Chronically Online with Woody Norman

Woody Norman has very good taste, a few strange aversions, and plenty of thoughts about how he’d like to spend his time.

Words by Dio Anthony, Photography & Styling by Chris Noltekuhlmann Grooming by Simone Kogen

Woody Norman is just 17 years old when we meet for a call in early September. He phones in from his home in North London, wearing a black hoodie and a camo cap that barely covers his head of curls. Not that he’s trying to. Behind him is a fireplace—and to the side, I can make out his mother's voice slightly off-screen, offering him a tissue after he sneezes a few times, just seconds into our call. A little over six months into his 17th year, he is starring opposite the sensible Andrew Garfield in The Uprising, playing 14-year-old King Richard II in Paul Greengrass's historical drama.

For all the historical weight of the role, though, Norman is unmistakably 17—playing a teenage king. He rattles off slang terms I’m not familiar with—and reveals a musical inclination much more sophisticated than my own at his age. We talk about the internet and its many streets and corners, his idea of freedom, and the things that scare and bug him, too. He is, in a sense, very much like I imagined him to be, parasocially anyway. Cool, calm, and collected.

American Studies: Thanks for making time today. I love your outfit, by the way.

Woody Norman: Thank you.

American Studies: Very cool.

American Studies: I thought we’d take a slightly different approach to our interview today—maybe focus a little less on character and a little more on you. So, to start: where are you today?

Woody Norman: Actually, I'm in my house in London.

American Studies: Whereabouts in London?

Woody Norman: North London. Have you been?

American Studies: I have—not enough to know what north London is like though.

he sneezes

Woody Norman: Oh my God. Why am I sneezing?

American Studies: Are you sick today?

Woody Norman: A little bit. I’m a little sick today. I had a headache all night and a toothache as well, and now I’m sneezing.

American Studies:  I'm wondering, when did you get your first phone?

Woody Norman: I think my first proper one was when I was 11.

American Studies: Wow. 

Woody Norman: Which is still a bit, bit early. But, you know, not as early as a lot of people. I wish I had gotten one later.

American Studies: Were you the first one in your friend group to have a phone?

Woody Norman: Oh, no. I mean, well, I had an iPad before that.

American Studies: The ipads–they’re like pre-phones.

Woody Norman: But I needed a phone when I went to secondary school because I had to get on the tube. It's quite far away, and I needed a phone. So I got one.

American Studies: Do you buy physical media at all?  

Woody Norman: Oh, yeah, I collect vinyl.

American Studies: What's the last vinyl you purchased?

Woody Norman: Oh my God. What's the last one I bought? I bought Spiderland by Slint recently, which is just– I love that album. It's great.

American Studies: How big is your collection?

Woody Norman: It's pretty big. When my granddad died, I got a lot from him. So, like, first pressings of, like, Beatles albums, stuff like that.

American Studies: Wow.

Woody Norman: It's really cool. I have a few Nina Simone albums. But right now, I'm trying to, like, complete discographies, so, like—I'm two albums away from having every Geese and Cameron album. I need to get Projector and The Live Album.

American Studies: Did you pick up any in LA recently?

Woody Norman: No, I actually  didn't have time to. 

American Studies: Do you read at all?

Woody Norman: I do. Not all the time. But every year, I think I read, like, three or four books?

American Studies: Oh, that's actually–more than most people. What's the last one?

Woody Norman: I’m reading White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky right now. It’s great. But I had to take a break from it because I’m reading all of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels—the Game of Thrones books.

American Studies: That’s quite the undertaking. 

“I think there needs to be an exam for people to buy podcast equipment because there’s too many.”

— Woody Norman

Woody Norman: They’re just so long. I’m in the middle of the second one, so I had to stop, read a shorter book, and now I’m gonna continue. I love the shows, but the books are just long.

American Studies: How about audiobooks?

Woody Norman: No. I used to go to sleep, but now I just put on a podcast and then that sends me to sleep. I like holding it, you know what I mean?

American Studies: I know exactly what you mean. What are your podcasts right now? Your current go-tos?

Woody Norman: I like The Basement Yard. I like ones where they're just funny. Like, I don't wanna hear what your opinions on stuff are. You know what I mean?

