Joaquin Phoenix: On Fire

Your first impression of smoky-eyed hunk Joaquin Phoenix was probably as the evil emperor Commodeus who was out to get Russell Crowe in Gladiator. The dark-haired actor switched to good guy as Mel Gibson's brother in the eerie Signs and played an affable fellow who couldn't wait to leave The Village. Now, Joaquin (or Joac pronounced "Wok" to his friends) stars with John Travolta as a firefighter in the very intense and real drama Ladder 49. Phoenix, whose actor brother River died of a drug overdose way before his time, comes from a talented if strangely named group of siblings. He changed his own name from something like "Rainbow" to Joaquin years ago. But, whatever, he's called, the actor is always intriguing and totally believable in his roles.

Just completed, is Joaquin's lead role as singer Johnny Cash with Reese Witherspoon as his wife June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. We never fail to be amazed at this actor's versatility. When we had a sit-down with Joac recently in L.A.'s Century City, Phoenix was still following that Cash tradition by wearing all black...which looks way hot on him. He's lost weight since his "Ladder" role. He was friendly, more outspoken than usual and obviously proud of his new film that finally "gets it right" as far as the everyday lives of our 9-11 heroes, the firefighters of America. The actor entered the room and made a point to shake hands with everyone before talking about his intense firefighter training, injuries, respect for his fellow actors, true heroes and emotional feelings about his role.

TeenHollywood: What is the cap (black baseball cap with white lettering)?

Joaquin: It's the Louisville Fire Department. Just outside of Dallas. We just visited them.

TeenHollywood: Did you want to be a firefighter when you grew up?

Joaquin: I always was hypnotized by firefighters. Any time a truck went by, I loved watching, I loved the sound of the thing. But I never really thought about being a firefighter. I always wanted to appreciate them from a distance. I didn't think I had what it took to be a firefighter.

TeenHollywood: Which is?

Joaquin: Well, it's the endurance. It's the day in, day out of the job. It's not just handling one situation. It's the cumulative effect.

TeenHollywood: We read that you were afraid of heights and your character is all over tall buildings. Did you not think about that when deciding on taking the part?

Joaquin: What was I thinking? That's what Jay [Russell, director] was asking himself when I got to the first firehouse and I couldn't go down the pole. He was like 'Who have I cast for this?' And I was panicking. I was 'What am I gonna do?' But, training at the academy made all the difference. It was an amazing experience. You don't totally overcome your fears. Firefighters tell you if you aren't scared, then get out of the job. But you learn to control your fear. You learn to trust your crew and trust your equipment. I was just certain that the rope was gonna break when we were rappelling off this tower, I turned to my instructor and said 'There's no way I can do this. I can do the other stuff but I can't do this'. 'Yes, you can'. He said 'just look in my eyes and trust me. I promise you, you're gonna make it. You're gonna be fine'.

TeenHollywood: Wow, that's a scene in the movie. You say "look in my eyes".

Joaquin: Yes. They say you do anything just to grab their attention, make them (fire victims) focus on you, stop panicking. Don't think about anything else. Just look to someone that's right there. Just say you are there with them, 'look in my eyes'. It works. [I'll say. This guy has gorgeous eyes!]

TeenHollywood: Did you become a licensed fireman?

Joaquin: No. (fellow actor) Tim [Guinee] is insane. (laughs) He's a volunteer fireman now. He had some great runs. I think he actually pulled someone out of a fire. It was really impressive. But all of the actors put in so much time and so much work. Even Jacinda [Barrett who plays Joaquin's wife] put in as much time as anyone and spent time with the firefighters' families and really absorbed that experience. I don't know how we could have made the movie without that experience. I mean, it probably would have felt false or felt like a Hollywood movie, just something that we really wanted to avoid.

TeenHollywood: Did you guys pull pranks on each other like the real firemen do?

Joaquin: Yeah. For me, the energy on set is as important as anything and really creating the feeling that you're experiencing in that scene. If something is intense, then I want the energy on set to feel intense. I'm going to do whatever I can to make it intense for myself. If it's supposed to be light and joyous, then you create that sense and so it just depended on what scene we were doing.

TeenHollywood: Were you injured at all on this film?

Joaquin: Well, my knees are shot. Yeah, they are. I was supposed to do some physical therapy but I didn't have time. I'd done this movie and I'd been doing so much physical stuff, just the word 'physical' made me uncomfortable. I busted the protective sack over the knees. It still feels like an indentation but it's actually the scar tissue. You're on your knees all the time and I just did it for real and it ended up being that we were actually in the gear and on our knees longer than firefighters usually are because they go in, they knock out the fire and take the gear off but we would be in it all day long. That's what they said to us. They're like 'you know, we're never in this gear that long'.

TeenHollywood: Does it cause you a lot of pain?

Joaquin: It's all right. It's only when I get on my knees. It's fine walking around. It's just really tender when I actually get on my knees.

TeenHollywood: So no more priest roles for you.

Joaquin: (laughs) right, exactly.

TeenHollywood: How was working with Jacinda as your wife? Did you exchange acting tips?

Joaquin: No. I don't believe in actors giving tips. I think every actor's experience and method is different. I'm not gonna impose my ideas or thoughts on someone. But, it was obviously a very important relationship. We had very little time to establish that relationship in some respects. A lot of it had to just be handled with a couple of looks. But, I was so impressed with her work ethic and how much time and effort she committed to this film. Jay has said that she had the toughest role. To be honest, there wasn't a lot on the page for her and she brought so much to the character. She really deserves at lot of credit for making that character so believable.

