Joaquin Phoenix“The most important thing when I'm making a film is that the character takes precedence. I become obsessed with whoever I'm playing. I want to explore the character as completely as I can. The moment an actor becomes satisfied with themselves, their work suffers. I think that we should always challenge ourselves in work.” source: www.rottentomatoes.com |
Breakout Role: Commodus Gladiator Phoenix brings a sort of sniveling arrogance to the role that, in many ways, earned Russell Crowe the Academy Award for Best Actor. Think about it: could Crowe really have won it in an admittedly down year without such a detestable villain to vanquish? He was just the right mix of evil and arrogance, that if he hadn't been so incompetent, he would've easily made the Top Ten Best Villains. Phoenix's performance is what elevates it beyond just "generic bad guy" and into memorable. | Best Known For: Johnny Cash Walk The Line Am I cheating a little to use this role here? Absolutely. Do more people still know him as Commodus? Probably. But it's close enough that I'll fib a little because this performance needed to be on the Grid. When you nail your impersonation of the Man in Black so well that you win a Grammy Award for the soundtrack, you're doing something right. The role also cemented Phoenix's preference for deeply flawed characters that interesting for him to portray. |
What other young Hollywood actor could surprisingly retire to work on being a hip-hop artist, before coming back two years later and revealing it was all part of filming a mockumentary to satirize reality TV and the gullible masses who think it's unscripted? Did I mention he followed that up with multiple Academy Award nominations (he'll definitely be nominated just a few hours from this posting for his role in Her; I reserve the right to edit this out and replace it with a mini-rant if they botch this)? Has there been anyone that eccentric but talented since Marlon Brando? And I've only brushed the surface of his eccentricity. His family changed their name to Phoenix when they moved to the States to symbolize a new beginning. Most of his siblings did at least some child acting, with River being tragically the most well known. At a young age, Joaquin changed his name to Leaf to match his siblings earthy names (Summer and Rain are two other members of the family) but changed it back to Joaquin at 15.
It's strange that he's usually overlooked on best actor lists, perhaps because like his co-star in The Master (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he isn't widely considered very handsome. It's a shame because he gets into roles the same way more celebrated actors like Daniel Day-Lewis do and has already been nominated for 4 Academy Awards (again, counting tomorrow) , an astounding pace of almost 1 nomination per 4 films since 2000. He is at the opposite of a Tom Cruise, a man who needs the character to be almost larger than life to really inhabit them, for them to have no flaws that can't be overcome by the end of the movie. Phoenix almost requires a deeply flawed protagonist to truly shine, for them to have flaws that cannot be entirely overcome in the span of two hours. He can only play Bobby (We Own the Night) or Willie (The Yards), never Joseph or Leo from those same movies (both played by Mark Wahlberg).
Phoenix will next star in another Paul Thomas Anderson movie to add to The Master: Inherent Vice. Beyond that, he has a third James Gray to be released sometime in 2014: The Immigrant. Considering Vice will feature him as a drug-fueled detective in 1970 and Immigrant will see him as a pimp in 1920, I think it's safe to assume both will benefit from his performance, as both those roles play right into his wheelhouse. Having been scared off public life twice in the past, Phoenix gives few interviews and prefers work on more artistic, less flashy productions to stay out of the limelight. There's only so long an actor of his talent can remain relatively anonymous without retiring, however, and is work on Her in particular, will undoubtedly raise his stature in Hollywood, and he may find it too tempting to turn down larger productions.
It's strange that he's usually overlooked on best actor lists, perhaps because like his co-star in The Master (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he isn't widely considered very handsome. It's a shame because he gets into roles the same way more celebrated actors like Daniel Day-Lewis do and has already been nominated for 4 Academy Awards (again, counting tomorrow) , an astounding pace of almost 1 nomination per 4 films since 2000. He is at the opposite of a Tom Cruise, a man who needs the character to be almost larger than life to really inhabit them, for them to have no flaws that can't be overcome by the end of the movie. Phoenix almost requires a deeply flawed protagonist to truly shine, for them to have flaws that cannot be entirely overcome in the span of two hours. He can only play Bobby (We Own the Night) or Willie (The Yards), never Joseph or Leo from those same movies (both played by Mark Wahlberg).
Phoenix will next star in another Paul Thomas Anderson movie to add to The Master: Inherent Vice. Beyond that, he has a third James Gray to be released sometime in 2014: The Immigrant. Considering Vice will feature him as a drug-fueled detective in 1970 and Immigrant will see him as a pimp in 1920, I think it's safe to assume both will benefit from his performance, as both those roles play right into his wheelhouse. Having been scared off public life twice in the past, Phoenix gives few interviews and prefers work on more artistic, less flashy productions to stay out of the limelight. There's only so long an actor of his talent can remain relatively anonymous without retiring, however, and is work on Her in particular, will undoubtedly raise his stature in Hollywood, and he may find it too tempting to turn down larger productions.