Edward Norton

In The Invite (2026), Edward Norton's Hawk is so relaxed that it starts to feel like a way of putting his hosts in their place. He barely seems to be trying for a laugh, which makes him funnier. Olivia Wilde gives him a dinner party and three other actors to work against; he needs no bigger occasion. We like Norton most when he trusts this kind of control, letting a man's certainty become the thing we notice about him.

That certainty was already disturbing in American History X (1998), which followed his film debut in Primal Fear (1996). As Derek, he makes hateful claims sound considered, and shows why somebody might stay to listen. Tony Kaye, directing and shooting the film, too often underlines Norton's physical presence, while David McKenna's screenplay makes changes of belief too tidy. Norton is a strong reason to see it, but he cannot make the hurried explanations convincing.

He went on to David Fincher's Fight Club (1999) and played the volatile actor Mike Shiner in Birdman (2014). His later ensemble parts offer a quieter use for the same control. In Wes Anderson's Asteroid City (2023), he is Conrad Earp, the playwright introduced in the black-and-white television opening. Anderson's careful staging suits an actor so exact about voice and posture, though the film keeps us at a distance for too long.

James Mangold gets something warmer from him in A Complete Unknown (2024), as Pete Seeger. Norton's decency never rules out stubbornness, and neither quality has to be announced. We were moved by the hospital scene, where he sits with his hat in his hands while Chalamet sings to Guthrie, played by Scoot McNairy. Norton lets the singing and McNairy's answering hand on the blanket hold our attention; being present is enough. The film's drama is thin between the songs, but Norton gives us somebody whose good intentions we can believe in.

Wilde makes similarly good use of him without asking us to admire his seriousness. The Invite has a sagging middle and never quite escapes its resemblance to a filmed play, but Hawk's aggressive ease is worth catching. Start there if Norton's name still suggests an evening of being firmly spoken to.