Post by jhar26 on May 2, 2014 1:48:52 GMT -5
The Yahoo 50 Greatest Actors Alive: No. 48 Joaquin Phoenix
By Bryan Enk
Age: 39
Stating the Case: A terrific actor's life and career were cut tragically short when River Phoenix died of a drug overdose outside the Viper Room in Hollywood on Oct. 31, 1993 at the age of 23... though the work he began would end up being continued by his younger brother, Joaquin — and then some.
Indeed, the man formerly known as Leif Phoenix is currently enjoying the kind of unorthodox yet highly acclaimed Hollywood career that his late brother was on the way towards. Making his (adorable) feature film debut in "Space Camp" (1986), Joaquin Phoenix has gone on to earn accolades for his intense and immersive performances in a wide variety of projects, from crowd-pleasing blockbusters like "Gladiator" (2000) to deeply personal auteur films like Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" (2012).
Now that the whole "I'm Still Here" (2010) silliness is out of the way (we'll get to that later), there's just no stopping this guy from staking his claim as both a Serious Actor and an A-list movie star... again.
Breakthrough Role: Joaquin first proved he was a lot more than just River Phoenix's little brother with his performance in Gus Van Sant's "To Die For" (1995). Phoenix brought dark potency and subversive humor to his portrayal of Jimmy Emmett, a none too bright and seemingly constantly stoned high schooler who becomes the unwitting patsy of the evil, manipulative, and impossibly sexy Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman), who seduces him into murdering her husband, Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon). Phoenix turned the mumbling, glass-eyed Jimmy into a truly fascinating figure, a seemingly beyond stupid yet hopelessly lovestruck young man you can't help but want to try to save.
The Best of the Best:
5. "Signs" (2002): Joaquin played Mel Gibson's kin in M. Night Shyamalan's alien invasion fable, arguably the last great film from the man who gave us "The Sixth Sense" (1999). Phoenix brought a quiet melancholy to his role, a young man trying to figure out how to best help his recently widowed brother and his young niece and nephew — and the third act hero who saves the day by "swinging away."
4. "The Master" (2012): Joaquin's big comeback role after all that "I'm Still Here" stuff made for one of his best-ever performances as Freddie Quell, a hard-drinking, emotionally and mentally unstable "able-bodied seaman" looking for direction and meaning in post-WWII America... and finding it in The Cause, a self-actualization cult led by the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman. Phoenix commands the screen with his volatile, dangerous portrayal of a man who may indeed be destined to never serve any master.
3. "Her" (2013): One of Joaquin's warmest and most sensitive characters to date is Theodore Twombly, a writer who ends up falling in love with his computer's A.I. operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. The bizarre premise works due to Phoenix's sincere performance, with the actor refusing to play Theodore as a neurotic loser (a lazy character choice often indulged by director Spike Jonze's frequent collaborator, Charlie Kaufman).
2. "Gladiator" (2000): Phoenix brought us a villain you love, love, love to hate in the form of Commodus, the sniveling son of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), who murders his father, seizes the throne and turns his dad's favorite general (Russell Crowe) into a slave. Oh, he's also totally in love with his sister, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). Gross.
1. "Walk the Line" (2005): Joaquin Phoenix hit it out of the park as Johnny Cash, the Man in Black who performs chart-topping country hits whilst pining for his colleague and soulmate, June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). James Mangold's bio film sometimes uncomfortably portrays love as icky obsession, but there's no denying that Phoenix is on fire here (or at least smack dab in the center of a ring of it)... though he lost the Oscar to his future "The Master" co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman, who took home the award for his portrayal of another real-life figure, Truman Capote, in "Capote."
The BIGGEST Hit: "Signs" (2002) brought in over $227 million at the domestic box office, making it Phoenix's biggest stateside hit. But "Gladiator" ended up the worldwide champion with a total take of over $457 million — almost $50 million more than "Signs."
With Honors: For his performance as Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line," Joaquin Phoenix won the Golden Globe for Best Actor — Musical or Comedy and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also received Oscar and Golden Globe noms for his performances in "Gladiator" and "The Master," and a Golden Globe nom for his work in Spike Jonze's "Her."
