Edward Norton has said he is not playing a “traditional tough-guy detective” in his new film.

Motherless Brooklyn is a noir crime film written, directed by and starring the US actor.

It follows a detective with Tourette’s syndrome as he investigates the death of a friend.

Norton said: “He’s certainly not your traditional kind of tough-guy detective. He is sort of the opposite of that. He’s tough and relentless but people view him in a diminished light.

“They assume that he’s not as smart as he is because of his condition, but that’s what makes it fun, I think, the idea that you’re rooting for the guy that other people aren’t seeing for who he really is.”

He added: “Fundamentally the story actually focuses on his emotional life as a person, it lets you into his world behind the condition.”

The film also stars Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin.

Motherless Brooklyn is in cinemas now