"I spent about a month and a half with two detectives who are on permanent safe detail. They beeped me whenever they had a good call, whenever they had to break a safe -- they were incredibly accommodating," says Norton. "I learned they [safe crackers] are sophisticated technicians with thousands of hours of study."

Such in-depth research is hardly new to Norton. For his role in Fight Club, co-starring Brad Pitt, the two actors took a soap-making class (you'll have to see the film to know why -- yuck!). And, he and Matt Damon participated in the 'World Series of Poker' in Las Vegas to study the behavior of professional poker players, to enhance their performances in Rounders. Talk about pre-requisites!

When it comes to "Dealing With the Press 101," however, that's one course Norton says he hasn't gotten used to. He is visibly uncomfortable with media attention, mainly because he feels it may make his on-screen performances less credible.

"You work for months and months to create this artifice that people are going to experience -- that's the whole point. We all interact with the peripheral media that accompanies films on a certain level, but at the end of the day, we all want to go into the theater and have the lights go down and get taken away," explains Norton. "Anything that tangently interferes with the suspension of disbelief is working in exactly the opposite direction that I'm working in as an actor." (We told you he was smart!)

* Photos Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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