Edward Norton: It's Fun to be a Kook

Edward Norton wasn't part of the popular crowd in high school, nor did he want to be. Though, flash forward 30 years and Russell Simmons, along with the rest of us, thinks he's a pretty cool kid.
Want more Off Camera? offcamera.com
Watch full episodes on Netflix: www.netflix.com/title/80102549
The Off Camera Show is the KZbin channel for Off Camera with Sam Jones. Subscribe now to be updated on the latest videos: bit.ly/1K3VAC9
For full Off Camera episodes, visit offcamera.com
Get Social With Us:
On Facebook: theoffcamera...
On Twitter: / offcamerashow
On Instagram: / offcamerashow
On KZbin: / theoffcamerashow
Follow Sam Jones on Twitter: / samjones

[@DreamlessSkies]

"I don't generally trust people who like high school." Same.

[@toddflowers8052]

I fuggin' hated high school except for Art class ! :-)

[@pho3nix-]

Word.

[@rolandofgilead43]

there's a certain school i hated with a passion i'm 41 years old and i still hate it with a passion due to how i was treated by a lot of the kids. and what drives me nuts is i sometimes talk to certain people and say holy shit did i hate school and that school in particular and they go well i had fun. so all i can say is well i'm glad you had fun but i didn't. what also drives me nuts is when people forget how miserable they were in high school i know i was. and they put a picture in their mind and block that shit out. i'm for working out your problems you were going through back than but sometimes going through that bull shit can make you a better person once you can start to forgive at least some of the shit.

[@jessicadutridge9882]

OMG, when he said that line...I fell in love with him. It's the best quote I've heard in some time. I'm going to use it as a metric of people from now on. Me meeting someone for the first time: "Hi. How are you? Did you like high school?"

[@rolandofgilead43]

@@jessicadutridge9882 I agree it's a great line, I'd say to take a guess 90%hated high school but a lot of them like I said only remember the good times, now I'm not saying you should dwell on it but at least admit you were as miserable as most of us who were there. Really only jocks and cheerleaders, ones who did sports are ones I think anyways who mostly say that. Some who did theater also say that too

[@lynnturman8157]

Social media has turned the world into one big high school.

[@zacharyallanstark182]

Just commenting here so you can revisit this. how relevant this has become.

[@michaelmaier7262]

You misspelled "insane asylum".

[@emmalouisepursey]

Yes, Edward Norton. Yes.

[@roboct6]

Good interview. I’ve always liked Norton’s work. “I’ve always been suspicious of anyone who liked high school” goes right on my list of truisms. Though it does appear that show business itself is mostly run by those kind of people.

[@lizclegg7556]

I hated high school. I love Edward Norton.

[@Whisky_Tango_Foxtrot-jc5uq]

"The freaks are who you wanna hang with" always felt that way myself! 👍🍻

[@rolandofgilead43]

no shit me too

[@70sstreetracergal61]

I was one of the freaks. LOL. Still am. Hahahahahaha! Love it! 👍🏻☮️👍🏻

[@mermaidmoon2254]

waw, never thought I could relate to someone so much. Middle school was actually my personal hell, but high school was (better but) pretty shitty. So yeah, I don't trust people who liked high school either.

[@pengensehat6934]

Vienna Rowlings same here...middle school is the worst...!

[@70sstreetracergal61]

