10 Actors Who Aren't Afraid To Mock Themselves
6. Ed Norton Knows He's A Nightmare To Work With - Birdman
Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman is, of course, an incredibly meta-movie. Michael Keaton plays an actor best known for playing a caped crusader, but not that one. In an attempt to be taken seriously Keaton's Riggan Thompson is making his Broadway debut, writing, directing and starring in an adaptation of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". The voice of Birdman inside his head constantly chides him about returning to commercial cinema, where he belongs.
However, it's not Keaton whose role is the most self-mocking. That credit goes to Ed Norton as Thompson's fellow actor Mike Shiner. Shiner is an absolute nightmare to work with, self-absorbed, pretentious and offering his own unwanted advice to Thompson as director. If Hollywood gossip is to be believe then Norton's role as Mike isn't far removed from the truth.
The story goes that Norton considerably rewrote his Incredible Hulk movie, much to the chagrin of Marvel execs who recast the character with Mark Ruffalo. He also considerably re-edited American History X, which so enraged director Tony Kaye that he unsuccessfully demanded his credit be replaced with "Humpty Dumpty" and took out various ads in trade publications which ripped into Norton. At least, through Mike Shiner, Norton can laugh about it all now.