Newly inspired Joaquin Phoenix rediscovers the fun of film
Joaquin Phoenix has been a working actor for more than 30 years. He’s starting to have fun again. His thespian rejuvenation was evident last year in Spike Jonze’s Her and this year in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice.
“I don’t think my appreciation of acting ever went away, but it’s easy to feel uninspired sometimes,” admitted the 40-year-old during an interview from New York.
“That’s changed because I’ve been working with people who really care about what they do.”
Anderson, of course, is one of those people. Phoenix co-starred in his 2012 drama The Master and returns as the headliner in the filmmaker’s quirky comedy-drama, Inherent Vice. Based on Thomas Pynchon’s 2009 crime novel, the film features Phoenix as pot-smoking private eye Doc Sportello who gets mixed up in a high-profile murder circa the 1970s.
Co-starring are Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston and Maya Rudolph.
A chipper Phoenix made himself available to offer his thoughts:
On the trust factor with Anderson:
“I think Paul’s always the guide, and I like working with him because he’s smarter than me, and he’s got all the knowledge of the character, so I can count on him,” said Phoenix.
On what they have in common:
“Paul’s obsessed in the nicest kind of way,” he said. “I guess I can be obsessed.”
On shaping the oddball look of his private detective:
“It’s a collaboration through rehearsal and pre-production,” said the actor. “For his hat, we thought of a classic fedora but I just liked the look of the straw hat, and I’m not even sure why.”
On his detective’s sideburns:
“They are there, aren’t they? The sideburns are significant.”
On letting his character’s development grow naturally:
“I don’t make (pre-determined) decisions anymore, or at least I try not to,” Phoenix said. “I just do it as it unfolds. Sometimes, you have ideas early on but until you start shooting, you don’t really know it’s going to work.”
On what that leads to:
“I don’t dig sports but I always think of athletes who do their drills, but when they are in the game, the best athletes let it flow and get in the groove.”
On acting opposite Martin Short who plays a demented dentist:
“Man, he’s brilliant,” said Phoenix of the Canadian comic actor. “There was a point where I thought, ‘Is this all right?’ because I have never had so much fun on a set. The scene with (Short) in the car we got after many takes because there was uncontrollable laughter — usually mine.”
On reuniting with Witherspoon after collaborating with her on the Oscar-honoured Walk the Line:
“My only contribution to casting was suggesting (Reese), but maybe I’m just taking credit for that, and I had nothing to do with it,” said Phoenix, chuckling.