Making a movie is hard – shit, acting is hard. I’ve been blessed to have been on hundreds of sets – some of my own – and I’ve witnessed things that would be beyond belief (I really should write a book). When we sit down to enjoy a film, all we see is what the camera has captured, but a lot of people truly don’t understand what it takes to create that short piece of art.
In any sense, last night, Joaquin Phoenix appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to promote Joker, the DC character’s first ever solo film that’s now in theaters everywhere. I can’t stand late-night talk shows, but I quite enjoyed the banter between Kimmel and Phoenix, especially when the host joked about Phoenix’s love of breakdancing only to have the actor intensely reply, “You’re making fun of it, but it was serious for me.”
Digressing, Kimmel introduces behind-the-scenes footage (at 8:29) from Joker in which Phoenix is attempting to “find something real” only to be distracted by a crew member, the film’s cinematographer, Lawrence Sher.
“No, just like, the constant whispering, just shut the fuck up, dude. I’m trying to like, find something real,” Phoenix exclaimed.
“You started the fucking Cher thing, Larry. It’s not even an insult. Cher, really? Singer, actor, dancer, fashion icon — how is that a fucking insult?”
After the clip, Phoenix’s body language screams uncomfortable, as Kimmel asks for him to describe the sequence of events.
“Um, um, yeah, Larry is the cinematographer,” he explains. “This is so embarrassing. Yeah look, sometimes movies get intense because you’re a lot of people in a small space and you’re trying to find something. So it can feel intense. But it was supposed to be private, I’m a little embarrassed, I’m sorry about that. Sorry you guys had to see that. It’s not Larry’s fault.”
While it’s likely that this is nothing more than a publicity stunt, there is a world in which Warner Bros. didn’t clear this footage with Phoenix prior to airing it on national television. In one case, the studio, director Todd Phillips, and Phoenix are trolling social media and attempting to create even more outrage towards the film during its opening weekend. And that’s hilarious. The question then becomes, is the footage real or staged, and does it really matter at that point?
But let’s say it’s all real, and Phoenix legitimately didn’t know footage of him getting a little snippy on set with his crew was about to blast out on late-night television. This would be a rare and really, really cool look at an intimate moment of intensive filmmaking. The amount of energy it takes to create a single moment on film is astounding. The entire cast and crew are all tiny pieces to an enormous puzzle that need to connect all at once for lightning to strike. If anything, this footage shows Phoenix’s commitment to his role that should be respected by every single person on set.
What do you think? Real? Fake? Does it even matter?