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Joaquin Phoenix starrer Joker was one of the most acclaimed movies of 2019 which ended up at the Oscars with 11 nominations and let’s not forget Phoenix scooped the Best Actor at the 92nd Academy Awards. Joker also starred Robert De Niro and the two greats sharing a screen space became a little troublesome for the director Todd Phillips. The two apparently were not fine with each other’s process of working which created a minor tension on the set. Scroll down to know the details.
Todd Phillips, in an interview, detailed what happened between Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix saying he was in between a rock and a hard place between the two greats. Phoenix, too spilled the beans of what transpired on the Joker set.
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According to Indie Wire, Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro clashed over their rehearsal process. The former believes in spontaneity whereas the latter wanted to go for a read-through of the script with the cast and crew. Shedding light on the same, Todd Phillips shared, “Bob called me and he goes, ‘Tell him he’s an actor and he’s got to be there, I like to hear the whole movie, and we’re going to all get in a room and just read it.’ And I’m in between a rock and a hard place because Joaquin’s like, ‘There’s no f**king way I’m doing a read-through,’ and Bob’s like, ‘I do read-throughs before we shoot, that’s what we do.’”
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Joaquin Phoenix asserted, “For me, I always thought that acting should be like a documentary.” Further speaking of his acting style, he added, “That you should just feel whatever it is that you’re feeling, what you think the character is going through at that moment.”
Phoenix actor shared, “I didn’t like to talk to him on set. The first day we said good morning, and beyond that I don’t know that we talked much.”
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Todd Phillips further spoke about the tension between Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro recalling, Phoenix “mumbled his way through the script and afterward went into a corner to smoke.” He shared Phoenix declined the request when De Niro requested him to speak one on one.
De Niro too shared his opinion on his differences with Phoenix saying, “His character and my character, we didn’t need to talk about anything. We just say, ‘Do the work. Relate as the characters to each other.’ It makes it simpler and we don’t [talk]. There’s no reason to.”
Phillips revealed that the two eventually sort out their tension with De Niro planting a kiss on the cheek of Phoenix and telling him, “It’s going to be OK, bubbeleh.”
Joaquin Phoenix concluded, “He is my favorite American actor. I got the impression from him that he did things in a scene, certain behaviours, certain gestures or movements, whether the camera was on him and registering it or not.”
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