Joaquin Phoenix is pretty sureEmpirehates him.
We don’t. “It’s okay, man, it’s okay,” he says.
“You hate me.”
We’re 30 minutes into our interview about
Joker, and there’s been little directJokertalk.
“I don’t know how to talk about this movie,
man!” he says. He hates talking shop at the best
of times, but the experience of makingJoker
has so profoundly affected him that he doesn’t
want to ruin it with anything approaching
explanation. Dressed in black here by the pool
at Los Angeles’ A-list hideaway the Chateau
Marmont, he enthuses forever about working
withJoker’s writer-director Todd Phillips,
but you want to know how he feels about his
character? Good luck.
“Am I the worst that you’ve ever had to deal
with?” he asks. “You’re like, ‘Oh God, he doesn’t
give you anything, and then when he does it’s just
worthless?’” We didn’t say that. He laughs. “Do
you understand, I’m not wanting to give you
a hard time or anything... Come on, man! You
came such a long way. It breaks my heart.”
He explains why sitting down to pick this
apart is so tough. “My connection with Todd
and what we were uncovering in this movie is
something really special to me,” he says. “Lucky
for you,” he continues sarcastically, “you’re the
first” — he hasn’t done any prior press for the
film — “and so I haven’t figured out yet how
to let go of my personal feelings. Because it
feels like talking about a romantic relationship
with somebody. An intimate relationship. We
were just together all the time.” Phillips, who
we meet the next day, is similarly affected by
what’s gone on. From day one, this has been
very, very special.
Above:Joaquin
Phoenix clowns up as
the Joker.Right:
Phoenix and director
Todd Phillips on set.
Below:Arthur Fleck,
the civilian
incarnation of the
Joker, wrestles his
demons. They would
seem to
be winning.