Trademark: Seething intensity mixed with an often haunted vulnerability.
Best Fan Tribute: Phoenix was "immortalized" by famed artist Shepard Fairey in the lead-up to "I'm Still Here" (there it is again), who created these pieces that popped up on the streets of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities in 2010.
Most Underappreciated Achievement: You know what? We might have to go with the whole "I'm Still Here" silliness with this. For the better part of a year-and-a-half, Joaquin Phoenix had (most of) us believing that he'd completely lost his mind. He supposedly threw away his acting career to become a rapper, grew a shaggy beard, and engaged in aloof, erratic behavior in public, beginning with his bizarre appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman" in February 2009, where he was supposed to pimp his "final film," "Two Lovers" (2009).
It ended up all being some sort of living art project/publicity stunt, as Casey Affleck's nominal documentary about Phoenix's transformation, "I'm Still Here," was revealed to be a put-on shortly after its release in September 2010. Joaquin made a follow-up appearance on "Letterman" that same month, all clean-shaven and back to normal. It ultimately wasn't a very good or even very interesting stunt, but again, Phoenix had (most of) us fooled, and staying in character for that long is no small feat.
Nobody's Perfect: You can't blame Joaquin Phoenix for wanting to work with Thomas Vinterberg, the Danish filmmaker who brought us the highly acclaimed "The Celebration" (1998) (and who is currently enjoying success with his Oscar-nominated "The Hunt"). Unfortunately, the Vinterberg-Phoenix collaboration "It's All About Love" (2003), an incoherent yet well-meaning tale of estranged lovers attempting to save their relationship whilst their near-future world seemingly collapses around them, failed to connect with audiences and critics, scoring a mere 14 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and, we're assuming, making nowhere near its $10 million budget back during its very limited box-office run.
Moonlighting: Phoenix has directed music videos for acts such as Ringside, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, and Silversun Pickups.
And for His Next Act: Phoenix will reunite with "The Master" writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson for "Inherent Vice," the screen adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's crime novel scheduled for a TBD release in 2014. Phoenix will be playing the lead role of Larry "Doc" Sportello, a pothead gumshoe who gets mixed up in all sorts of seedy L.A. noir.
By Bryan Enk
Age: 39
Stating the Case: A terrific actor's life and career were cut tragically short when River Phoenix died of a drug overdose outside the Viper Room in Hollywood on Oct. 31, 1993 at the age of 23... though the work he began would end up being continued by his younger brother, Joaquin — and then some.
Indeed, the man formerly known as Leif Phoenix is currently enjoying the kind of unorthodox yet highly acclaimed Hollywood career that his late brother was on the way towards. Making his (adorable) feature film debut in "Space Camp" (1986), Joaquin Phoenix has gone on to earn accolades for his intense and immersive performances in a wide variety of projects, from crowd-pleasing blockbusters like "Gladiator" (2000) to deeply personal auteur films like Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" (2012).
Now that the whole "I'm Still Here" (2010) silliness is out of the way (we'll get to that later), there's just no stopping this guy from staking his claim as both a Serious Actor and an A-list movie star... again.
Breakthrough Role: Joaquin first proved he was a lot more than just River Phoenix's little brother with his performance in Gus Van Sant's "To Die For" (1995). Phoenix brought dark potency and subversive humor to his portrayal of Jimmy Emmett, a none too bright and seemingly constantly stoned high schooler who becomes the unwitting patsy of the evil, manipulative, and impossibly sexy Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman), who seduces him into murdering her husband, Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon). Phoenix turned the mumbling, glass-eyed Jimmy into a truly fascinating figure, a seemingly beyond stupid yet hopelessly lovestruck young man you can't help but want to try to save.
The Best of the Best:
5. "Signs" (2002): Joaquin played Mel Gibson's kin in M. Night Shyamalan's alien invasion fable, arguably the last great film from the man who gave us "The Sixth Sense" (1999). Phoenix brought a quiet melancholy to his role, a young man trying to figure out how to best help his recently widowed brother and his young niece and nephew — and the third act hero who saves the day by "swinging away."
