The demons of Joaquin Phoenix
There are still six months Joaquin Phoenix had never seen
Joaquin Phoenix. On a screen means. It was of course the actor
appeared as his alter ego in cinemamany
interested spectators. Which it does not. But he wanted to stay away from this double bulky, the let live , if the ignore , in a kind of peaceful coexistence. This
quarantine has been running for nearly thirty-nine years. Staying in this blur allowed the actor to maintain an intimate and delicate balance. Until
Spike Jonze, the director of In the
Being John Malkovich (1999) and the Wild Things (2009) insists that
her actor discovers the working copy of their new film, Her (released in FranceMarch 19).
It would have been up to him, Joaquin Phoenix
misappropriated discreetly eyes during projection, looked at his private
ordinary shoe laces, put his head back and placed his hands in his hair, which
he wears in unusually long time. But demand for its director was
firm. "Non-negotiable". The director appeared at that
particular point he was ready to take the head of his star between each of his hands,
to leadto the white rectangle illuminated by the
projector. Joaquin Phoenix has hardly enjoyed the show. "Fuck it! Fuck it", he has
repeated to designate disaster.
"Fact file " in its French translation, reveals the
currency of character he plays detective in Vice caché, the next film by Paul Thomas Anderson,
adapted from the novel by Thomas Pynchon. "Expletive stuck in my head since, " says the
actor.And serves keyword to describe what is wrong with his life. Its presence
in Her is like a dark
spot on a pristine level. It recognizes, rightly, that the film is very
good.
But he not. Too many inaccuracies in his
play A fuzzy approach endemic in his character ... A recurring problem
diagnostic actor since his first significant film role in Desperate (1995) Gus Van
Sant. He was never able to correct this lack of rigor in his later films: Gladiator (2000) Ridley Scott; Walk the Line (2005) James Mangold,
his four albums under the direction of James Gray, The Yards (2000) ,We Own the Night (2007), Two Lovers (2008), The Immigrant (2012) and The Master (2012) by Paul Thomas
Anderson. "as I would repeat
these films, there are so many places where I fucked up, I know that next time,
I really will have the opportunity to m ' improve . "
Younger, he went from one film to another,
hoping to erase the memory of the previous disastrous to finally get a decent service. It was the mirage of
childhood.Adult, he realized that life never gives a second chance.
ALL STOP
The idea of any stop regularly crossed his mind. He even made a
movie, I'm Still Here (2010),
directed by his brother, actor Casey Affleck. The principle was that of a
mockumentary where Joaquin Phoenix shaggy, a cap on his head, sunglasses,
beard, weighted with brioche inform dirty like a chicken, smashed, announced
his retirement to focus on a new career as a hip hop musician.
A joke, misunderstood by the Hollywood
community that he wanted to test the limits. " I wanted to express a simple reality. When you are sporting, it
is expected that you retire, and we understand even better if you do it on top
of your glory. It is not acceptable for an actor. That says a lot
about the system in which we operate and our market value. I also wanted
to let several trial balloons. What will happen if, as
in the film, I declare that an actor looks like a puppet who is asked to
s' dressso, s' sit where he is ordered and repeat what is asked? In fact, not much. I
remained alone with my demons. "
INTIMATE DISASTER
For nearly 40 years, Joaquin Phoenix was
concluded that went from a rock to another, to add each time a new page in its intimate
disaster. It's hard tounderstand that part of the public does not take the
measure of the disaster that is his career. "I do not understand what is going on in the minds of spectators.
Yet I must acknowledge the disagreement between them and me because
they thought I was bad, I would have more work. " Spike
Jonze wrote the screenplay for Herwith
Joaquin Phoenix in the lead, in the role of a business executive living in Los
Angeles in the near future and falling in love with the female voice of an
ultramodern computer program, namely that of Scarlett Johansson. A voice
that can s' to adapt to the personality of each user. The
director made a special in Los
Angeles, in the house of the actor located on Mulholland Drive,
for him back in hand scenario.
