James Norton on the Timliness of ‘Mr. Jones’ and Working with Joss Whedon on HBO’s ‘The Nevers’

Fromn director Agnieszka Holland and screenwriter Andrea Chalupa, the dramatic thriller Mr. Jones follows ambitious young Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (James Norton), as he travels to Moscow to uncover the truth behind the propaganda that Hitler and Stalin are pushing in the eve of World War II. Willing to go to any lengths on his life-or-death journey, Jones sets out to uncover an international conspiracy that ultimately inspired George Orwell‘s Animal Farm.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, British actor James Norton talked about why he was so surprised by the story that’s being told in Mr. Jones, the appear of working with filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, find the soul of the real-life Garteth Jones, and the desire to search for the truth against all odds. He also talked about the experience of being a part of Joss Whedon‘s latest sci-fi series The Nevers, and what made him want to play that character.

Collider: When this came your way, were you able to read the full script, and what was your reaction to this story?

JAMES NORTON: I was able to read it in full, and I was shocked and surprised that I had never heard of Gareth Jones, being from the UK, and his journey and life felt like a piece of history which I should have come across. But most shocking was the fact that I knew so little about Holodomor, in general. A lot of the European history in school, in the UK, is focused on the Holocaust, and I know so much more, comparatively, than about the Holodomor. The fact that a lot of the international community still doesn’t recognize it as a genocide explains that lack of understanding and knowledge. But for me, there was a feeling of shock of understanding that there was this moment in history where millions and millions of people were systematically killed, and I didn’t really know anything about it, was a real eye-opener. And then, the fact that it was [director] Agnieszka Holland was an incredible draw and an incentive to do this movie, but to also have that sense of importance that this is a piece of history, which desperately needs to be spoken about more and understood and learned about more. I felt even more emboldened to jump on board.

Was this something where, when you read it, you started seeing yourself in this role and thinking about what you could bring to this? Is that how it works for you when you read something?

NORTON: First of all, I read the character description. The fact that you’ve been sent it, you would hope that you fit the bill, to a certain extent. When you’re playing real-life people, or people of history, there is a great onus to make sure, to a certain extent, that you’re honoring their physical person as well as their emotional one. With Gareth Jones, I could see myself very quickly understanding and really coming to grips with and excavating his journey, from the point of view of a journalist and the dogged pursuit of truth, and empirical truth, against all the odds. Ultimately, he paid the greatest sacrifice the day before he turned 30, and lost his life for that pursuit and truth, in the face of these terrifying totalitarian regimes who are set on manipulating the truth, to hold onto power as much as they can, which terrifying is sadly very familiar to us right now. Physically, Gareth Jones wasn’t very similar to me. He was always described by his contemporaries in the journalistic world as being quite a short man, and a bespectacled, serious, earnest Welshman who would ferociously write in his notepad everywhere. For an actor, I’m quite tall. I’m nearly 6’2″, and I’m not Welsh. In a lot of ways, I’m not like Gareth, which is why it’s so joyous to take those kinds of roles on. I really wanted to tap into that side of him that was earnest and very serious, but we also wanted to balance that with a playfulness, and he’s a bit of an adrenaline junkie. So, whilst he was distant from me, physically, that also just makes it all the more exciting to take on the challenge.

How do you get past any nervousness or feelings of responsibility you might have playing someone like this once you get onto the set and start shooting? Is it about just doing the homework and knowing that you’re prepared by the time you get there, and then just forgetting all of that once you get to work?

NORTON: Yeah, exactly. A lot of actors wouldn’t agree with me, but for me, it’s imperative to educate yourself, what the facts of the time, what the Holodomor was, and how important and pertinent it was to now. That does require a more academic pursuit, reading the books and educating yourself on the period. And then, you’ve got the more practical side of learning the accent and finding the physical embodiment of the character, which is all work that you do beforehand, mostly privately. But they key, when you get on that set, is to throw away all of the academic research and the literature because whilst it’s important, it’s not that important. The most important thing is finding the whole soul of that person. I think you can run the risk of wanting to play the history, and play the facts and figures, and play all the books that you’ve read, and that can distract you from the person. I read loads of books about Gareth Jones and the period. One of the most important pieces of research that I did was reading a letter from a great aunt which described him when he met his nieces and nephews having come back from one of his trips abroad, and said that he would sit down on the floor and be a bit of a geek with them, and bounce around like a Labrador. The kids really loved him, and that, for me, was really important. There are all of these accounts of him being very serious and earnest, but to know the he was actually a big kid and that he had that energy were incredibly important aspects to his character, which we leaned into. So, it’s very important to read the books and educate yourself, but ultimately, the finding of the soul is something that is more of a personal and less cerebral exercise.

