Edward Norton is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, but he has another perhaps lesser-known accomplishment. He was the first-ever Uber passenger in Los Angeles. But how did he pull that off?
On ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Norton revealed that it really is all in who you know. And he just happens to have known company co-founder Travis Kalanick since long before Uber made its way to L.A.
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“I met Travis … back when [Uber] was still kind of this funky little experiment in San Francisco, and I was super-impressed by what he was doing,” said the “Birdman” actor. “As someone who’s had a long-standing antipathy and occasional physical battle with New York cab drivers, I begged him to bring it to New York City. Begged him.”
Uber is a ride-sharing company that runs through a smartphone app that connects passengers with vehicles for hire. Launched in San Francisco in 2010, the company has since expanded internationally.
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Kimmel talked about the fun he had as an Uber driver, which he spotlighted in another segment on the show. He registered as a driver and then hit the streets to give out rides.
His first passenger was a young man who was getting ready to leave the United States to go back home to Gabon in Central Africa, so Kimmel took him souvenir shopping for his family. The whole experience was certainly different than what the guy expected when he sought a ride via the Uber app.
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Kimmel even found a way to make fun of Matt Damon along the way. Watch Kimmel’s Uber experience in the video below.
Edward Norton can next be seen in “Birdman,” starring opposite Michael Keaton and Zach Galifianakis. The Alejandro González Iñárritu film will be released by Fox Searchlight Pictures to in theaters Friday, Oct. 17. “Jimmy Kimmel Live” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.