In a candid interview with Radio Times, James Norton, an actor, urged men to take a more active role in addressing gender inequality. He didn’t agree with the idea that men should be passive after the #MeToo movement.
Norton, best known for his role in the upcoming ITV drama Playing Nice, discussed the importance of men addressing issues of patriarchal inequality. “What interested me was the question of what it is to be a modern man, post-MeToo, with the attempt to rebalance the patriarchal crimes of the past,” he added.
The British actor said he was worried that many men don’t know what they can do to fix outdated gender roles. “With a lot of men, there’s a misconception that we should be making space, stepping back, and almost becoming passive,” he said.
His new work, Playing Nice, also deals with these ideas. It’s about two couples who find out that their kids were switched at birth. Peter Norton, played by Norton, goes on a trip that shows how important it is to deal with bad behavior, especially Miles, played by McArdle, who is shown to be controlling and bullying.
Norton stressed, “You have to be proactive and sometimes confrontational.” Instead of just stepping back, he thinks that men should take an active role in addressing social injustices.
Norton discussed the ongoing rumors that he might be cast as James Bond, but the main topic of the conversation was current masculinity. The media buzz was “quite fun and bemusing,” he said, but he made it clear that there was no real truth to the reports.
Norton’s words come at a very important time when people talk about how gender works in different fields, especially in the entertainment business. His ideas give us a thoughtful look at how men can deal with feminist problems. He argues that real change needs active participation instead of passive observation.