Woody Allen On ‘Irrational Man,’ His Movies & Hollywood’s Perilous Path – Cannes Q&A
http://deadline.com/2015/05/woody-allen-cannes-interview-irrational-man-1201427066/
DEADLINE: What of Joaquin Phoenix’s work made him right for Irrational Man
, playing this tormented philosophy professor who seems reinvigorated by a death wish?
ALLEN:
Often, I write a part with an actor in mind; I didn’t in this case. I
finished the story because I thought I had a good idea. Then, who would
be good for this? The first thought I had was certainly Emma Stone
because she’s great for practically anything. She’s young and beautiful
and gifted and she plays comedy, romance, drama. I saw her singing and
dancing on Broadway…she was an easy choice. And then Juliet Taylor, the
casting director, mentioned Joaquin. All of us thought he was a great
actor. I wondered to myself, would he be a crazy or hard guy to work
with? But he wasn’t. He was a very sweet nice person and very, very
self-deprecating and insecure. He doesn’t appreciate how good he is and
my job was not to direct him as much as to explain to him that his last
take was not bad, it was great. He has such a high bar for himself and
you explain to him that he is reaching the high bar that he set for
himself. We knew as soon as Juliet mentioned his name, oh, he’s perfect.
Edited by user Thursday, May 14, 2015 3:12:50 PM(UTC)
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