Joaquin Phoenix stars in the upcoming Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line“. It looks fantastic and already a lot of people are whispering “Oscar”. I’ll withhold any comment until I see the film myself… but the buzz and the trailer are looking very good.
I became a big Joaquin Phoenix fan for his work in Gladiator. He was nominated for “best supporting actor” at the Oscars that year… and by all right he really should have won it. He played his character with all the complexity that could be mustered. It was an inspired performance.
Slowly but surely he’s been making his mark as an A-list leading man… and Walk the Line looks like it’ll be the project to solidify that position for him. The good folks over at TimeOut have a wonderful interview with him. Here’s an excerpt:
And it shows on screen. Phoenix achieves much more than a good impression of Cash. Physically, he inhabits the singer; his arched lip, his sluggish walk, his unique way of hunching his shoulders and holding his guitar up-high when playing live.
Emotionally, too, he carries Cash’s raw nerves, miming to great effect the singer’s inability to feel truly comfortable unless performing. It’s a wired, jagged performance that smacks of research, dedication and commitment.
‘It’s not a method, it’s an act of desperation,’ Phoenix shrugs, trying to explain the tunnel-vision that he chooses to adopt for each new gig. Only complete immersion works for him, he says, quite a task when playing a character as troubled as Cash in the 1960s. It’s little wonder that Phoenix had problems when the shoot for ‘Walk the Line’ was over. The role had become his life.
It’s a great article that I highly recomend you take some time to read over here. Walk the Line opens nation wide on November 18th 2005.
