Joaquin Phoenix
The notoriously
publicity-shy Signs star lets rip on phobias, tattoos and how fame's left him
unvexed, terribly unvexed…
Lets get this over with, then: how
exactly do you pronounce your name ?
It's Waa-keen.
Since your Oscar nomination for Gladiator
your profile has become much higher. Has fame changed you?
Well, everywhere I go people love me. Send me cars. Give me free clothes. And
ever time I walk in a room people start applauding. Ha Ha! Don't know that
my life has changed at all. Maybe just better scripts.
But do you still get nervous before starting a new film?
Oh, all the time. I get these butterflies in my stomach and sometimes I feel
like I'm going to throw up. Then the whole question is whether feeling that way
is debilitating or whether I can use it and channel that nervous energy. I think
ultimately it's usable. It does make me anxious, but in a positive way, and I'd
far rather go through that than become jaded: " Oh, another day, another
movie."
You've had success in blockbusters and indies. Any preference between the two?
Depends on the film and character. Sometimes you can have a smaller role, like
the one in Gladiator,
and it can really connect with people. I still get people yelling at me on the
street : "I'm vexed, Terribly Vexed " I just try and choose roles I
want to play, regardless of how big or small the film is. Some people churn out
tons of movies all the time but each film I do means a lot to me, so I try and
choose very carefully.
One of the themes of Signs
is dealing with your fears and demons. What are yours?
I'm still very afraid of flying.
That's a bit of a problem for such a
travel-intensive industry. Have you ever freaked out on a plane?
Ha,Ha! Oh yes! I was on this one flight and I got so nervous that I started
shaking and banging my head off the wall and going "Oh my God! Oh my
God!" and making all the other passengers extremely nervous. In the end,
the captain had to come out , hold me down and tell me to shut the fuck up. It
was pretty bad, but it did calm me down
Are you still living in the same apartment block in New York as Casey Affleck?
I actually live in the south now, but I still spend quite a lot of time in New
York. Casey and I are still great friends. We got tattoos together. He actually
has this video of me crying like a girl when I got it done. It was on the inside
of my arm, which is incredibly sensitive and painful for a tattoo. And I think
the guy was drunk at the time, because I wanted a circle and it doesn't even
look like one. I mean, how can you screw up a circle?
Joanna Nathan