On my radar: James Norton’s cultural highlights
The actor on the visceral emotion of Sharon Van Etten, a historic New York jazz bar and a provocative Broadway
Michael Hogan
Sun 29 Dec 2019
London-born, Yorkshire-raised actor James Norton, 34, is best known for his TV roles in Happy Valley, Grantchester, McMafia and War and Peace. He now plays Stephen Ward, a key figure in the Profumo affair, in BBC One’s new drama The Trial Of Christine Keeler, which starts on Sunday 29 December at 9pm. He also appears in Little Women, in cinemas now, and stars in Mr Jones, a film about the Welsh journalist who broke the news of the 1932 Soviet famine, released on 7 February.
1. Theatre
Slave Play by Jeremy O Harris
I asked my friend Kyle Soller [American actor currently in The Inheritance] what play to see in New York and without hesitation, he said this. It didn’t disappoint. It’s taken Broadway by storm but I was lucky enough to get a last-minute ticket and went on my own. It’s tricky to discuss the plot without spoilers because there’s an incredible twist halfway through but it takes a huge swing at questions surrounding race, sexuality and gender in America with such punch and provocation, you can’t help but admire its bravery. A phenomenal sensory overload. It’s meant to be coming to London and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
2. Music
Sharon Van Etten
It’s an achievement to stand out at Glastonbury, considering the bill there - I saw Stormzy, Ezra Collective, Jungle, all these brilliant acts - but Sharon Van Etten was the one who really popped for me at this year’s festival and she’s since taken over my Spotify. Her music is so visceral and emotive. She has this raspy, irreverent voice and her lyrics have such power and poetry. I’ve had her Remind Me Tomorrow album, especially the song Seventeen, on repeat ever since. It whisks me straight back to bouncing around at Worthy Farm.
3. Novel
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
My girlfriend [actor Imogen Poots] is a voracious reader who’s always suggesting authors to me and Carson McCullers was the most recent. This is her debut, published in 1940 when she was 23, which is just absurd considering it’s so extraordinary. It’s the story of a deaf-mute in a 1930s mill town and the disparate people he meets. McCullers writes with such insight into these characters, all differing in age, gender and social class. It’s so mature and sophisticated, I keep having to remind myself how young she was. It’s essentially about loneliness, and a deeply moving read.
4. Bar
Village Vanguard, New York
I’ve been shooting in upstate New York for the past few months, so I’m afraid many of my recent highlights are New York-based. Two weeks ago I had a wonderful night at this old jazz bar in the West Village. It’s got amazing heritage and tradition. All the greats have played there. It’s exactly how you’d imagine a downtown jazz club to be: small tables, great cocktails, superb music. We saw the Javon Jackson Quartet, drank multiple vodka martinis and felt excellent. There wasn’t any dancing that night but there was chin-stroking, head-nodding and foot-tapping. Followed by enthusiastic applause, perhaps even some whooping.
5. Film
The Rider (2017)
I watch a lot of films, so it was hard to pick one but this really stuck with me. It’s directed by Chloé Zhao, won a prize at Cannes and is about the rodeo circuit and modern-day cowboys. It has almost documentary naturalism, mostly using non-actors, which is always interesting, and its world is incredibly well realised. The lead character is played by Brady Jandreau, who’d never acted before, and he’s insanely raw and gut-wrenching. It’s bleak but also breathtakingly beautiful. Zhao gets these magic hour shots, which are something to behold.
6. Exhibition
Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now
I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know much about Robert Mapplethorpe but he’s such an iconic figure in American art, so I went along to the [New York] Guggenheim to educate myself. It’s about his legacy and how his work has translated to modern society. It was so potent and contentious when he was making it in the 70s and 80s. Photographs were placed next to negative reviews and soundbites from the time. His audacious work was met by so much fear and mistrust when he was alive. It was striking how much – and in some cases, how little – attitudes have moved on.