American Studies: I do. Like—just  friends shooting the shit—versus interviews and that kind of stuff?

Woody Norman: I do listen to The Movie Podcast. I like them.

American Studies: I like them, too. 

Woody Norman: But, I prefer— fun stuff. I don't wanna hear what you guys think about the blockchain. You know what I mean?

American Studies: Definitely.

Woody Norman: I think there needs to be an exam for people to buy podcast equipment because there's too many. You've gotta, like, fill out a form.

American Studies: I agree. I feel like the selling of mics should be controlled. That's hilarious and very true. Is there a website you find yourself on a lot?

Woody Norman: Rate Your Music a lot.

American Studies: Kind of like Rate My Professors, but it’s music?

Woody Norman: Yeah. It’s just like a music forum. I used to be big on the music forum on 4chan during lockdown. Then I realized how much of a twat I was for being on 4chan, so I stopped. I never got into any of the other 4chan boards because that was too, like, neckbeard for me.

American Studies: 4chan–Is that kind of like a Reddit situation?

Woody Norman: Reddit, I never was big on it. I never was a big Reddit guy. I just found it so nerdy.

American Studies: [Laughs] I find myself there a lot. 

Woody Norman: Yeah, It's good if you, like, wanna look something up.

American Studies: Or if you want a stranger’s opinion on something. 

Woody Norman: Yeah, just people saying what they think about things.

American Studies: What album are you currently consuming?

Woody Norman: Let me check. What's been on my list recently? None So Vile by Cryptopsy is a great album. Obviously Getting Killed by Geese is brilliant. Wisdom Through Music, Pharoah Sanders, is amazing.

American Studies: These sound really cool. I've never heard of most of these.

Woody Norman: Yeah. And there's a new one that came out in August called Jewish American Prairie Princess, which is really—it's strange music. But it's very good. It's very, very good.

American Studies: Where do you get your music taste from? I feel like you have a pretty sophisticated taste in music for someone your age.

Woody Norman: I'm just, like, chronically online, man.

American Studies: [Laughs].

Woody Norman: I’m proper, you know, on all these music forums and stuff. That’s where I get it. And I have mates that are into music, so I might get some from them. But a lot of it is just online.

American Studies: What time do you usually wake up?

“I’m just, like, chronically online, man.”

— Woody Norman

Woody Norman: Like 11:00, I think. 10–11.

American Studies: Do you sleep with the TV on or off?

Woody Norman: On.  My mom hates it. She always comes to my room and turns it off, but it really helps me go to sleep.

American Studies: Do you ever steal hotel toiletries?

Woody Norman: Oh, for sure.  I mean, you have to.

American Studies: What're the last couple things you took?

Woody Norman: It would've been, like, conditioner. [Laughs] You know?

American Studies: Really good-smelling conditioner.

Woody Norman: Oh, yeah.

American Studies: Is there a restaurant in London that you could eat in forever?

Woody Norman: Dishoom. It's amazing. Indian food. Really good.

American Studies: What's the worst haircut you've ever had? I love this long situation you’ve got going on right now. Very late 60s. 

Woody Norman: I’ve had the same trim, like, my whole life. There’ve just been times when we wanted to cut it shorter, and they’ve given me, like, microbangs. It's just been terrible.

American Studies: Microbangs, that's hilarious.

Woody Norman: Like my, like, baby bangs. It’s mad. [Laughs] Like, bro, that’s so funny. I don’t get how someone can mess up my hair. You know what I mean? Just make it look the same. You don't gotta do anything crazy. I don't need layers. Just cut it.

American Studies: What is your regular hair routine? 

“It didn’t feel like these were my people because I didn’t choose to be around them.”

— Woody Norman

Woody Norman:I don’t really do much unless I’ve washed my hair. I just let it do its thing. I put, like, a curling mousse in it, and this leave-in conditioner that’s for babies. But it's really good. I'm realizing how hot it is right now.

American Studies: What's the weather like in London currently?

Woody Norman: It's still pretty warm. I mean, we just had a heat wave. But that's over now. But it's still kinda hot. Let me check how warm it is.

American Studies: Do you know how to drive?

