Description
James Norton, the BAFTA-nominated actor who’s now taking a seat behind the camera, is one of the faces featured in The Greatest #28. In this feature, James explores with us the concept of ‘reminiscence’ and the role of memory in his acting method. When asked about his process of building a character, he told us: ‘Memory plays a huge role. Finding that human connection, that bridge to authenticity, is often about going back into your own archives and finding comparable experiences. That was central to our training at drama school. I was lucky to study under Dee Cannon, this extraordinary teacher, who has sadly passed away now, but we had an incredible group of people. My class alone had Cynthia Erivo, James McArdle, Daisy May Cooper, and we would spend hours revisiting our pasts, learning to access those emotions in a controlled way. It’s probably the thing I’ve leaned on most. I also came to acting later. My first job was at 25, after university, travel, and a handful of real-life jobs. I had lived a bit, fallen in love, fallen out of love, but that emotional bank is everything. The flip side is, my life is so varied now, it can be hard to retain it all. But the big emotional cornerstones? I use them constantly in my work. I’ve recently started going to a Buddhist monastery in France. It’s all about vivid, present living, which is what acting demands.’ In The Reminiscence Issue, you’ll find conversations with Hunter Doohan, Marcell Jacobs, Archie Madekwe, James Norton, David Koma, Laurids Gallée, Renaud Salmon, and Jawara Alleyne, as well as editorials lensed by AJ Kyser Alejandro Arrias, Antoine Henault, Charlotte Hadden, Clay Stephen Gardner, Clement Pascal, Domino., Emilia Staugaard, Gaia Bonanomi, Hedvig Jenning, Hein Gijsbers, Jack Chipper, Jack Grange, Jack Johnstone, Julius Bohlin, Keith Oshiro, Liz Van Campenhout, Matthieu Delbreuve, Maximilian Mair Pablo Zamora, Pepe Herreros, Philip White, Pierre Crosby, Pietro Groff, Rhys Frampton, Sasha Elage, Sean Alexander Geraghty, and Thomas Cooksey. Get your copy now!