Am 67 and was totally NOT the cool kid in school. Stuttered, had wild curly red hair, huge boobs and freckles while the cool girls were blond, straight hair they all looked alike and JUST like the girls in commercials. BLEECH Loved taking engines and any appliance apart and had to fight to NOT be in Home Ec (German granma didnt need no stinking “home ec”) and really wanted Auto Mechanics. This is whats so awesome...my Home Ec teacher was so cool and since small town so she knew my family. One day her car would not start and back then there was no CALL FOR HELP with your car. Her battery had died so I got her a new one at my Uncles shop and installed it and changed her fluids and made sure all was fine. She went to the Principal (who still believed in beating kids who disobeyed with a huge wooden paddle) and begged him to get me into Auto Shop. He refused. I sugared his tank. Noone could figure out what was wrong so she told him to see if I could help. Drained his tank, made sure nothing was left behind and I got to be the first chick in the class. NOW it was not easy at first, the guys were pissed...but after numerous times of them tryin to kill me one way or another and i responded in kind cause I can, it took when i trounced thier asses at 1/4 mile set up BY our instructor...finally got some respect. Never got asked out on a date, but gimme respect anyday!! It IS fun to be a kook and at my age STILL get crap with my cars, but just laugh and do a burnout. 👍🏻. Sorry so long but the memories took over. 😁👍🏻❤️🤘🏻☮️

[@charlottehalsall5488]

You are a very inspirational lady. I get a vibe of "I don't care if you don't like me just because I am not what you think I should be but you will damn well respect my abilities" Also, very well done for finding a way to break the system. When opportunity is unfairly denied, you must make your own. 😊

[@70sstreetracergal61]

Charlotte Halsall Thank you Ma’am and you nailed it! ❤️. That is who I am and will never change tho many have tried. Just cause I am 67 doesnt mean every part of me is old...heck...do burnouts every chance I get 👍🏻😂☮️🤘🏻🤣 and the looks on the young dudes faces when they see its an old gray haired chick mopping thier ass is SOOOOO WORTH IT! What can I say? 😁 Protect and serve and do burnouts often has been my motto for many, many years. GOD BLESS AMERICA! 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸

[@Lifeinsam]

I just feel like he gets it

[@ChrisKChandler]

Loved the interview! I have similar feelings about the "cool kids" I went to school with, and often hear stories that some never really moved on, and that some actually became teachers in our school! Talk about hanging onto your glory days. It's a tragedy that the cool kid / nerd dichotomy repeats in highschools across North America (I can't speak to elsewhere). Without the perspective and wisdom of the years, we can't expect most highschool kids to have any sense of what's truly important. Instead, we throw them to the wolves (who are often their peers) and hope they figure it out? Inevitably, they self-organize along lines drawn for them by popular culture. It's the Lord of the Flies! It's the Hunger Games! It's cruel. And anyone who bows out to ask for help from a teacher, counselor, or guardian just ends up even further ostracized. Just imagine if the message in highschool was "Work hard, learn what you can, and don't get attached, because you won't be here long." Kids could see their challenges and triumphs as fleeting, and remember to keep their eyes on the future. This isn't to say that kids "can't be kids", but imagine how much better things would be if we could carve out that mean judgmental attitude and replace it with community.

[@Megatron118x]

Hated middle school, barely tolerated high school. College however, was wonderful (overall lol)

[@samanthab1923]

Of course it was. No one knows you & you can reinvent yourself.

[@andrewmcgee1001]

Wow...yeah...pretty much hated high school..there is so much emphasis/pressure on social acceptance...an education is so secondary..Thanks Ed..love your work..

[@sunsetjunior9313]

i was one of the 'cool kids' in high school and it haunts me. those kids are the dead, the sleepwalkers. in retrospect, it was the so-called nerds that took lunch in the band room who were being raised right and had conscious minds in their heads. i 'awoke' a couple of years later, but have always felt ashamed of my attitudes and the way i thought of myself back then. -so much so, i have never done social media of any kind as to remain off the grid....sad, but valid....

[@Vincent-gt3gx]

I love your show, these are great. I say this as I have very few close male friends and it is nice to know how other guys deal with disappoints and other life experiences. If only you can have them on more often.

[@fizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

I wish he was my friend.

[@tylerpurrden]

"Will you stay in our lovers' story? if you stay, you won't be sorry, cus we believe in you..." knowing Edward Norton is as much of a Bowie kook as I am makes this grown woman feel quite the fangirl

[@tylerpurrden]

@PurelyAfrican wait they knew each other??

