When Joaquin Phoenix Found Oscar Buzz In the Unlikely World Of Scarlett Johansson’s Her
Joaquin Phoenix once revealed he saw something special in the story of Scarlett Johansson-led 2013 movie Her and eventually got major Oscar buzz for his role.
Did Joaquin Phoenix Receive Oscar Nomination For Her? ( Photo Credit – Wikimedia )
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Joaquin Phoenix was after something real. In Her, Spike Jonze’s 2013 sci-fi love story, Phoenix fell for an unexpected love interest: a voice-controlled AI named Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Yep, a computer operating system. It sounds weird, but it led to one of Phoenix’s most raw and emotionally charged performances ever.
Phoenix saw something special in Her. In an interview with Reuters, he admitted, “I thought it was really interesting and unique, that there was this great emotional center you could grab onto, that it wasn’t too esoteric.” Basically, he saw a love story stripped of clichés, something real and raw. It was a chance to explore intimacy and isolation through a futuristic lens—and Phoenix was all in.
Before Her, Joaquin Phoenix had Oscar nominations for Gladiator, The Master, and Walk the Line. But Her Oscar snub hit different because of the buzz surrounding his expected nomination. Critics loved how Phoenix made Theodore Twombly deeply relatable. The National Board of Review named Her the best picture of 2013. They called it an “outstanding achievement that is sure to become a new classic.”
And Phoenix? He secured his fourth Golden Globe nomination for his performance. Still, there were major snubs. Many were shocked he didn’t get an Oscar nod for Her, with IndieWire even calling it one of the “ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade” back in 2015.
Phoenix’s journey with Her wasn’t just about Oscar buzz. It was about pushing boundaries. The film explored love in an age where technology became an intimate partner rather than just a tool. In his signature intense style, Joaquin Phoenix connected with the emotional core of Theodore’s relationship with Samantha, a mix of desire, insecurity, and yearning that felt futuristic and heartbreakingly real.
Spike Jonze, known for his quirky genius since Being John Malkovich, wrote a screenplay that pushed cinematic norms. And Phoenix brought it to life with a vulnerability that felt almost too personal. In Her, he wasn’t just a man falling in love with an AI—he was trying to reconcile with his loneliness, fears, and need for connection.
Joaquin Phoenix didn’t just find Oscar glory with Her; he found a way to make AI love relatable and human. In a world where love was no longer confined to reality but blurred by tech, Phoenix showed us something profound: the search for intimacy, no matter how unconventional, remains an unyielding human pursuit.
