The first rule of “Fight Club” is you do not talk about “Fight Club”. Unless you’re Edward Norton and Janeane Garofalo.
On Monday, Norton responded to comments Garofalo made claiming the actor cost her a role in the movie.
Last week, the actress and comedian told Yahoo’s “Build Series” she was originally up for the role of Maria Singer but star Norton felt she “didn’t have the chops to do it.” The role eventually went to Helena Bonham Carter.
“I met with [the film’s director] David Fincher, who handed me the script and said, ‘If you like it, the part is yours,'” the “Reality Bites” actress revealed.
Now, Norton, 50, is telling CNN her claims are not true.
“I’m sorry Janeane is under that impression, but if she was serious, she’s really mistaken,” he says. “David Fincher does exactly what he wants. He makes the call on every dimension of his films, top to bottom. I don’t recall him ever even raising the subject of who he was considering for most other roles.”
“The one suggestion I made, he shot down. I was a big fan of Janeane’s so I’d have loved to do a reading with her,” he adds.
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According to Garofalo, she says she asked to audition for or with Norton but was denied the opportunity.
“I was told that he would like Courtney Love to do it, because he was dating her, but Brad Pitt said, ‘I’m not going to sign off on that.’ So, they agreed on Helena Bonham Carter, who was probably much better than I would have been,” she explains.
Years after the 1999 movie was released, Garofalo says “Fight Club” co-star Brad Pitt approached her to apologize for the way things went down.
“He very kindly said, ‘I’m sorry about what happened with that,’ and he had nothing to do with it,” she reveals. However, Garofalo says that even though she and Norton live close to one another, he has never addressed it with her.
“In fact, he pretends he doesn’t know who I am every time I see him,” she adds. But, the comedian doesn’t hold any grudges against the “Primal Fear” star, calling him a “wonderful actor.”
Now that he knows Garofalo lives nearby, Norton tells CNN, “And if she sees me in the neighbourhood I hope she’d come say hi!”
Garofalo will next be seen in the road trip dramedy “Come As You Are”.