Woody Norman: No. I wanna learn, but I've been putting off doing the theory for ages, but I wanna learn—

American Studies: What's the theory? Like the pre-test?

Woody Norman: The theory. Oh. Do you guys not do  the theory test?

American Studies: Well—I would understand that as, like, the written test first, and then you do the driving test.

Woody Norman: The written test—yeah! You need to know, like, your danger assessment and stuff like that.

American Studies: Right. Like how many inches behind a truck you should be kind of thing.

Woody Norman: I haven't started learning yet.

American Studies: Is it pretty common for people your age in London not to have a car?

Woody Norman: I think it's really common to not. For adults to not drive, too. But I wanna learn to drive because I love the idea of freedom. I can just leave if I wanna. I can go up to this place. I like being able to go somewhere on my own accord. But then I also realize I have to pay for petrol. So I'm like–is the freedom worth it? I'd rather be constricted to the confines of the city.

American Studies: Do you, by chance, ever remember the first movie you saw alone?

Woody Norman: Early memory is—I watched Ghostbusters when I was too young for it. Whichever one has the opening scene in the library.

American Studies: Was it scary?

Woody Norman: Scared the shit out of me—I was, like, four. I just put it on because I think it was on Netflix at the time. It scared the shit the out of me.

American Studies: Who do you call when something good happens?

Woody Norman: Oh my God. Who do I call? It's a list. I mean—my mom is usually there when something good happens. But probably the first person I call would be my girlfriend and then my mates, and that's probably it.

American Studies: What are you afraid of? What feels particularly daunting to you?

Woody Norman: Well—I can do existential.

American Studies: Sure, please go ahead. 

Woody Norman: It terrifies me, the way that we’ve been—like, people have been blamed for climate change, when, you know, there are corporations dumping so much waste into the ocean, but it’s our carbon footprint. That terrifies me—the fact that we can be convinced that that’s true. On a lighter note—I have a big phobia of butterflies and velvet.

American Studies: Oh, how so?

“my mom is usually there when something good happens.”

— Woody Norman

Woody Norman: I cannot be around either of them. I can't be around velvety-feeling things, kiwis, peaches—velvet, can't be around it, and butterflies, they just terrify me.

American Studies: Wow, butterflies. Interesting.

Woody Norman: Yeah, I can't. I hate them.

American Studies: Woody, that’s really funny. When do you feel most like yourself? 

Woody Norman: Alone, I think. Or when I'm in control, when I'm deciding who I'm with. That's why I hated school. It didn't feel like these were my people because I didn't choose to be around them.

American Studies: Were you ever homeschooled?

Woody Norman: I left school in year nine. I don't know what age that is in secondary school, but I left and I did online school for a bit. But school was just—I never meshed with it.

American Studies: You never missed it either?

Woody Norman: No.

American Studies: Not even a little?

Woody Norman: No, I hated it.

American Studies: Is there a scene in The Uprising  that you're particularly proud of?

Woody Norman: When I'm talking to my mom after I massacred all of the peasants, I think I'm very proud of that one.

American Studies: Why specifically?

Woody Norman: I think it's just a cool and sick scene. It's kind of like the first moment of true, true madness in the character. It’s a cool moment.

American Studies: Was there anything Paul Greengrass said to you on set that really helped you understand the character or tap into the role?

Woody Norman: His way of directing was very much like he set up the chessboard, and then we were just gonna play the game. Whatever we thought the character would be, he would let us roll with it. And if there was something he didn’t like, he’d just turn us in a different direction. It was a very different way of working that I really liked, you know? And I think it turned out really well.

American Studies: Were you guys rehearsing at all, or was it more like two takes max?

Woody Norman: I think we rehearsed one scene in the whole film. I know the scene where I was pulled out of the carriage was the only one we rehearsed because it was physical.

American Studies: Did you take anything from the set?

Woody Norman: Yeah. I took a rosary. In the first scene I’m in, when I’m praying, I took that rosary home.

American Studies: Woody, I wanted to take a different approach with this. I think if you were asked these same questions even five years from now, your answers would be completely different. They’re simple questions, but they reveal a lot about your personality and where you are in life. I hope it was fun.

Woody Norman: This was good fun.

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