|
|
— by Larry Carroll
Like all his fellow Hollywood A-listers, Joaquin Phoenix has become a star by, in effect, becoming all the things that he's not, including a Roman Emperor ("Gladiator"), a fireman ("Ladder 49") and an alien-battling farmer ("Signs"). Next month, he has a better-than-fair shot at taking home an Academy Award for "Walk the Line," a flick that inspired him to undergo a startling transformation; for many filmgoers, Phoenix became Johnny Cash in that role. It's only appropriate, then, that as the awards season has heated up, and reporters have increasingly hounded the star, Cash's influence inspired his escape yet again, with another extreme makeover.
"I did a European press tour for 'Walk the Line,' and two days before I got back I got the call for a People in Planes [video] that we were gonna shoot," Phoenix says of his latest transformation, this time into an in-demand auteur. "So I came back and did four days of prep, went in to shooting that, then it was the holiday and then we were doing this."
The "this" he's referring to is the dark, twisted video for "Tear You Apart" by moody post-punkers She Wants Revenge. The theatrically influenced clip features a lipsticked seductress, her naive date and enough subtitles to fill a Truffaut film, all presented between shots of the band performing an intense song at what must be the world's most depressing high school prom. It plays like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" meets "The Matrix," filtered through the lens of David Lynch — and for Phoenix, it was the latest in a stream of off-the-wall ideas that are increasingly making their way from concept to reality.
"What's difficult is writing something, getting really involved, working out all the details — and not getting the job," Phoenix recalls, insisting that he has clawed his way up the ladder just like any other wannabe filmmaker. "After that happened a few times, I was like, 'OK, listen. This is kind of what I'm going for, but I'm not going to get into it unless you feel like it's what you want.' "
Unlike those previous experiences, this time around Phoenix's vision turned out to be exactly what the band wanted.
"We were getting all kinds of treatments from all kinds of people, and nothing really stood out until Joaquin's," remembers She Wants Revenge's "Adam 12" Bravin. "Joaquin called Justin [Warfield, the other half of Revenge] and told him his idea. At first we thought it was a good idea, but after a couple days of talking about it, we realized how amazing it was."
"It was off-putting at first," Warfield adds. "It was really dark and powerful. We didn't really know how to take it. But it's like when you see a film, and it sticks with you and it kind of resonates and after a few days, you're still talking about it and thinking about it."
"We saw how passionate he was about wanting to do it, and it really wasn't about him — it could've been anybody who came up with that idea," Bravin says of the band's willingness to look past the famous name. "We were fortunate enough to see him work with Ringside, and we saw how great he was on the set with them, and we just decided that that was who we had to work with."
It was a 2005 late-night brainstorming session with pop rockers Ringside (featuring Phoenix's "Ladder 49" co-star Balthazar Getty on drumbeats) that first inspired Phoenix to walk the line as actor/director, as last April he oversaw the clip for their song "Tired of Being Sorry."
"We shot that Ringside clip, and I really loved the process," Phoenix says of his newfound love for yelling "Action!" and "Cut!" rather than simply answering to it. "I just sit and I listen to the song, and just wait to be inspired."
"It seems like in the ['Tear You Apart'] lyrics, he's talking about this guy seeing this girl who's kinda pale, who looks like obsession," Phoenix remembers of his mindset while preparing for this particular video shoot. "I just had the idea of a young couple being at a dance; I really liked the idea of how that might look. And so I sat down, started writing and went through a lot of treatments. I had the first idea, and I talked to Justin and Adam about it."
 |
He's directing music vids now, but Phoenix remains a (reluctant) movie star. Here are some films that helped make his career ...
|
|
Phoenix comes from an artistic clan that always shared a passion for song, but looking back on the development of his music video career, he insists that his casting as Cash was, well, instrumental.
"I think my understanding of music has changed," he says. "I always loved music growing up, but I never really played and I think that now I kind of understand music differently. I think I have a different appreciation for it. That's probably part of it. Making that film certainly helped in trying to direct videos."
Such moonlighting opportunities couldn't have come at a better time, either, as media attention has intensified over the last several months during the run for Oscar glory.
"All I've been doing is thinking about this video and kind of reworking it and tweaking it," the famously media-shy Phoenix says. "That's really all I've been thinking about."
With his videos making waves and his day job reaching a new level of success, one question can't help but come up: Will he ever combine the two, and direct a full-length movie? Phoenix is leaving the door wide open — as long as he can figure out a way to pace himself like he has during the Oscar race.
"It's a huge undertaking, and I don't know if I'm capable of it right now," he admits. "It's something that I'd like to do. But we do, like, 14 hours and I'm exhausted, so I can't imagine directing over the course of four months."
"But," Phoenix adds, flashing a devilish grin as he eyes yet another transformation, "we'll see."
|
|
|
Photos: She Wants Revenge's "Tear You Apart" video set
Video: She Wants Revenge's "Tear You Apart"
Read: "Joaquin Phoenix Directs Video For Ringside"
Check out everything we've got on Joaquin Phoenix