noticethatarepartofwhatmakeshischaracters
soamazingandvivid.”Onset,heneededtoput
hisadorationtooneside.“Ihadtoblockit out,”
hesays.“Youjustwannaholdhimdownandsay,
‘Tellmeeverything.’Butyoudon’t.”Phillipswas
lessrestrained.“Idid,”hesays.“Ididit inBob’s
officewhenI firstmethim.I said,‘I justgottaget
thisoutoftheway.Justfor 10 minutesletme
speaktoyou,andthenonsetI’mgonnabea
director,a grownman.’I couldn’tnotdoit.”
DeNirohadbiggerfishtofry.“Thefirstday
weshotwithBobwasthemorninghegotthe
bombsenttohim,”saysPhillips.On 25 October,
2018,anexplosivedevicewassenttothebuilding
housingDeNiro’sproductionofficeandhis
TribecaGrillrestaurantinManhattan.It was
interceptedbya bombsquad,whoalsoremoved
similarpackagessenttooutspokencriticsof
PresidentTrump.“WehadFBIguysshowingup
tosearchtheset,”saysPhillips.“AndI thought,
‘OhGod,what’shegonnabelike?’Andhecomes
inlikeit’snothing,justreadytorock,knewhis
shit.He’samazing.”
Jokeris,though,verymuchtheJoaquin
Phoenixshow.Theshoot“wasanintenseride,
anintense 58 days”,saysKoskoff,becauseofthe
demandsofArthurFleck.“He’sa profoundly
troubledman,andforJoaquinI’msureit wasn’t
easy,livinginthatspace.Whathedelivers
inthismovieis breathtaking.”Phillipsis just
aseffusive.“Ican’tgetenoughofhim,”he
says,lookingatPhoenixsmokingonthe
monitors.“I’veseenthismovie4,000times
andI canjuststareatthatface.I justwanna
watchhimforever.”
Watchingthebeginningofthefilmwith
Phillips,wenoticethatitsproductiontitle—
thesethingsexisttoattemptsomesecrecy—
was‘Romeo’.Why?“BecauseI findhimtobe
super-romantic,andbecausehehasa certain
elegancetohim,”Phillipslaughs,talkingof
Arthur.HehopeswefeelforArthur—initially,
atleast.“We’retreatinga guywho’sultimately
a villain,orsupervillain,incomic-bookterms,
likea realpersonyoulove.Wehopeyou’reonhis
side,untilyoucan’tbeonhissideanylonger.
Whenthefilmbegins,wehopeyoufeelempathy
forthislittleflowergrowingona cracked
sidewalk.Atwhatpointareyougonnawaterit
andgiveit light,orjustignoreit?Howlongcan
youlovethatflowerfor?”
Phoenixis lesskeentodiscussArthur.
Anysuchdistillationofthecharacterfrustrates
him.“Idon’twannatalkaboutthings...inthe
mostbroadclichés,it soundsawful,”hesays.
“Fuck.”Butthen:“Partofit is aboutthe
emergenceofthisotherthingthathasbeen
insideofyouyourwholelife.Thatyouhave
triedtosuppress.It’sabouttryingtofitin,
whetherit’smaterial,orbehaviour...andthen
thedeliberationwhenyounolongerlookto
othersforvalidation.”There’sa correlationwith
himself.“Ifeellikeinmyfortiesit’ssortof
happening,”hesays.“Itdoestakesometime.
But...myfortieshave been amazing. It’s just
been the best.”
Above:
Darkly
dapper.
Right:Zazie
Beetz’s
Sophie
Dumond,
a Lower
EastSide
singlemum,
stepsout
with Fleck.