Motherless Brooklyn is an American noir crime film written and directed by Edward Norton who also plays the film’s leading character, Lionel Essrog. Set in New York City in the late ‘50s, the story follows Lionel, a private investigator with Tourette syndrome, in his journey to solve the murder of his mentor Frank (Bruce Willis). The investigation unveils a dark and ugly scheme led by the city’s most powerful person Moses Randolph (Alec Baldwin). With the help of a lawyer, Laura Rose (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Lionel digs deeper into the poor and minority neighborhoods that are being bought out and demolished. Motherless Brooklyn is based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Jonathan Lethem; the film took nearly 20 years to go into production. HFPA journalist Helen Hoehne sat down with Edward Norton who shares his story of making this film with his grandpa’s voice in mind.