Joaquin Phoenix
Added 2024-09-06 13:00:11 +0000 UTCI saw an interview with director James Gray a while ago, where he talked about Joaquin and his extraordinary improvisational skills while filming specific scenes from THE IMMIGRANT. He said that Joaquin is one of the greatest performers he has ever worked with. The story gave me a whole new respect for Phoenix's looseness and creativity as a performer. It forces everyone to rise to the occasion, and not just the actors. But here is another small example in this interview. While Joaquin's performance as Arthur/Joker is not my favorite performance of his, admittedly it has grown on me. I enjoyed hearing this little anecdote from Leigh Gill, where they shot the brutal murder scene in the apartment. Always fun to go back and watch the scene after stories like this to see exactly where Joaquin altered things through improvisation, and how much it personalizes the scene/character. The Joaquin discussion begins around 4:00 into the video.
Comments
I disagree. I do think people tend to go see a movie if Joaquin Phoenix is in it over him not being in it at this point. Maybe not for your super average movie goer. But for film fans I think he tends to be a draw overall. But if the film is not good, or is obscure and people don't see it, I don't think it has to do so much with him. It's quite often these days that huge stars do not bring in the dough at the box office anymore, even if the film IS good. I'm not advocating for his behavior as I've said. I'm just not clutching my pearls over it or acting surprised. Nor am I suddenly turning against him due to what I consider typical. To do so feel naive, especially in this industry. If he doesnt get a big role again, then he would deserve it from a business standpoint. But so what? Does he strike anyone as the most strategic type for his career? No. Again...he's not the kind of actor who I look at in that way, where it's all the drama or the situations surrounding the art that makes him compelling. Quite the contrary. I see him more as serving a directors vision, in whatever form that may be. Leading man or villain or supporting role. And when he acts like a fool as a person, people talk about it, he goes away for a bit, comes back, rinse repeat. Tends to be a cycle of all kinds of volatile artist careers in Hollywood overtime. I dont think it will hurt his legacy in the long run. You hear of directors, producers, and actors cheating each other out of things they deserve all the time. I was just discussing another example of this last night with someone, where things got very ugly between director and star. It did not hurt anyone's legacy/career in this instance. If anything...few remember those petty things other than the hardcore behind the scenes film buffs. They remember the work. But there's also not a lot of information given on why he left. So it's hard to say much for me because you don't have much explanation or interviews to go off of.
Deepfocuslens
2024-09-11 16:21:38 +0000 UTCI don’t think Kanye is an apt comparison because even now he still continues to make people money and launch careers for newer artists. The general public doesn’t go out to see movies just because of Phoenix’s name attached and if Joker 2 ends up disappointing at the box office , the studios will definitely not want to tolerate him anymore just because of his talent. I’m obviously not for cancel culture, but this is a case where I totally understand why the film industry wouldn’t want to work with him anymore. He’ll most likely go the William Hurt route (another talented actor who was notoriously difficult to work with) and make a hard pivot into being a character actor/star of internationally funded projects. He’d probably be better suited for that tbh.
Dan
2024-09-10 23:38:12 +0000 UTCOh yeah. For sure. I agree with you. I'm not condoning his behavior at all. I never really have much. But...it doesnt surprise me. I'm not over here like "w-whaaaa??? Well....there goes my respect!" XD...he's always been weird and annoying. I never had a ton of respect for him. My respect for him is more due to his talent. So...I dunno. Things like this happen, and it sucks, but it's also Hollywood. If someone like Matt Damon did something like this, my reaction would be more surprised. Again...because Matt wants to be the nice guy who works well with people in the industry. Whereas Joaquin clearly doesn't care, and is often unpredictable. I don't know enough to be able to comment in some major way, since the reasoning behind the drop out remains a mystery.
