CHLOÉ’S OBSESSION – The hero of Joker: Folie à Deux allegedly tried on several occasions to leave filming. Why is the Oscar-winning actor so often plagued by doubt?
“It’s a tragedy,” said producer Christine Vachon. The drama in question? Joaquin Phoenix reportedly left a project… five days before filming began. A real tidal wave for director Todd Haynes and his teams. Especially since the sets of the film were already in place in Guadalajara, we learn on the websiteIndieWire . Worse still: it would be impossible for the moment to replace Joaquin Phoenix, and the financial losses would amount to several million dollars…
“The buggers”
What could have possibly been going through the actor's mind? The latter had, a priori, no reason to withdraw. We learn that the actor himself had the idea for this detective film – a gay romance in which a couple of men flee to Mexico. The actor would, moreover, have participated in writing the script for the feature film. The reason for this desertion therefore leaves us all the more perplexed. According to an anonymous source cited by Variety Joaquin Phoenix would simply have had “the bugs”.
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“Should I call you Stefani or Gaga?” : this question from Joaquin Phoenix in the middle of a press conference
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Behind the scenes, some say he was turned off by the film's explicit sex scenes. Others assure that he is at the origin of these daring sequences… In short, confusion reigns. And we cannot count on the actor to disentangle the true from the false. Questioned on this subject during the Venice Film Festival, the main person concerned simply evaded, arguing that “the other creatives were not there to tell their own version of the facts”.
Desertions
Furthermore, in recent weeks, testimonies on the actor's attempts to desert have multiplied. In mid-September, James McAvoy reported in the podcast Happy Sad Confused that Joaquin Phoenix had abandoned the filming of Split (2016). Result: the actor would have been forced to replace him at short notice, two weeks before the first takes. A very limited time frame to get into the skin of the character(s). And Joaquin Phoenix would not be his first attempt. We discover in an interview with Ridley Scott, given to New York Times early November, that Rooney Mara's companion almost gave up his role in Gladiator (2000). Yes, the same Gladiator which earned him an Oscar nomination.
On set, the interpreter of Emperor Commodus would have one day said “I can’t do it”, ready to turn on his heel. All this, under the amazed eyes of Russell Crowe, who would have described it as “terribly unprofessional”. Atmosphere. Ridley Scott, however, would have managed to save the furniture. A rescue operation that the director also had to carry out on the set of Napoleonin 2020. Joaquin Phoenix would have threatened to leave the set if Paul Thomas Anderson did not rewrite the script.
«Stefani ou Gaga?»
We have to admit: Joaquin Phoenix's prevarications are somewhat irritating, in an industry where it seems so difficult to find a place. Not to mention the somewhat directive aspect of his approaches. The actor reportedly went so far as to demand that Joker: Folie à Deux be inspired by one of his dreams. At this point, words fail us. However, we wonder if these about-faces might not be a reflection of something else. Would Joaquin Phoenix be, like common mortals, permeable to uncertainties? It is clear: the actor doubts everything, all the time. Including how he should call his filming partner – “Stefani or Gaga?”.
Are these sudden changes a symptom of an oversized ego? Or a stubborn fear – that of making the wrong choices? Or even reflected a cruel lack of self-confidence? In October, Joaquin Phoenix confided that he had initially refused to play Christopher Nolan's Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) because he did not feel “ready”. A feeling that would not be surprising from an actor with a troubled family history. In the past, his parents joined, then fled, the religious cult Children of God, before changing its name. In 1993, the actor also lost his older brother River, an actor on the rise in Hollywood, who died of an overdose.
We wonder at this stage whether the alleged instability of Joaquin Phoenix would not risk chilling the filmmakers who plan to collaborate with him. Nay: the actor is already starring in two projects in 2025. He will thus officiate in Eddingtona horror film by Ari Aster, and The Islanda thriller by Pawel Pawlikowski. At least, if everything goes as planned.
