We'll have our full interview with bearded-man-of-the-moment Joaquin Phoenix posted later, but I wanted first to single out a section that's probably the most honest I've seen an actor be in a roundtable interview. While trying to get the actor back on track to talk about, well, acting, one reporter asked him if there would be any influences on his music from characters he's played in the past.
"Look, I write about what I've experienced, and certainly there's stuff that's been about my experience in Hollywood. But there's no, like, Gladiator raps."
When pressed on the relationship between an actor and his character, Phoenix told us what we've pretty much always suspected of actors but no one was ballsy enough to tell us. "No, you just say that when you're trying to get nominated. You say you have nightmares and shit so you get a Globe. I mean, I see movies and get affected by performances. You're like, man, that motherfucker went through some shit. And I know that you do these scenes, then you're digging around the craft service table, wondering if there's pretzels with peanut butter in it."
I said it yesterday and I'll say it again: Joaquin Phoenix is not crazy, and none of this is a hoax. The entire interview is incredibly intelligent, something I didn't realize at first because his words were so overshadowed by his bizarre appearance. Say what you will about Phoenix turning his back on Hollywood and turning to rap, of all things, but he's thought the whole thing out.
Check back later for the full interview, which includes plenty more of where that honesty came from.
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