Category Archives: Joaquin Phoenix

Brian Cox Pulls Zero Punches When It Comes To Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Appalling’ Napoleon Performance

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Brian Cox’s assessment of Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in Napoleon was always Logan Roy-esque in its bluntness.

Earlier this week, the Succession star put in an appearance at HitFest where he was interviewed by BBC News anchor Clive Myrie.

When the conversation turned to Ridley Scott’s recent Napoleon biopic – which divided opinion upon its release last year – the Emmy winner made his feelings clear.

“It’s terrible,” Brian said, as reported by the Evening Standard. “A truly terrible performance by Joaquin Phoenix. It really is appalling. I don’t know what he was thinking.

“I think it’s totally his fault and I don’t think Ridley Scott helps him. I would have played it a lot better than Joaquin Phoenix, I tell you that. You can say it’s good drama. No – it’s lies.”

Joaquin Phoenix in character as Napoleon
Joaquin Phoenix in character as Napoleon

He added of Napoleon’s Oscar-winning star: “I think he’s well-named. Joaquin…wha-keen… wacky. It’s a sort of wacky performance.”

Brian was similarly critical of another historical drama, 1995’s Braveheart, branding it “a load of nonsense” and “a bollocks” (although he did praise Mel Gibson’s “wonderful” performance in the lead role).

Mel Gibson in Braveheart
Mel Gibson in Braveheart

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And as for Method acting, the controversial technique employed by his former co-star Jeremy Strong?

“Oh no that’s all bollocks. It’s a kind of nonsense,” he insisted. “We’re transmitters. That’s what we are as actors. We transmit energy.”

During a Town & Country magazine interview last year, Brian was similarly critical of Method acting, insisting his “fucking gifted” colleague should “celebrate [his] gift” and “go back to [his] trailer and have a hit of marijuana” rather than putting himself through so much in the name of acting.

“It’s fucking annoying, don’t get me going on it…” he said of Jeremy’s technique.

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Scarlett Johansson On ‘Bizarre’ Orgasm Moment That Made Joaquin Phoenix Lose It

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Scarlett Johansson says the robot sex scene in Her just about caused Joaquin Phoenix to short-circuit.

In Spike Jonze’s 2013 sci-fi romance, Scarlett plays Samantha, an Alexa-like virtual assistant.

Although Scarlett doesn’t actually appear on camera in the movie, her voice is omnipresent throughout, while Joaquin portrays Theodore, who eventually falls in love with the artificially intelligent assistant.

The two characters share an intimate scene in which Scarlett makes sex and orgasm noises.

She explained to Dax Shepard and Monica Padman on their Armchair Expert podcast this week that the offbeat sex scene was pretty awkward to put together.

The Black Widow star explained that Joaquin had already filmed his end of the scene, but because the film only features Scarlett’s voice, he needed to join her in a recording studio to work with her on her part.

“Joaquin comes in, we try to get through one take, and he was, like, losing it,” Scarlett recalled.

“He was like, angry … He had already done [the scene], he had done it in person, and now he was with me, in this weird theatre, I’m in this box and [Joaquin] is staring at me, the lights are low, and like, Spike is there. It was so bizarre.”

“Joaquin was so upset about it, he left the studio,” she added. “He needed a break.”

Scarlett said that thinking back on the scene today gives her “panic” and that she totally understood where Joaquin was coming from.

“You don’t want to hear your voice, ever,” Scarlett said about 46 minutes in. “You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having an orgasm. You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having a fake orgasm — ew. It’s so gross.”

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