Joaquin Phoenix is an intense actor with many accolades. From the unexpected mighty success of the DCU movie Joker to classics like Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator, you’re unlikely to have missed him.
Phoenix is known for his dramatic chops, and, naturally, has spent a lot of time in drama movies circuits. Whether you think he’s strange or a method acting genius, he’s a chameleon and in the more recent years of his career has proved his range.
Lynne Ramsey’s You Were Never Really Here, a contemplative, seedy thriller movie about a man suffering from PTSD who is hired to rescue a young girl from a brothel, is one example of a project where Phoenix showcases his variety. There was one early draft, however, that Phoenix took issue with, due to his dislike for a particular cliche in action movies.
Speaking with EW, “I just said, ‘Lynne, I’m not going to limp through the fucking movie. Like, I fucking hate seeing actors limp through action movies.” the Oscar-winning actor said of an early version of the script that saw his character get shot in the leg and limp through the rest of the movie.
“He’s been shot in the leg, I’m not going to do it. Maybe he can get shot in the face and then he can pull his tooth out,’” Phoenix added. “It was like fighting the cliché and trying to avoid those pitfalls.”
He has a point. While gritting teeth through extreme injury may work for flicks like John Wick and more fun pedal-to-the-metal movies, You Were Never Really here had a more grounded tone to it.
Get ready to see Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime with our guide to the Joker 2 release date, see if he lands somewhere in one of our best movies of all time, or see our list of new movies coming soon.