![]() ![]() County firefighter Dennis Vinyard was shot and killed battling a blaze at a suspected Compton drug den. ![]() No matter how strained their collaboration may have been, both Kaye and Norton can be proud to have created a film that addresses the issue of racism with dramatically forceful impact. And yet British director Tony Kaye (who would later protest against Norton's creative intervention during post-production) manages to juggle these qualities-and a compelling clash of visual styles-to considerable effect. Once released, Derek struggles to save his brother from a violent fate, and American History X partially suffers from a mix of intense emotions, awkward sentiment, and predictably inevitable plotting. Lacking Derek's gift of rebel rhetoric, Danny is easily swayed into the violent, hateful lifestyle that Derek disowns during his thoughtful time in prison. The film's basic message-that hate is learned and can be unlearned-is expressed through Derek's kid brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), whose sibling hero-worship increases after Derek is imprisoned (or, in Danny's mind, martyred) for the killing of two black men. Looking lean and mean with a swastika tattoo and a mind full of hate, Derek Vinyard (Norton) has inherited racism from his father, and that learning has been intensified through his service to Cameron (Stacy Keach), a grown-up thug playing tyrant and teacher to a growing band of disenfranchised teens from Venice Beach, California, all hungry for an ideology that fuels their brooding alienation. If that statement doesn't horrify you, it should Norton is so fully immersed in his role as a neo-Nazi skinhead that his character's eloquent defense of racism is disturbingly persuasive-at least on the surface. Now that would be cool.Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay to Edward Norton is that his Oscar-nominated performance in American History X nearly convinces you that there is a shred of logic in the tenets of white supremacy. I've always wanted to do that to a school. And I really dig the scene in Carrie where she just tears apart the whole prom. Someone who is demented and kills somebody with an axe. Actually, my dream is to do a film along the lines of The Shining. You haven't been in a lot of studio movies.īelieve me, I wouldn't complain if I was in Star Wars. It's a good time, they rock, but they're like cartoon superheroes. I really dig the whole show KISS puts on, but I'm not the biggest fan of their we-want-to-rock'n'roll-all-night music. They were all about trying to touch your soul. That's show business.įrom that era I really like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. And in Detroit Rocks I got to be in the 70s and smoke dope in a Volkswagen with my disco-loving girlfriend Natasha Lyonne and hang out with KISS! But the Gene Simmons tongue thing. American History X was so rough, I wanted to do something fun, and I always wanted to be in a Fast Times At Ridgemont High type movie. I might look like a Klingon.ĭetroit Rock City is pretty tame by comparison. My biggest worry was that I'd have some weird freaking bump on my head. ![]() Really soon, I'd find myself hiding from him. Every once in a while I'd call him and say "I want to get back into working out". I've never done the working out for six hours kind of thing. Other than shaving your head, did you do any preparation? But when I wanted to get some background, mostly I just looked up stuff on the internet. Even so, there's no way I'm going to hang out, going buddy-buddy with a bunch of rascist skinheads. And they all wanted to kick my ass because I'm white. When I was growing up I went to a school where there were only blacks and not a lot of white kids. In American History X you play a white supremacist, but you're so laid back.Īu contraire. I thought I'd never be in another movie again. By the end of shooting T2, I was sure no one would think what I did was good. I had no clue what to do, or what to expect. It was your first film and it was so successful. It was because I was a shy white skinny kid and it would get me chicks. ![]() The only reason I did it in the first place wasn't because I wanted to be an actor and be great, which are the reasons I want to do it now. I was only 13 and I was so excited at the time. ![]()
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