The initiative has frozen the actor. He
did not sleep all night, to respond positively to dawn. He fell in love with the
script, a similar agreement at first sight of his character for the synthetic
voice. A decision which does not fall in the actor a reasoned
act. Joaquin Phoenix does not think. "When I start to think , everything collapses. This is the opposite
effect, I see the disaster. Not the film. But I within the same film. A
intimate collapse. "
When he accepts a role, it is a desire
to extend experience, refusing any rationalization, any
analysis. "When I commit myself
with a girl, it is better to know . I can not you tell if c is a good man. But I like it and I want
to spend a moment of my life with her. This is similar to a
scenario. "
On a plateau, its body becomes existential
malaise. The time of the shooting, his body trembling. He discovers
that even children, younger, he knew terrors. Subject to nausea, sweating
excessively actor, so that his clothes soaked, calling from the prop tight
stewardship. "The phrase 'I found
the key role' made me smile . Moi, I found nothing, and I do in my pants.
"
The actor lives at the top of the Hollywood
Hills. He likes the place as it traces a visual boundary between the city
and the desert, overflowing activity of a megalopolis and the apparent
emptiness of the San Fernando Valley. He
lived there a kid in what he calls "the
deepest basin of the planet ", where
his parents had taken up residence. They had made this unlikely place a
launching pad for their five children, who went on board a van, in the offices
of Warner, Columbia, MGM, Paramount and Fox to participate in auditions. Joaquin Phoenix is the
third in a family of
five brothers and sisters. His childhood was like no other. "If it again, I would not trade it." His
parents were members of the Children of God cult, whose mission was to convey the divine word in hippie communes.
His family, who then called Bottom, left California for an evangelistic mission toVenezuela before breaking sharply links with the community after several
cases ofprostitution involving
minors founder of the sect. "We
stayed in South America, in a room attached to
a house. My parents took care of the owner, then retired, who offered us a room
in exchange. You have no idea of our level of poverty. It was to the point
where we stole food from the kitchen of the owner. " The memory remains alive and painful. There was the fear
of doing take . To see happen the Police .More
difficult still, shame to disappoint the person providing him shelter.
Parents have folded their arms and baggage
to return to California. It
was a new beginning. Requiring a strong symbolic act. The Bottom
family (in French "background" or "behind") was renamed Phoenix, making his name
a program where, after the fall, she would try to rub shoulders with the stars. Joaquin Phoenix does
not remember the subject of his first audition. "I am unable you say if you took it or not. "
But he remembers her age 8 years and feel
when reading the text. An adrenaline rush
unrivaled. With understanding, innate, that play comedy touched authenticity.He had never known of
emotion so strong. At this time, the oldest of four years older
brother, River , already saw his career take off. It will end abruptly in 1993 after an
overdose. The tutelary shadow of big brother has never disturbed Joaquin
Phoenix. He understood that the talent of his older, beyond its
extraordinary beauty, lay in this tragic dimension that he had offered his best
roles, Stand by me ,
Rob Reiner, Running on Empty, Sidney
Lumet , My Own Private Idaho, Gus
Van Sant.
"I do not know if these roles were
written and as tragic or became because my brother brought their DNA." Joaquin looked
different, darker, less attractive, not as engaging. "We discussed all these differences, and we
thought it would be great tocontinue this discussion on our business when we would
have exceeded fifty. Only here, River died. " Both his brother
enjoyed the facilities, as Joaquin Phoenix should work intensity. Being an actor became a mission for
which he had toprovide the necessary care. He remembers having reached the danger level when he played country
singer Johnny Cash in Walk the Line James
Mangold.
For a sequence in which his character,
abandoned by his wife, plagued by alcoholism, depending on medication,
destroying his dressing room, James Mangold asked the actor he destroys his
guitar, take a pill, a shot beer and asks her ass on a stool. Without
further damage. The scene being shot in an elementary school in Memphis, he was respected furniture. Joaquin Phoenix grabbed the
guitar to reduce crumbling. He then held the sink, pulling the
wall, causing a flood. Then he sat down again, took his pills and finished
his beer. There was no other decision to make , the decor was shattered ...
