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[title]‘This is my sad dad era,’ says James Norton, looking absolutely nothing like anyone’s idea of a sad dad, with his tousled hair and Savile Row get-up. But his current CV does bear it out. The Yorkshire-born, London-based actor’s latest film, Netflix’s spirit-lifting birth-of-IVF drama Joy, is soon followed by ITV baby-swap thriller Playing Nice. Tiny humans have been held in both. ‘“Sad dad” is how my business partner describes my current casting bracket. It’s annoyingly apt,’ he laughs.
The question on everyone’s lips – ours included – is whether Norton will be swapping the babies for a Walther PPK and licence to kill. The bookies have him as third favourite to be the next James Bond, with only Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Paul Mescal ahead of him in their queue. With eye-catching TV roles in War & Peace, McMafia and Happy Valley, and an acclaimed but gruelling West End run as A Little Life’s brutalised New York lawyer behind him, he might even be the biggest household name on the list now – on home turf, at least.
In Joy, Norton stars alongside Bill Nighy and Last Night in Soho’s Thomasin McKenzie as part of a trio of scientists who beat their American counterparts to pioneer in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in the 1970s. The film takes its name from Louise Joy Brown, the first baby to be born through IVF in 1978. Norton plays Robert Edwards, the irrepressible real-life Yorkshireman who, along with embryologist Jean Purdy (McKenzie) and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe (Nighy), cracked the code for fertility treatment. ‘It’s such an iconic and important story,’ Norton enthuses. Time Out chatted to him about rediscovering his joy after A Little Life, his favourite London haunts, and, yes, those 007 rumours.
Did it surprise you that the story of IVF hadn’t been made into a film already?
Yeah, it’s surprising. [Writers] Jack Thorne and Rachel Mason realised that the key is taking it from the perspective of the women [who first underwent IVF], not the scientists. That’s why it worked and the other attempts didn’t: because it’s a celebration of those women who had so much at stake and sacrificed so much for future generations. Previous attempts had treated it like a moon race and tried to do the Neil Armstrong [angle], but actually it’s Jean Purdy, and these women and the good men who helped them who made this happen.
What do you hope that women who’ve been through IVF take away from it?
I know from speaking to friends and to the director, Ben Taylor, whose wife has been through many rounds of IVF, that it’s a very profound watch for people who have experienced fertility issues. To be able to celebrate these pioneers who fought hard and sacrificed a lot over ten years. You think about the joy that Louise Brown gave to her parents and multiply that by 12 million IVF babies, and all those people will see this film and hopefully have a moment of thanks for all the people who sacrificed a lot to get there.
It’s astounding to think that there are people who would do away with IVF
The US election demonstrated the extent to which fertility has become politicised. How has that made you feel?
It’s a big question. I should start by saying that this film has been in development for 10 years, so while it may seem more politically motivated in terms of the American election, and Trump grabbing hold of IVF in a cynical way, it’s not a political movie. But we are suddenly aware of how fragile access to IVF is. Infertility is a cruel and very painful illness and there needs to be more access to IVF. But I’m so proud and grateful to be in a country where women are in control of their reproductive rights, and there is choice. It’s astounding to think that there are people who would do away with it.
You’ve come from working on A Little Life. Did you need to lift the psychic load with something more feel-good?
Yeah, I think so. Everyone who came to see A Little Life said: ‘Take a fucking break after this.’ They could see how much it was costing me. It was the hardest thing I’ve done: five months of four hours a day. It was the most gruelling, harrowing, but also rewarding thing. Then I got the script for Joy a month or two before the end [of the run], and there was no world where I wasn’t going to take it. It was the perfect antidote to A Little Life, a feel-good movie full of joy.
It looks like it was a fun role to play.
Bob was a really fun character to play. [I got to] be full of energy, life and positivity – and also be a bit of a buffoon. We wanted him to feel loveable and a bit hapless.
Your co-star Bill Nighy is a fellow south Londoner. Did you bond over your shared roots?