Deepfocuslens
2024-09-09 23:16:03 +0000 UTCFor me I wouldn't be mad if he weren't so involved in the project from inception. He's the reason the film was going to be made in the first place, so now it likely won't be made at all. If he was just cast in it and then dropped out, I wouldn't give a shit. They could recast him. But if the funding and the jobs only exist because Joaquin Phoenix put everything into making it real, and then for him to drop out SO late in preproduction, it really just feels scummy, especially for the below the line workers. If he ever had reservations, he needed to communicate them far sooner.
Edward Looney
2024-09-09 21:49:14 +0000 UTCI don’t get why people are suddenly clutching their pearls over stuff like this. Joaquin is weird. He’s fickle with projects and based on how hard it is to get him to commit to other projects, none of this is surprising behavior to me. Kanye West is also known to be difficult. I still listen to every album he releases. But people like Kanye live by a different code, and that is what I take into consideration. Remember that Letterman appearance nearly 20 years ago? Actors/artists are moody and lame. But in Joaquin’s defense, he always strikes me as the type who uses his talents to serve a higher function. As in, he uses his talents generously due to believing whatever the project is he’s doing, and not as some gimmick for personal gain. I think method acting is complicated. There are varying forms of it. I don’t think Joaquin is nearly as extreme or even that traditional about it as people think. I often hear actors say he’s very giving and considerate as a scene partner. When antics on a set cause stalling or a distraction, then it’s a problem. But both instances here and in the James Gray interview, seemed like great examples of creative improvisation. Actors in response felt excited by it, and everyone else was rising to the occasion. So I have no issues here. The whole “why don’t you try acting” line…is often used in very dismissive ways, and so I don’t like to use it often. Getting to a real place within performance often means finding something real within yourself, yes? The blurry line there is the tough part to control as a performer. In this case he’s using movement in a new way, where the scene could’ve been generic otherwise, but all within the confines of what should be considered. So I do trust his artistic instincts often there, and the ability to experiment and use the set as the playground. Same way you likely would with a Jack Nicholson or whoever. Joaquin is too moody for me. I wouldn’t want to work with him if I was a director. Now if I was an actor…totally different story. I’d love the opportunity. But for those directors who know what they are getting into when they approach him…go for it. Art rewards all kinds of behavior, bad, good and everything in between. Todd Philips likes him, and they work well it seems. Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog seemed to have a little report too lol. If Joaquin never works again, that’s fine. I don’t look at his career the same way I do…say, Blake Lively lol. This isn’t Will Smith. As in…someone who depends on the public’s perceptions of him for success. I see Joaquin as more the weird artist who is always gonna do his thing. I just kinda let him go with it, and whatever comes out of it does. And if he wants to quit…cool. I don’t think any of it will hurt his legacy at all in the long run.
Deepfocuslens
2024-09-08 00:00:43 +0000 UTCI like him in Signs and Her, but honestly I think he just tries so hard to be crazy and off-putting in his films that I completely disconnect from him. The emotional depth becomes lost when he is trying SO hard to be a psychopath in literally every single movie. He’s not someone I would be comfortable to be alone with and that is a problem. I think actors should maintain a certain level of likability for the survival of their reputation over time. On top of all that, the fact he dropped out of project from an actually talented Todd director (Haynes) to work with a mediocre Todd director (Phillips) after he initiated the project and has put the many talented artists in that failed production into a bad situation is gross to me.
Shane Palamara
2024-09-06 20:49:38 +0000 UTCHe gave one of the greatest performances I've ever seen in Her. I wish he'd do more small scale character roles like that because he can be one of the most genuine performers when given the right material.
Wolfman Brandon
2024-09-06 18:34:22 +0000 UTCThe incident with the Haynes film has destroyed his career as a leading actor of A-level projects (and the lukewarm reviews towards Joker 2 certainly aren’t helping). I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ari Aster western becomes his bow out from the spotlight.
Dan
2024-09-06 14:38:46 +0000 UTCI think he's a great actor but I definitely lost a lot of respect for him over the Todd Haynes project he produced from the beginning and dropped out of. I'm also just dissolutioned with the idea of so-called "method actors" who aren't even trained in the method to speak of. "Why don't you try acting?"
Edward Looney
2024-09-06 14:08:29 +0000 UTC