[@MyIneffablePonyyy]

HOLYSHIT YOURNAME IS THE NAME I WAS GONNA NAME MY CAT IF IT WAS A BOY I LOVE YOUUUU 😭🙏🙏

[@christinamarti4441]

I hated high school loved Bruce he was my man

[@christophertown7136]

So damn true. The weird is weird... and also the one's that are truly alive.

[@hilalyigit6371]

Good intervied

[@Dougie-ex1ov]

I liked High School bc only time I did well with girls and books...lol. Prob why I suck at life now. Oh well. We all have our time. Glad those that didnt like or do well in high school have found some hapiness. Hopefully I can find some again.

[@pedrofmbs]

American high schools must be weird AF.

[@aneladgam]

That they are. Children are not taught to think for themselves, but to take orders and grow into productive cogs for capitalism. There are exceptions and teachers who make all the difference, but generally it can be truly disappointing and sad

[@lynnturman8157]

You don't have teenagers in your country?

[@pedrofmbs]

@@lynnturman8157 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture

[@mccloysong]

Junior high school was my dreaded era.

[@Anonymous18531]

I loved high school, but it couldn't possibly compete with college. But I will say that the way Edward thinks about high school, that's my attitude on middle school. I don't trust people who enjoyed middle school.

[@roysteves]

What a brilliant prompt from Sam, though.

[@kintrap5376]

I get the impression that Ed REALLY likes Bruce Springsteen

[@samanthab1923]

Do you think they have met?

[@marksoquetjr4693]

I was in to.. punk but I was into The Stray Cats and my brother was into Bruce Springsteen; therefore, there was a difference

[@kmmk292929]

interview Rainn Wilson and Jack White...please. :)

[@pengensehat6934]

wow...i love this guy more...! im not into people who like high school too...but for me middle school is the worst...! i always thought that people who keep coming to their high school reunion r those people who had some unfinish bussines with their past 😁😁😁 but im done with n move on so...no mas!

[@PaleManSteve83]

Beastie boys... Alright.

[@samanthab1923]

Hated school & I was popular.

[@christiang3576]

I hated school, as in what it’s purpose was, I barely passed school, but I mean there was some great times, I had freak friends, nerdy friends, thug friends, punk friends, jock friends, luckily I knew better then to discriminate, and got along pretty good with everyone, I don’t know how adults can look years back and truly hate high school, there was plenty of memorable experiences, getting drunk for the first time, losing virginity etc, looking back it’s fuckin hilarious how stupid we all were, we were just kids, if it weren’t for school we would’ve never got the chance to experience certain things or meet a lot of people that are still friends today Even as an outsider it must’ve felt great to find you’re own little click in high school

[@Henry-kz4gn]

I enjoy kooking dinner for a friend.

[@yourmajesty3569]

Yep. I'm weird. And yessssss I'm so much fun 😉 He tells it true. Basic is boring.

[@SuccessforLifester]

Yes and hardly any brain matter too

[@mariepotter1468]

Russell Simmons is right tho

[@MrDrewseph]

like

[@roromina2653]

MrDrewseph IKR!!!!

[@roromina2653]

sorry i mean “like, ikr”

[@mike8055]

It happens in each generation. Cool kids / bad behaved kids mock the smart kids. As you get older, it doesn't matter if you're popular or a loser. School is just a phase. Life is what you make of it. The smart kids (generally) go on to make more money and be happy; the others (generally) end up in fast food restaurants and have babies in their teens. So, look who's having the last laugh now?!

[@mr.iforgot3062]

He needs to eat all of his hamburger. Not just the edges. Such a waste of ground beef.

[@michaelmaier7262]

I'm saying this as someone who loathed almost every day of high school: "Quit your damned whining."

[@Susieq26754]

Hey Edward, is it fun being a Marxist?