TCA Press Tour: Edward Norton says his new film captures Obama’s ‘singular moment’
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President Obama’s poll numbers may have slipped, but actor-producer Edward Norton says that won’t matter to his new HBO documentary, ‘By the People: The Election of Barack Obama.
‘Whatever President Obama goes through, whatever struggles and ebbs and flows and success,’ Norton told reporters Thursday at the TV press tour in Pasadena, ‘I don’t think anything will diminish the achievement of his election. ... It was a singular moment in American history.’
‘By the People,’ directed by Amy Rice, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the candidate and his campaign, from its early victory in the Iowa primary right through Election Day in November. Norton, who has been active in Democratic politics and affordable-housing causes, served as producer.
The original concept was to make a more general film about the candidate, rather than a campaign diary. ‘He represented a generational shift in national politics,’ Norton said. ‘There was no conversation or suggestion of, ‘We’d like to follow your run for the presidency.’ ‘ But as more footage was shot, the backstage angle became more important.
Despite Norton’s celebrity and connections, however, the filmmakers said it was sometimes hard to get access to Obama and his inner circle. Norton said two top advisers, David Axelrod and David Plouffe, were particularly resistant at first but that Rice ‘wore them down.’
After awhile, Norton said, staffers even forgot the crew was there.
‘That’s when you’re ‘in,’ when people sort of forget about you,’ Norton said.
-- Scott Collins
