Joaquin Phoenix - RISING FROM THE ASHES

PERSONAL STRUGGLES HAVEN'T STOPPED THE ACTOR FROM CONSTANTLY REACHING NEW HEIGHTS IN HOLLYWOOD

-  By Olivia Harrowell

Born into an Interpol-wanted cult in Puerto Rico in 1974, Joaquin Phoenix’s life started out as anything but ordinary. Fast-forward five decades and the once-scruffy kid who busked for petrol money is now one of cinema’s most cherished and consistently surprising actors – with his messy and meteoric path to stardom proving that even the finest careers are rarely tidy.

The 50-year-old’s latest role is in writer and director Ari Aster’s pandemic-era neo-Western, Eddington (in cinemas August 21), which caused a buzz when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Phoenix plays Sheriff Joe Cross, an anxious lawman squaring off against Pedro Pascal’s crooked mayor in New Mexico. Early reviews call Phoenix’s performance a “slow-burn menace” and describe the film as one of the bravest releases this year.

To promote the film, the notoriously awkward, reserved and interview-wary actor sat down with comedian Theo Von for the This Past Weekend podcast, discussing Phoenix’s veganism, his late brother, River, and his father’s influence on his acting.

“You play the broken so well … you’re like a harp that’s missing some strings,” Von told Phoenix, marvelling at his gallery of performances portraying damaged men. Phoenix traced that affinity straight back to his dad, revealing, “He was probably the greatest influence on my work … I think I modelled so many characters that I’ve played after him.

“He’s been dead for a while so I can talk s--t about him,” he jokingly added. “My dad was a complicated dude … very sensitive and sweet and thoughtful, and he grew up in a pretty tough situation, and was in [juvenile detention] very young, and had this splintered family.”