Throughout history, we’ve heard about journalists who have put their lives on the line in pursuit of the truth and the greater good, and they’ve really paid the ultimate price for doing so. What do you think it is in someone that gives them a drive like that and brings out such bravery that not many people have?

NORTON: It’s a really good question. Right now, as we face more and more complications when it comes to truth and reporting in the media, and governments across the world which are becoming more and more willing to manipulate the truth and facts, we need as many Gareth Jones as we possibly can, in order to protect thee right to truth. If this film, in any way, inspired any young budding journalists out there, who are willing to pursue that truth, that wold be fantastic. There’s something about him, from the moral and ethical standpoint, where he definitely wanted to do the right thing and was willing to pay the price for the greater good. That, in itself, is just the most admirable quality. To be that selfless and to put himself at that amount of risk, in order to get the truth out tghere, and to not see those millions of lives lost in vain and actually hold the Communist party to account, and Stalin and his regime, is obviously incredibly admirable. The other truth is that he was an adrenaline junkie. He was always in motion. He never stopped. As soon as he managed to get the story out there, in the UK press and the US press, and he finally managed to blow the whistle on the Soviet Union, he was on another mission to Mongolia. That was when he very tragically lost his life ’cause he was kidnapped by a tribe who they think was hired by the Soviet Union the day before his 30th birthday. I don’t think he ever intended to give up his life for the greater good, but the mixture of an incredible moral backbone and selflessness, along with an adventurous spirit and a man who never stops, is how we were blessed with Gareth Jones, and I hope there are many, many more.

You’re also attached to Joss Whedon’s sci-fi TV series The Nevers, which sounds very cool. Have you already shot that? Is that finished?

NORTON: That’s very different from Mr. Jones. No, we were half-way through. I think we’ve shot about five episodes. We’re basically almost exactly half-way through. We’ve got five more to shoot. We’re filming in London, and Joss is here. The first half of the shoot went really well. We’re really excited about it, and I think HBO is excited about it. Unfortunately, we were just one of the many productions who were cut short, but there is very intention to complete it. We haven’t any clear dates yet, but there are lots of conversations going around, in the UK in general, about what measures we can put in place to protect everyone. I talked about being blessed with someone like Gareth Jones, but Joss Whedon is a whole other type of blessing, but one which I’m very grateful to be able to experience. His mind is something extraordinary, and I’m in awe of it, with his creativity, energy, inquisitiveness and humility, all mixed in one. The man wields immense power intellectually and as a director, and yet hes the most humble, soft-spoken and self-deprecating person ion the set. I have a lot of love for Joss.

That world sounds really interesting, and the descriptions of each of the individual characters sound very interesting. What was it about your character that made you want to explore him?

NORTON: If you’ve read the character description, that says it for me, really. It’s the world, it’s Joss, and it’s cahracter. The interesting thing is that I’m still yet to fully learn who Hugo Swann is ’cause we’re only half-way through. Part of the process is the actual making and telling of the story, and so much of this journey is still to come. I’ll be better positioned to answer that question in a few months time. The great thing about Joss is that he’s all about character, so you’ve got this incredibly larger than life, very big, playful character who’s pansexual and sex-crazed, and he runs this club. It’s all very big and delicious and gaudy. If it was in the hands of a different director or writer, I’d be a bit more wary. But the great thing about Joss is that you can be assured that he’s all about character, so there will always be a heart and a soul and a subtext underneath the fun and the theatricality. You can really chew on something fun and outlandish, and at the same time, find an inner rootedness and a quality that Joss will never, ever let you deny. Like I said, I’m still working out this madman that is Hugo Swann, but it’s been a joy so far.

Is there a genre that you’d love to work in, that you haven’t gotten the chance to do, or that you feel you haven’t gotten to do much of?

NORTON: That’s a good question. One thing which this role is allowing me more to explore is comedy, which I haven’t really been allowed to do. When I was in university, I love dabbling in comedy. It was never my reason for going into the industry, but I’ve loved performing in the little bits of comedy that I’ve done, and I love watching it. At the same time, I would never claim to be a comedian or a comedic actor by nature. You’re walking out into this world where there are some masters at play, and I don’t want to lay claim. The Joss project is a really fun challenge because it has that comedic side to it, but it;s still rooted very much in drama and character-driven drama. But I would love to maybe have a go at comedy. To be honest, I’m up for everything. As long as the character is there, the genre of whatever it might be is a Trojan horse, but it’s comedy or horror or sci-if, or whatever, I’m up for it. I’m up for it all, as long as the person is there. That’s key.

Mr. Jones is available on digital on June 19, and on-demand on July 3rd.

Original article at Collider.

This article has been reproduced for archive purposes.