Joaquin Phoenix has always taken a sort of blase attitude to the whole acting thing. He takes his various roles extremely seriously, but all of the crap that surrounds it, like the press junkets and gossip, he’s pretty dismissive about. Undoubtedly the desire to avoid that noise is why he’s so often passed up blockbuster film roles and offers for superhero movies, which is why it was weird when he signed on for Todd Phillips’ Joker movie. But if you thought Phoenix would suggenly change his tune, you’d be sadly mistaken.
Speaking with IndieWire while doing press for The Sisters Brothers, Phoenix expressed frustration that doing interviews was getting in the way of his preparation to play the Clown Prince of Crime. He said, “It is ideal to be able to focus on one thing and not do press while you’re prepping for something else, which is not working out.”
Reading between the lines I think he’s also a bit pissed that he’s being asked about Joker while promoting a completely different movie, which is a pet peeve I have with interviewers. Well, he better get ready to deal with a lot of that shit for the next year.
As far as any expectations from fans or pressure in playing such an iconic role, Phoenix makes it clear excactly how he feels. “I could care less,” Phoenix said. “I don’t really think that much about what people think. Who cares, who cares? My approach to every movie is the same. What I’m interested in is the filmmaker and the idea of the character.”
Oh, this is going to be fun. Better hope things with Todd Phillips work out famously, otherwise the press is going to be all over it and Phoenix is going to get super frustrated. Joker is expected to open on October 4th 2019.
