dialogue, led to an acrimonious battle for artistic control. The director went on a rampage against his star and New Line Cinema, eventually disowning the version of “American History X” that would appear in theatres, mainly because Norton contributed greatly to the shaping of the film’s final edit.