CANNES, France: Joaquin Phoenix slipped out of the theater the moment the lights dimmed at the Cannes premiere of his gritty crime drama "We Own the Night." He can t stand seeing himself onscreen.
"There s no benefit.
Why would I watch? What, just to look at yourself?" he said in an interview Saturday with The Associated Press.
"What s worst is if you like it. Doesn t that sound dangerous to you? How does it really benefit an actor?
"
At Friday s premiere, a tuxedoed Phoenix sneaked back into the theater just before the credits, in time for the standing ovation. Phoenix says the last time he watched one of his movies was for "Ladder 49" back in 2004 meaning he never saw his Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated turn as Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line."
Phoenix, 32, owns the screen in James Gray s "We Own the Night," set during the drug wars of 1980s New York.
He plays Bobby Green, a carefree nightclub manager intent on dodging the family business, the NYPD.
The plot unfolds when his brother, Mark Wahlberg (playing the serious, family-oriented policeman, a change from his foul-mouthed police sergeant in "The Departed") starts investigating a Russian gangster who operates out of the nightclub.
Phoenix s character is forced to choose between his family and his friends.
Eventually, mobsters move in on his loved ones, intent on revenge.
Phoenix has made a specialty of tortured characters, from the spooky teenager in "To Die For" to the evil Roman emperor Commodus in "Gladiator," another role that earned him an Academy Award nomination.
His new performance might be his rawest yet.
Phoenix s Bobby has a huge character arc. From a life-of-the-party kind of guy who spends his free time doing drugs and romancing his girlfriend (Eva Mendes), he turns into a man with turmoil in every line of his face. The role forces Phoenix to go through just about every human emotion, and it s gut-wrenching to watch.
In person, Phoenix is intense, tongue-in-cheek and wacky Robert Duvall, who plays his father in the movie, calls him "Wackeen." Phoenix is also self-effacing.
"Frankly, (Gray) couldn t have gotten the movie made with me in that part until Walk the Line came out and was successful," Phoenix said.
"It s a simple fact nobody would have given him the money."
The director says he wrote the part for Phoenix after working with him and Wahlberg in "The Yards" a point that Phoenix challenged in a strange and surreal dialogue at a Cannes news conference. "He tried to cast other people, and they weren t available, and he grew desperate," Phoenix said.
Gray says Phoenix "radiates torture" in the movie.
"I have never seen an actor work as hard as he does, so obsessed with detail and behavior," he said. "Every weekend is rehearsal time with Joaquin.
He doesn t let you off the hook."
So what do you ask an actor about a movie he hasn t watched? Scratch cinematography off the list.
Phoenix can t analyze the movie s big action scene, a harrowing car chase through New York in pouring rain, with gangsters aiming long-barrel rifles out the window. (The scenes were actually shot on a sunny day, and the rain was added later digitally. "I knew there was rain," Phoenix joked.
)
The subject that inspires Phoenix most is his fellow actors.
Mendes: "So hardworking ..
. She was there every weekend with James and I for the first five weekends ..
. We d get together in the morning and go all the way through the night."
Wahlberg: "He was beautiful in the film .
.. I remember doing a scene with him, and I was so floored I had spent hours in the trailer trying to figure out how to do it, and nothing was working .
.. And (after talking to Wahlberg), we go on the set and the first take is just brilliant.
"
Duvall: "He s terrifying to work with because you feel that everything you do is completely false comparatively, because he s so committed and devoted as an actor, and he s completely unshakable.
Phoenix says his own acting credo is simple.
"You just show up and hope for the best," he said.
"You pray you remember the line. And then you stand where they tell you to stand. And that s all you have to do.
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