“I’m really surprised at how many entertainment journalists I’ve met who are dicks,” the actor told IndieWire, but his new film helped him understand the process. It’s hard to imagine an actor who despises the interview process more than Joaquin Phoenix. Over the years, Phoenix’s awkward answers to questions from interviews have practically become an extension of his uncomfortable screen personality. In 2019, he left an interview for “Joker” when asked if the film incited violence, and when another reporter asked him a few months later if he could prepare for the role, he said it was ” old news ”. In 2014, he confessed during an Esquire profile that while he didn’t hate doing press, he certainly doesn’t like it, comparing himself to “a naughty kid who doesn’t want to shower”. Phoenix’s discomfort with the trial is so personal that he even faked it himself with a joking appearance on “Late Night With David Letterman,” which eventually became part of the mockumentary “I’m Still Here.” Related Related Phoenix may be involved in the joke, but he doesn’t laugh. Despite all the attention paid to his terrifying media jokes, few have investigated the root cause of his discontent. And with his latest role “C’mon C’mon” Phoenix got the chance to deal with the topic himself. In the latest sensitive character study by 20th Century Women director Mike Mills, “C’mon C’mon,” Phoenix stars as radio journalist Johnny, who connects with his nephew Jesse (Woody Norman) on his travels across the country. In the opening passage of the film and several other spots, Johnny can be seen with colleague Roxanne (played by the real-life Radiolab correspondent Molly Webster) interviewing a diverse group of children across the country about their future aspirations. Mills hired Phoenix to conduct these unwritten interviews, forcing a man who is infamous for being the subject of such conversations to figure out how to continue them instead. That experience gave Phoenix an opportunity to ponder how his interviews as a child actor traumatized him early on and led him to a greater appreciation for the challenges of the job. While visiting New York for the New York Film Festival premiere of “C’mon C’mon,” Phoenix and Mills sat down with IndieWire to discuss the trip. These are edited excerpts from this conversation. “Come on, come on” Tobin Yelland MIKE MILLS: I have a feeling that journalists in the entertainment industry in general are not treated as hotly. You have a few minutes for an interview. Your job is not fully respected by this system. JOAQUIN PHOENIX: I’m really surprised at how many entertainment journalists I’ve met who are dicks because I feel like there is such a responsibility. I’ve always tended to protect. When I was a kid – and even as an adult – I was really shocked by some of the questions I was asked in interviews. I don’t know how you can be in that position of power and abuse it that way. MILLS: What we did was different. We spoke to these cute kids who aren’t in the industry and tried to be aware of it. PHOENIX: I worked with Molly Webster early on and she just had such a natural, intuitive way of talking to people. It was really nice to see. I had this list of questions Mills gave me so I was nervous. You ask one question, then you have to ask the next. But she just had this damn flow. I thought, “Oh! I get it! “I never got there, but I understood that it was possible. It was strange. MILLS: Making films can be so depressing and justified. It’s toxic. But that was a gentler thing. PHOENIX: Right. As a kid you get asked all sorts of weird things. How much money you make makes you feel like you’re missing out on your kid time, whatever they say. Maybe it’s not so much the question, but the agenda behind it . There’s a real curiosity about asking a question in a conversation rather than trying to elicit an answer. I think maybe that’s the difference. For journalists, it’s difficult. When you have about 20 minutes for an interview and you Be warned in advance, “He’s very uncomfortable.” And you have to deal with this shit before you even get in. I suppose the art, in a way, is being aware of these things, not them depend to let old ones tarnish your real curiosity about people. In this case, I went to an environment with some knowledge of it and was nervous about it. I didn’t want to make this one kid whose father was in jail uncomfortable. How do I ask about his life? I felt a little bad because I was aware of something personal about him that he wasn’t telling me. I knew I had to get to this real place. I think some people are good at this. Then you can put all the publicists and the whole thing away where they might say, “Go to this hotel room. He’s vegan so be careful! ”I fucking don’t know. MILLS: This movie was made because I was a dad and my relationship with my kid and I was talking to a little person about crazy shit that can tear your brain apart. I wanted this complete intimacy and then I throw it into the world. I kept seeing the big and the small figure on the streets – and then a sea of children around them. It’s like a psychological attitude. Joaquin was a very dedicated uncle when I met him and a very dedicated person. PHOENIX: Me and Mills got to know each other and just started talking. We talked about things that were clearly related to the film and then about things that didn’t seem like that, but we took inspiration from that. I wanted to have these conversations over and over again. Sometimes we tried specifically to find things, to look through books, to talk about hairstyles, clothes, wardrobes, shoes. We went everywhere from damn Studs Terkel to steampunk. Here is someone who is a huge part of this world and who had a very rich life meeting and interacting with quite a number of people. And yet, in a way, his life has gotten small. His contact with his family is limited. Unconsciously, without even knowing it, we developed this character who had this enormous experience and shaped him. He was desperately looking for this connection beyond himself. We were just talking about all of these possibilities and slowly this thing started to develop. MILLS: Kaari Pitkin, who produced “Radio Rookies” for NPR, helped us. She obviously had a lot of experience from her own show on WNYC and knew where to go. We said, “We’re going to the Lower East Side – can you find a group of kids or a school?” She found us a school in New Orleans, another in Detroit, and another in downtown New York. There is only one child we photographed who didn’t end up in the film. Each interview lasted like an hour. So I would like to do one thing that is all about the interviews with the kids. It was a lot. Joaquin PhoenixASSOCIATED PRESS PHOENIX: I’ve learned that there is a very clear, obvious line about what is a decent thing and how to be considerate of someone and make something of it at the same time. I was impressed with how many people I had to deal with who did not seem interested in this limit and perhaps even enjoyed crossing it. That made a big difference here, of course, because I worked with children. I was worried if that was okay. I never wanted to rush anyone. But I was surprised at how desperate they were to be heard and respected – to be asked a question, not like an adult asking a child like me, but in a really curious way. I tried to live in this room. Then I was just so touched by them. These children would express their feelings, hopes, and dreams in the most honest way; Then we made a scene and it said, “Well, there is a very clear barometer of what is honest and what is not.” MILLS: We finished this film in January 2020. When the pandemic started it all felt very inconsequential, like the soldier still in the jungle not knowing the war is over but still just hacking. I edited remotely alone through Evercast for nine months. That was really trippy. PHOENIX: What’s wrong with that? Get out of here! Creativity is never small. MILLS: Okay, but I felt very alone during the pandemic. I was wondering what the hell was going to happen to this movie. It was like being on a solo mission on the moon. PHOENIX: I didn’t work a lot during the pandemic. I only worked last summer. And it was like always. A24 releases “C’mon C’mon” on November 20th. Sign up: Stay up to date on the latest movie and TV news! Sign up for our email newsletter here.
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