4. "The Master" (2012): Joaquin's big comeback role after all that "I'm Still Here" stuff made for one of his best-ever performances as Freddie Quell, a hard-drinking, emotionally and mentally unstable "able-bodied seaman" looking for direction and meaning in post-WWII America... and finding it in The Cause, a self-actualization cult led by the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman. Phoenix commands the screen with his volatile, dangerous portrayal of a man who may indeed be destined to never serve any master.
3. "Her" (2013): One of Joaquin's warmest and most sensitive characters to date is Theodore Twombly, a writer who ends up falling in love with his computer's A.I. operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. The bizarre premise works due to Phoenix's sincere performance, with the actor refusing to play Theodore as a neurotic loser (a lazy character choice often indulged by director Spike Jonze's frequent collaborator, Charlie Kaufman).
2. "Gladiator" (2000): Phoenix brought us a villain you love, love, love to hate in the form of Commodus, the sniveling son of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), who murders his father, seizes the throne and turns his dad's favorite general (Russell Crowe) into a slave. Oh, he's also totally in love with his sister, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). Gross.
1. "Walk the Line" (2005): Joaquin Phoenix hit it out of the park as Johnny Cash, the Man in Black who performs chart-topping country hits whilst pining for his colleague and soulmate, June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). James Mangold's bio film sometimes uncomfortably portrays love as icky obsession, but there's no denying that Phoenix is on fire here (or at least smack dab in the center of a ring of it)... though he lost the Oscar to his future "The Master" co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman, who took home the award for his portrayal of another real-life figure, Truman Capote, in "Capote."
The BIGGEST Hit: "Signs" (2002) brought in over $227 million at the domestic box office, making it Phoenix's biggest stateside hit. But "Gladiator" ended up the worldwide champion with a total take of over $457 million — almost $50 million more than "Signs."
With Honors: For his performance as Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line," Joaquin Phoenix won the Golden Globe for Best Actor — Musical or Comedy and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also received Oscar and Golden Globe noms for his performances in "Gladiator" and "The Master," and a Golden Globe nom for his work in Spike Jonze's "Her."
Trademark: Seething intensity mixed with an often haunted vulnerability.
Best Fan Tribute: Phoenix was "immortalized" by famed artist Shepard Fairey in the lead-up to "I'm Still Here" (there it is again), who created these pieces that popped up on the streets of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities in 2010.
Most Underappreciated Achievement: You know what? We might have to go with the whole "I'm Still Here" silliness with this. For the better part of a year-and-a-half, Joaquin Phoenix had (most of) us believing that he'd completely lost his mind. He supposedly threw away his acting career to become a rapper, grew a shaggy beard, and engaged in aloof, erratic behavior in public, beginning with his bizarre appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman" in February 2009, where he was supposed to pimp his "final film," "Two Lovers" (2009).
It ended up all being some sort of living art project/publicity stunt, as Casey Affleck's nominal documentary about Phoenix's transformation, "I'm Still Here," was revealed to be a put-on shortly after its release in September 2010. Joaquin made a follow-up appearance on "Letterman" that same month, all clean-shaven and back to normal. It ultimately wasn't a very good or even very interesting stunt, but again, Phoenix had (most of) us fooled, and staying in character for that long is no small feat.
Nobody's Perfect: You can't blame Joaquin Phoenix for wanting to work with Thomas Vinterberg, the Danish filmmaker who brought us the highly acclaimed "The Celebration" (1998) (and who is currently enjoying success with his Oscar-nominated "The Hunt"). Unfortunately, the Vinterberg-Phoenix collaboration "It's All About Love" (2003), an incoherent yet well-meaning tale of estranged lovers attempting to save their relationship whilst their near-future world seemingly collapses around them, failed to connect with audiences and critics, scoring a mere 14 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and, we're assuming, making nowhere near its $10 million budget back during its very limited box-office run.
Moonlighting: Phoenix has directed music videos for acts such as Ringside, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, and Silversun Pickups.
And for His Next Act: Phoenix will reunite with "The Master" writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson for "Inherent Vice," the screen adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's crime novel scheduled for a TBD release in 2014. Phoenix will be playing the lead role of Larry "Doc" Sportello, a pothead gumshoe who gets mixed up in all sorts of seedy L.A. noir.