He’s also a nomad and moves around a lot, but he travels into town in his suit everyday. Thomasin has recently moved to London, and we’ve maintained the friendship since the movie. The three of us have a little WhatsApp group called ‘the Fallopians’ and we go for dinners.
Where would you take the Fallopians in your old stomping ground, Peckham?
The Peckham Bazaar, which is a restaurant I used to live close to. But if I want to show a friend an eccentric spot with good food, good vibes, I take them to Brunswick House. It’s this Georgian house nestled right by the river next to Vauxhall that’s full of antiques and paintings. It’s like dining in a huge antiques shop – and the food is amazing. They have jazz in the cellar in the evening, too. It’s so fun.
Hampstead Heath is closest you can get in London to true ruggedness
You’re in House of Guinness soon, a Netflix series about the Guinness dynasty. What’s the best place to go for a pint of Guinness in London?
There’s a pub in Telegraph Hill called Skehans, a proper old Irish boozer. I've been shooting House of Guinness up in Liverpool and there’s an amazing Irish pub there called Shenanigans. They say it has the best pint of Guinness outside of Ireland.
You grew up in the hills of Yorkshire. Which part of London reconnects you with your rural side?
It’s got to be [Hampstead] Heath. I’m a country boy and I crave the countryside, so I go to the Heath a lot, I swim in the ponds and I climb Parliament Hill. I think that’s the closest you can get in London to true ruggedness, even if it’s still pretty tame (laughs).
Your career has taken far and wide so far. Are you naturally a wanderer?
I am, yeah. I’m very lucky because the work takes me places I wouldn’t otherwise have gone. I’ve spent the last six months in Iceland, shooting a TV show called King and Conqueror (a Norton-produced upcoming BBC series about King Harold and William the Conqueror), and I made friends and connected with a community there. It is a strange, peripatetic lifestyle, and it’s not often great if you’re craving routine and for planning things, but it’s a small cost.
Your inner schoolboy must have been made up to play King Harold, the only historical figure we can remember from that age.
It was a toss up whether I’d play Harold or William, but I was attached to play a TV show at the time that meant I wasn’t allowed to play William. The studio I was working for told me that if I was going to do it, I had to die in case there’s a second series (laughs).
It’s not like I go to bed seething that I haven’t done a Marvel movie.
You don’t have a lot of big American movies on your CV. Is your agent at you to get a big Marvel movie under your belt?
I haven’t actively pursued a Marvel franchise, but I have been for auditions. Some I got closer to than others, but it’s not like my life has been a series of disappointments not being part of those franchises. I’m really happy and proud of the work I’ve done. I’ve been over to America and loved it – Little Women with Greta Gerwig, Flatliners with Diego Luna and Elliot Page – but there’s still uncharted territory. Hopefully, I’ll do some more work in America in the next chapter, but it’s not like I go to bed seething that I haven’t done a Marvel movie.
You said that as the villain in Happy Valley, there were eight million people in Britain who hated you. Now that the dust is settled on the show, is it down to a more manageable number?
(Laughs) I don’t know, that’s a good question. I would hope that now I’ve softened that reputation, and complemented it with some more redeemable roles... maybe? That was an amazing moment in my life, and a breakout role. I had so many conversations about whether Tommy was a psychopath. I don’t think he was – I think he was a very traumatised boy who experienced extreme abuse as a child – but he shows the danger of neglecting those types of people. But the things he did in the first series were pretty heinous, so if people do hold grudges, I’m really sorry.
Are you looking forward to when they cast James Bond, if only so you don’t have to answer any more James Bond questions?
Then it’ll be: ‘How did you react to the casting of James Bond?’ Yeah, probably. But it’s not the worst question to get asked, and it still bemuses me to be in that conversation at all. I’m just excited to see what direction they take it; I think the franchise is in a really interesting situation and the producers are so good and bold – bringing Daniel [Craig] in and letting him take the direction that he did. I’m interested as a punter more than anything.
Joy is in select UK cinemas Fri Nov 15, and streams on Netflix from Nov 22.