Joaquin's New Role?
When I interviewed Joaquin Phoenix on and off the set of Walk the Line a few years ago, there was one thing he couldn't have been clearer on: You'd never find him pursuing a music career. "I liked playing guitar, but it's like everything that I do," he explained, as we chatted for an Entertainment Weekly cover story. "When I did Gladiator, I thought that I would carry a sword with me everywhere after that. When I did Ladder 49, I didn't want to let go of my turnout gear, and I didn't believe that I could go through life without smelling smoke. With Walk the Line, I played music all the time -- and then I left it." In prepping to play Johnny Cash, he'd made home recordings of some original compositions, but Phoenix said he knew he didn't have a fraction of the talent for music that he did for acting. "You have to really be motivated to complete a song," he told me then. "And without that motivation, I'd just get frustrated and go, fuck it, it's gotta be 'Dear Prudence' or else I don't want to do it. What I experienced [with music] wasn't as freeing as I imagined it would be.... Anyway, long answer short: No, I won't record an album."
What to make, then, of the grainy video footage of this erstwhile perfectionist stumbling around on stage in Las Vegas, kicking off his supposed new career as a rapper? Of the announcement that he was retiring from movies to achieve new levels of excellence in his true calling, hip-hop? The documentary cameras tracking his every suddenly awkward move? Even if Phoenix never previously seemed like Mr. Levity, it seemed easy enough -- to me, anyway -- to write off his intentions to be the new Eminem (or Everlast) as a very elaborate gag. But after his appearance as a heavily bearded, disheveled catatonic on Letterman Wednesday night, which ended with the host invoking Farrah Fawcett as a comparatively more lucid guest, the stakes suddenly got higher. Columnists and bloggers predicted the end of Phoenix's career, even if he should abandon hippity-hop and come crawling back to movies. Fans and detractors lamented his transformation from the potential Brando of his generation into the poster child for "just say no" (to drugs, Vanilla Ice, or both). Half the viewers thought the standoff with Dave was hilarious, and half deeply sad, but in either case, most figured the laughs or tears were on Phoenix.
Which makes this potentially one of the greatest performances any modern actor has ever given -- or at least one of the most baldly courageous. The closest comparison would have to be Andy Kaufman's utter commitment to his obnoxious Tony Clifton persona, but Phoenix is going Kaufman one braver here, by not slapping a fake name on the alter ego bur rather inviting the audience to mistake his damaged doppelganger for himself, over an indeterminate length of time that could leave his "real" career hanging in limbo. There is an end in sight: Phoenix's pal Casey Affleck is shooting all this for what insiders presume is a mockumentary about the breakdown of a burned-out actor. The risk, of course, is how lame it might turn out to be if Phoenix and Affleck remove the masks and say "just kidding" when it's time for their film to finally come out. My hunch is that if they're taking it this far -- and watching Letterman, it was clear that Phoenix is in deep, deep, deep cover -- they might take it all the way into and past the premiere and continue insisting that Phoenix's actorly dissolution was legit.
And maybe, in some sense, it will have been. On the Walk the Line set, I saw firsthand Phoenix's allegiance to his role. For a crucial performance scene in which Cash was supposed to come on stage limping, Phoenix rammed his leg into an amplifier, take after take -- even though these collisions all took place out of camera range; eventually, the director had to stop shooting for a few minutes so they could apply an ice pack to Joaquin's bruised and battered leg. At the same time, though, Phoenix would break character if he needed to, and he acknowledged to me how ridiculous it might seem, asking the crew to call him by Cash's name instead of his own. He had a sense of humor, and humility, about his own seriousness. To those who are determined to swallow this ruse, I would only say that Phoenix is absolutely the last guy who would ever commission a real documentary about himself -- or who'd honestly think highly enough of his new career to explain it by saying, "I wish there was footage of Public Enemy making It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" (as he did in the Los Angeles Times today). It's tough to read Phoenix comparing his own alleged freshman album to one of the all-time hip-hop classics and not know this is hoaxier than a Howard Hughes autobiography.
Let's just hope it's not merely that. If the ruse is merely a prank, it'll wear thin by the time the eventual film comes out, but if Phoenix and Affleck actually intend to say something about Hollywood, celebrity, and the media via their presumed mockumentary, it could be instructive. I say "presumed" because there's 2 percent of me that's still not absolutely positive Phoenix isn't serious. It's that 2 percent uncertainty that can make the kind of confrontational performance art sometimes found in the theater thrilling. I still remember attending an early performance of the famously immersive play Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding, and, as a "guest" at the fake nuptials, being cornered by a groomsman-slash-drug dealer. For 10 minutes, he tried to talk me into buying some cocaine, and finally, beaten down, I agreed to meet him at a seedy location downtown later that night. I'm not ashamed to say that this actor was so good that I did a drive-by of the address in question, just because he'd been so unnervingly convincing that a faint part of me wondered if he'd really show up. I don't think Joaquin Phoenix will be there at the end of this ruse to earnestly sell me a bad white-rap album any more than the actor in Tony 'n' Tina's actor showed up to sell me cocaine, but it's creating the shadow of a doubt about where reality and illusion depart that makes for great acting. And in drawing this intriguingly offputting role out for months, with no end in sight, Phoenix may be pulling off a move so ballsy, they'll still be teaching it in 22nd-century Method class. So I'm going to stop correcting all my friends who think it's for real. How disastrous a performance would this be if they didn't?
