The Joaquin Phoenix Interview

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2024

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joaquin Phoenix is one of the greatest actors of his generation. For three decades, he’s moved seamlessly between auteur-driven films (Her, The Master) and box-office sensations (Gladiator, Joker).

We sit today for a rare, long-form conversation with Phoenix, starting with his latest film, Joker: Folie à Deux (9:10), his free-wheeling collaborations with director Todd Phillips (11:32), and the nomadic upbringing that marked his early years (15:00). Then, he reflects on his childhood television debut in Hill Street Blues (22:27), the brilliance of Robert De Niro (27:53), and his formative performances in To Die For and Parenthood (34:45).

On the back-half, we discuss how the polarizing mockumentary, I’m Still Here (47:15), inspired his singular collaborations with directors Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, James Gray, and Lynne Ramsay (51:30). We also talk about the evolution of his acting process (52:47), the impassioned Oscars speech he delivered accepting Best Actor for Joker (58:15), and whether he’ll ever turn in what he believes is a ‘great’ performance (1:02:40).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	On Notes from America, we have conversations with people across the country about how we can truly become the nation that we claim to be.
0:09.0	Each week we talk about race, our politics, education, relationships, usually all of them, because everything's
0:16.2	connected and you, our listeners, are at the center of those conversations.
0:20.6	I'm Ky Wright, join me on Notes from America wherever you get your
0:24.1	podcasts. Pushkin. This is talk easy. I'm San Fr actor Joaquin Phoenix. To run through his credits is to name some of the finest films of the past three decades.
1:20.0	To Die For by Gus Van Sant, Two Lovers by James Gray,
1:24.0	The Master by Paul Thomas Anderson,
1:26.2	Her by Spike Jones,
1:28.0	You Were Never Really Here by Lynn Ramsey,
1:30.0	Come On Come On By Mike Mills,
1:32.0	and those are just a few of my personal favorites.
1:35.0	But in 2020, he won best actor at the Oscars for his work in the Joker,
1:40.0	playing the titular comedian turned sociopathic killer. It's a role he actually relished, so much so that
1:46.2	him and director Todd Phillips decided to return to Gotham with Joker Folly a duh. Here's a clip from the trailer.
1:56.0	Two years ago, the name Arthur Fleck had Gotham like a hurricane.
2:00.0	The trial of the century. They believe Arthur Fleck to be some kind of martyr.
2:06.0	Well, he's not.
2:10.2	There's a monster.
2:14.0	For one. There's a monster. For once in my life,
2:19.0	I have someone who needs me.
2:24.6	Show town.
2:25.0	When you're smiling, when you're smiling.
	...

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