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Phoenix Rising It's conceivable, though not likely, that Joaquin Phoenix could receive two Best Supporting Actor nominations next month for Gladiator and Quills. And the only possible problem facing this white-hot 26-year-old currently is the prospect of his 'cancelling himself out' should Phoenix fans divide their votes between the two films. Though Quills looks like proffering Phoenix his best shot, he'd have been even happier were everyone talking about his performance in The Yards instead. "No offence to any of the other films because I'd work again with every director I've ever worked with and every actor. But I really love The Yards. It's the first time I ever worked with a director who also co-wrote the script. And I think it's about important things — how we define success and being successful in this society." But The Yards is not the film that will make him. It bombed in the US, with some media outlets accusing Miramax of failing to fully support the film. Quills has been a different matter entirely; a film seized on as an Oscar front-runner when it became apparent that year-end competition in the US would not be as chock-full of nomination-worthy performances as had been anticipated. Indeed, films released earlier in the year such as Gladiator and Erin Brockovich are for the most part less favoured (should that be less remembered) when Academy members vote next month. Now, both films are enjoying re-releases and renewed Oscar buzz. Phoenix's role in Quills, playing the priest who ran the asylum where the Marquis de Sade died, is tailor-made for awards given the arc the character moves through. Phoenix, though, a thoroughly endearing gentle soul, can't quite believe all the fuss. "I'd never read anything like this script," he says. "Every bit of dialogue was so rich, I was just drinking it in. But I thought, 'Oh my God, they'll never have me. Kate Winslet and Geoffrey Rush are doing it. I'm not gonna stand a chance'." He flew from the Malta set of Gladiator to read for director Philip Kaufman in London, and later had a phone call from his mother telling him he had got the role. That Phoenix appears to have little confidence or belief in his own talent is a quality which makes him even more appealing in person. Monumentally self-critical, he has managed to watch only one of his films in its entirety: The Yards. "It's just difficult for me. I don't enjoy watching myself because all I see are mistakes. But it's fine because I enjoy the process of making films and hope that the audience will respond to it and take something away from the film or my character." He admits he is terrified before beginning "every single movie", and Gladiator more than most. "But that sense of being overwhelmed was quickly squashed when I just got with Ridley Scott because he's so calm. He somehow manages to make you feel that you're working on a $10 million, five-week shot instead of this huge five-month production shooting in three countries." Phoenix admits he is an unconventional personality. At one point during our interview he bursts into the Star Wars theme, then suggests what I might write. "Joaquin Phoenix is certainly bizarre." He confesses to peculiar filming foibles for example. "I'm obsessed with my characters' shoes. Not so much the look of them but how they make me feel. I love altering a character's walk, or the way they carry themselves. I actually asked for Nike sandals for Gladiator but then changed my mind and wanted Commodus to have enclosed shoes. I wanted only his face and hands exposed because I thought that would symbolise his vulnerability." A strict vegan (as is his entire family), Phoenix avoids wearing leather wherever possible. "I have worn it, though. Certainly in Gladiator. But I've always thought that the impact I can have reaching a wide audience in the films that I do outweighs the negative side of wearing leather goods." He is thrilled, though, that for the most part costume designers have gone out of their way to accommodate his wishes. "For Quills, they made me early 19th Century clogs out of pleather. People in the industry have been really respectful of my wishes and have gone out of their way to help. But it's not always easy when you're doing a costume drama." Should he need a colleague to consult with about his burgeoning fame, he could do worse than Russell Crowe. "I'd be satisfied if an actor I worked with was just a great fucking actor. Sorry about my language. But Russell was genuinely the most gracious and giving person." The pair developed a brotherly relationship when Crowe took the terrified Phoenix under his wing. "Yeah, let's just say I was very very nervous!" But he is becoming more accustomed to his fame. "I was still such an idealist when I made To Die For [the indie in which he starred with Nicole Kidman for director Gus Van Sant]. I thought you could just wait for a movie you thought was really good, and then you could just act in it and that would be it. I didn't realise what else was involved — the interviews, the photo shoots all that sort of stuff." He understands though that such things are a necessary evil and that when the publicity machine does not whirr into action effectively, the result can be a good film which is little-seen. "Yeah, like Return to Paradise [a 1998 film about drug trafficking in Malaysia in which he starred with Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn]. That was the first time I was really disappointed. I hate hearing that Return To Paradise didn't do great business. But it goes to show that not all the good or interesting films get seen. There are a lot of films we now consider classics that were panned critically and also did badly at the box office. But I don't really have much control over that stuff so I just hope for the best." Major studios took note of Phoenix after his stunning turn in To Die For but he resolutely turned down big studio offers in favour of more offbeat, smaller films. He took the Gladiator role because it's rare to "find a character in a studio movie who is so multi-layered and with so many shades to his character." He did, though, draw the line at Pearl Harbour. "No, I didn't need to read for that although I did meet [director] Michael Bay. I'd never say no to a meeting like that and it was a well-written script but ultimately it just wasn't a film I wanted to make. You know, I don't think they really wanted me either and it all worked out great because Josh Hartnett who's at the same agency as me got the role and he's a great kid." Such generosity of spirit is unusual among young actors. Happily, there is nothing usual about Phoenix. |