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Whether for real or a put-on, it was not funny, entertaining, or informative. It was just boring, painfrul to watch and embarrasssing. IF it was a joke, it was poorly conceived and executed. If it is for real, the man needs help. If I were Letterman, I would have gone to commercial and gotten him offstage.
My initial reaction to Phoenix's Letterman appearance was, "LOL!!! He is SO channeling Andy Kaufman!" But now I'm thinking he is trying to upstage Sacha Baron Cohen.
Are there not enough damaged and mentally ill in our society that this deserves our attention? If this fellow is what he seems to be - troubled at best, psychotic at worst - who benefits by our interest? If he is playing a role - beyond the addled celebrity (a cliche) - what is the value to anyone even if his performance is an epic, monumental feat of the actor's craft (though quite doubtful from what I've seen)? If this is art, there are immortal artists on dozens of street-corners in every American town. If it is social commentary - I see and hear better at any given happy hour. If it is a simple invitation to voyeurism, I'll pass. Who wouldn't?
If it was fake, I hope to god it's not for a mockumentary. If you've lost someone to drugs (as Phoenix has) or serious mental illness, that wasn't funny to watch - it HURT to watch. I'm telling myself it's for real and he needs help and just has idiot PR people who think they can make this better by spinning it as a joke.
Phoenix doesn't strike me as being all that bright, which is why I'm not sure that this was merely "performance art." That's the easiest explanation for those who care about him, I suppose. But in recent interviews I've read he really doesn't seem to be kidding. If he is, so many people have figured it out that the "joke" when it is revealed is going to fall totally flat. Considering what family he's from, I think the idea that he is just messed up also has some validity. As for Letterman, I wish more people would go on his show and refuse to play the game. He's far too puffed up and full of ideas of his own importance. He's a bloody chat show host. That's all.
I don't get why everyone is so fascinated with this schtick or break or persona....
Jim Carey did a similar thing years ago... I remember him showing up on Letterman looking like an Allman Brother
He showed up at the MTV Movie Awards and no one knew who he was until he got up to get his award...
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/3513/MTVMOVIEAWARDS1999.html
I recall Charles Grodin being on the Tonight Show with Johnny and refusing to answer any questions... giving just one word responses..... Phoenix is just combining these two and taking it to the next level....
(but he may also still be carrying some survivor guilt about River, which would make him uncomfortable with his success, which may be why he is somewhat self-sabataging his career)....
It's a joke being played on the media... and it's quite hilarious to see you all scurrying about over this. But I guess that's the point.
you must be great fun at a dinner party... so, so far above it all.
The general public seriously needs more awareness, understanding and education about mental illness. THERE IS A HIGH PROBABILITY THAT THIS IS NOT AN ACT. Joaquin is most likely having something called a "first break." He is showing all the classic symptoms of schizophrenia, i.e. internal preoccupation, disorganized thought, thought blocking, perhaps some paranoid ideation, disheveled appearance, flat affect. If you are interested, check out the National Alliance on Mental Illness or NAMI at their website at http://www.nami.org/
Agree with chendri....Letterman is seriously full of himself.
Letterman is the late night host of choice for smart people.
This is one of the most well-reasoned and thought-out analyses I've read about this project. I love that at least half the people watching this unfold understand, at least in part, what it is. However, I wish that more of them would stand back and let the project unfold. Unless of course the audience participation is an ingredient of the piece, which I suspect they've anticipated.
I think He needs to talk to Mickey Rourke for a long time! Good advice from someone who has felt the cold hand of rejection. How many movies could have been alot better with Rourke taking the lead role? Rourke has gotten a second chance...after pissing off Hollywood.Left us fans wanting...Mickey dominates any scene he's in...he's a natural!
If Phoenix is burned out right now..it happens..he needs some help..not public appearences
Why is this even news? Letterman has always been an arrogant jerk. Full of himself. Treated Phoenix like he treated Harvey Pekar and others of similar non-elite ilk in the past. Who cares what Phoenix does? I didn't find his behavior that strange on the show. Paul Shaffer's laugh, filled with similar arrogance, reveals the depth of this duo's narrow assumptions about what is acceptable and what is not.
Honestly, anyone who can look me in the eye after having this bit of Brasilian shake, well, wtf does it matter what runs through your vanes (sp?) at that point...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoaTl7IcFs8
While this may be his attempt at a ruse or promo for a film - really (?) - are we sure he's not mentally ill? Because if he is having a mental break, everyone promoting and "fascinated" by his spectacular
behavior may be actually contributing to his demise.
Hope you are right that this is a ruse....because it's painful to watch this guy's appearances any more.
It's like watching a train wreck.
Just think of all the train wrecks out there who don't get to make appearances. . . .
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