Favorite Joaquin Phoenix performances:
- Two Lovers(2008) | dir. James Gray
- The Master(2012) | dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
- I’m Still Here(2010) | dir. Casey Affleck
- Inherent Vice(2014) | dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
- To Die For(1995) | dir. Gus Van Sant
- The Immigrant(2013) | dir. James Gray
- Gladiator(2000) | dir. Ridley Scott
- Her(2013) | dir. Spike Jonze
The Master(2012); directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
You can’t take this life straight, can you?
Joaquin Phoenix | Larry “Doc” Sportello | Inherent Vice(2015)
When we were first started, I talked to Paul about Freddie’s motivations for doing certain things, and Paul never had an answer for the character. So it was really frustrating in the beginning of the movie. There was nothing solid or consistent about Freddie. But I’m also a slow learner-real slow. So it takes me maybe halfway through the movie before I suddenly figure out one of the major plot points of the entire film. But it’s like in the scene where homie starts talking about wrestling a dragon. As soon as I realized that I was the dragon, it was much easier. I mean, it’s kind of like my dog. She loves me, right? We’ve got a great connection and I love her. She loves being at my house, and I guarantee that she’d be happier at my house than anywhere else. But if I open the fucking gate, she’s gonna roll, and it’s not because she has something against me. I don’t think she even fully understands what it is, but there’s just something inside of her that’s wild. She might not even want to leave, but it just happens. So as soon as I kind of gave in to that thing, that that’s where Freddie was … It’s just impulse. It’s not knowing what’s going to happen next. It’s not knowing why you did the last thing that you did. It seemed like every time we came to some conclusion about Freddie, it felt wrong. It was rather that there were all of these things going on, and he didn’t understand what was pushing or pulling him or why. - Joaquin Phoenix on his role Freddie Quell in “The Master”
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001)
