Joaquin Phoenix acted too intensely in Ari Aster’s 2023 movie, so his co-star intervened to give him some advice. Widely considered one of the greatest actors working today, Phoenix is known for playing dark, enigmatic, and unconventional characters, often in period dramas. He was nominated for three Academy Awards for Gladiator, playing Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master before finally winning an Oscar for Joker in 2019.
Phoenix has also collaborated multiple times with Ari Aster, whose movies are distinguished by their eerie blend of horror, dark humor, and graphic violence. Aster has written and directed the A24 horror movies Hereditary and Midsommar. Following Phoenix and Aster’s first collaboration in 2023, they reunited for the upcoming film, Eddington, which follows a stranded couple in a seemingly friendly desert town that turns sinister after dark. The cast also includes Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler.
Joaquin Phoenix Acted Too Intensely In Beau Is Afraid
So Nathan Lane Intervened To Give Him Some Advice
Joaquin Phoenix acted too intensely in Beau Is Afraid, so Nathan Lane intervened to give him some advice. Written and directed by Ari Aster, the 2023 surreal tragicomedy stars Joaquin Phoenix as the тιтular mild-mannered and anxiety-ridden man as he embarks on a surreal odyssey home to his mother’s funeral and confronts his greatest fears along the way. Beau is Afraid‘s cast also includes Nathan Lane as a seemingly normal, suburbia-dwelling surgeon who, along with his wife, take in Beau after running him over with a food truck.
During a recent appearance on Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out podcast, Nathan Lane recalled how much he enjoyed working with Phoenix on Beau is Afraid. After three hours of improvising a particular scene, Lane realized it wasn’t working, so he intervened and advised Phoenix to take a more comedic approach. Read Lane’s full story or watch the portion of the video below:
We’re talking, we’re talking and now three hours out the window, so now we’re back and we’re talking about the scene I finally said, “Look, Joaquin, we don’t know each other but, and I don’t know how to break this to you but I think this is supposed to be funny. We’re coming out of 45 minutes of you in the Kafkaesque opening that’s been horrifying,” and I said, “Everyone should think now you are safe in suburbia with these nice people, but something is a little off. And as written, what I think Ari wrote is funny and you’re speaking in, kind of like,’ cause you know the lines were written, it was like baby talk because we’re so heavily medicated.
So I tried to give him a bit of business. You know, “Take one of those stuffed animals and put it under you and then when you have to make that weird noise, just pull it out and stare at it.” And so he started to laugh and said, “Oh, I can’t do that.” I said, “Why not? You won an Oscar. Just put your mind to it.” So he started laughing and laughing and laughing. Then we were like home free. Then, everybody loosened up and we started to play the scene.
He said to me, “I can’t look you in the eye or I’m going to laugh” But he was a delight and he was, you know he’s pᴀssionate and committed. As Ari would say he can only be truthful and if does not feel real to him he can’t do it. No, he’s a remarkable actor and total sweetheart.
What Nathan Lane’s Advice To Joaquin Phoenix Meant For Beau Is Afraid
It Helped Make The Scene Funny
By encouraging him to fully embrace the absurdity of the moment, Nathan Lane’s advice to Joaquin Phoenix played a crucial role in making their particular scene comedic. Lane suggested Phoenix use a stuffed animal as a quirky prop, which made him laugh and loosen up. Lane’s intervention shifted the scene’s tone from intense to comedic, effectively breaking the tension between them. This allowed Phoenix to fully embrace the humor in their particular scene, resulting in a lead performance that ultimately enhanced Beau is Afraid‘s balance of surrealism, tragedy, and comedy.
Source: Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out