It took months for the actor to return to this role, including a transition to Alcoholics
Anonymous. "I understood that I
was going to continue and die . I had to find a way to get disassociate my characters, take this job as seriously at risk of sinking . "
PASS OVER RIGHTS
Today, it no longer applies the methods of the
Actor's Studio, or absolute identification to a role. But on the set
of Her, he asked to
be called only by the name of his character, Theodore Twombley. He still
performs well. Quitting s' callJoaquin Phoenix filming time has a big advantage. More
free pass, false pretenses, or bowing. "I
negotiated my lack of status for my great relief." Forgetwho he is.
At the precise moment of his career, this
requirement is increased by submission.On the set of The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson,
Joaquin Phoenix had demanded and obtained the status of a human
doormat. In this story, he plays a veteran of World War II falling under
the sway of a religious leader. The latter, played by Philip Seymour
Hoffman, was modeled after the founder of the Church of Scientology. From
the outset, moved between the two actors relationshipaddiction , emotional and sadistic,
where the massive body of Philip Seymour Hoffman imposed de facto frail body of
his partner.
The symbiotic relationship has gone beyond the
framework of the shoot. When he learned of the accidental death of
Hoffman, Feb. 2 at his home in Manhattan, an
overdose, Phoenix
has disappeared, took the first flight to the East Coast, and began a long
period of mourning. On the set of The
Master, the actor had asked to be called "Bubbles",
the name of Michael Jackson monkey. It was not a gesture of good mood or a
brand of humor. But the clear recognition that what consenting his
character - to flog in a cell for example -. was close animal
behavior "I watchedvideos . deer or bear
stranded in an urban environment Police administered them tranquilizers. Their
brains seemed to standby. They banged into the walls.'s left leg
advanced, but the right one was going in the opposite direction. They were
ruled by fear and chaos. "
In moments of intense submission to his
master, he had pushed the animal metaphor to play a wild dog, with hair bristling, emaciated, hungry,
dripping with drool. During the filming, he acknowledges having touched something visceral and authentic. "It takes the admit , I think I was good. "
In Her Joaquin
Phoenix has insisted that his character wears a mustache. In general, when
it suggests ideas ,
discusses a point scenario, he is mistaken. "How many times I reread my notes - I write continuously on a plate
- to see that it was a tissue of nonsense? It is worth nothing
that is inept, stupid. I like that stupid suggestions on accents. And if you
listen to me, damn it. " On the issue of mustache,
however, the actor was right. The goal: hide , once will not hurt, its hallmark. The
philtrum, hyphen between his nose and mouth, which has in it a disharmonic
form, an ersatz cleft lip that was younger, so hard to manage . He still remembers the puzzled face of
Nicole Kidman when he had s' approached her inDesperate. teenager
Him manipulated by a married woman determined to get ridof her husband, the actress stood by the size and was
the kiss . He found the baroque effect caused by its
particular sign. A mixture of attraction and repulsion.Phoenix then
realized the complex reaction, ambivalent, sexual, he produced with his
partners.
OBJECT OF DESIRE
It is in We Own the Night, James Gray, the actor had the
certainty of being an object of desire. The opening scene placed
him glued to Eva Mendes, her hand between her legs, always ascending higher on
her thighs. He remembers the exciting feeling to find stuck to the actress eroticism insolent. "We had never looked at me and in front of a
camera." Then has become another highlight. A
plastic ideal of his partner, he contrasted his rugged face. And this mark
just above her lip which, from this day possess the same power of seduction that Cleopatra's nose.
In Her, to embody a different love story, Joaquin Phoenix has wanted
to hide this feature by a mustache. Why show that his interlocutor can never distinguish ? "I
also asked what the team is reduced whenever my character and the voice had an
intimate conversation. were not done differently when actors start nude front
of the camera. " It should, it is not evident to make love to one vote. If someone were tohappen , it was him. "I spent my life talking alone. "
There is not a day without Joaquin Phoenix
wonders if the film he just finished is not the last. In the meantime, what love
is passing time with his friends, his girlfriend, go see comedy cinema. But very often it is that it
provides do best:pacing the corridors of his house talking to himself.
Ha! Done it!