TeenHollywood: You seem to have a great rapport with John Travolta. Was that there from the beginning?

Joaquin: It helps that I have a great deal of respect for him as an actor. He's one of the few people that I can think of right now who is a movie star character actor. I don't know anyone else who has achieved that. Everyone else that has his level of fame, they kind of bring this persona, this personality to each role. John has just done so many different unique roles. You always feel like there is a real person there. It's not an actor just doing something. It's always nice when you appreciate someone else's work and you really trust their decision and feel good about their work.

TeenHollywood: Was there something about him that really impressed you on this film?

Joaquin: Yeah. Honestly, John could have come in and said 'I don't need to do any training or anything. I'm in a couple of fires and that's it. But, he showed up at the academy. He flew in and came right to the academy, got in his turn out gear and went into a fire with me. It was ten days for me before I ever got near a fire. I got really used to all the equipment. We did all these other exercises and I was so impressed with that. It made me just feel really safe and comfortable with him. It's funny, because now, as we go through this too, I feel that I'm really getting to know John but I feel like I knew Captain Kennedy (John's character). He just arrived in character and I think we all felt that. It was pretty amazing. It's nice when you don't have to work to sell a relationship. It grows naturally out of what you're doing, your experiences together.

TeenHollywood: This is a very "real" film. Was it the lack of a Hollywood gimmick that drew you to the script and the character?

Joaquin: I think there's a need in films to tell stories about heroes. I've always avoided those parts because they rarely ring true for me. There's all these contrived little plots in order to give our protagonist some sense of goodness and with firefighters, that sense of goodness and heroism is inherent in what they do, in their profession and, because of that, it seemed we were able to explore some other parts of the character, not always be concerned about how do we make this guy heroic? How do we make people like him? How do we make him sympathetic?

TeenHollywood: So, the character always just seemed real to you?

Joaquin: Initially, in the first script I read, he was a perfect character and it just didn't feel true. I was the perfect father. I really liked the idea of being able to play a heroic character but to try and capture some of what, to me, felt like real life in that things aren't always perfect with your family. You're tired. You're annoyed. You fight with your wife. There were some scenes that we changed that, for me, gave it a sense of authenticity and made us feel like 'yeah, we're really watching what it's like for this husband and wife to sit together at dinner after his best friend has been burned and he doesn't know how to talk about it and yet she's pressing him". Initially they held each others hands and looked at each other and said 'yeah, babe'. And that's not what happens. We can afford to let him be annoyed with his wife and we can afford to show that side of the character because people are gonna care about these guys.

TeenHollywood: Was it important for you to do this film after 9-11 and all the firefighter sacrifices?

Joaquin: It was important. I mean I think everybody was thinking 'how do we express our thanks?' And, it was an amazing opportunity really to say thank you. It's a thing that Jay and I talked about from the very beginning. The most important thing is that firefighters see this film and feel that it's an accurate depiction of their lives. If that happens and that works, that's all we could ask for and that takes precedence over whether it's financially or critically successful.

TeenHollywood: Your sister (Summer) lives in New York. Were you there on 9-11?

Joaquin: No, I actually left September 10th, like one in the morning. Yeah, I was actually staying down on Rector which is about 12 blocks from there and I went down to do Signs.

TeenHollywood: Have you gotten any feedback from firefighters yet?

Joaquin: Yeah and it's been the most amazing experience. They've thanked us for making this movie. I can't tell you what that's like to go to these fire houses and have these guys come up and take your hand and look you in the eye and say 'thank you for making this movie'. It's so powerful. I had a woman in Dallas at the firehouse. She told me her husband was a fire fighter and he passed away fifteen years ago trapped in a building. And she said, 'I want to thank you for making this movie because I always wondered what he thought about' (at this point Joaquin actually tears up). It was so powerful. I don't think anyone's ever thanked me for making a movie before so it's meant so much to me. I can't tell you how good that feels to know they like this film and say 'finally, someone got it right. Someone has told our story'. And that's been amazing.

TeenHollywood: You are all in black. Are you turning into Johnny Cash? Did you have to learn to play guitar for that role?

Joaquin: I finished that film last Friday. I think John's only request for whoever played him, was that he was totally comfortable with the guitar. And so when I met with [the director], he told me, "go out and buy a guitar and learn how to hold it." Which I did and then, about three months prior to shooting, I came out here to L.A. and me and Reese [Witherspoon] started prepping for the film. We started taking guitar lessons and vocal lessons and researching the role.

TeenHollywood: So you did all of your own singing as well as playing?

Joaquin: I do some of the playing - some of the live performances onstage, is not me playing. But there's a few songs where, actually, you'll see me writing the songs and so I play those. I never reached the point where I was perfect.

TeenHollywood: How weird was it to have Robert Patrick play your father in that film since he was a fellow firefighter in this film?

Joaquin: (smiling) Me and R.P., I said, 'listen, man I want to make every movie with you' and he said 'I'd like to work with you too' and then I couldn't believe it. He called me and said 'I think I'm gonna play your dad'. And I said 'you're too young to play my dad'.

TeenHollywood: Ladder 49 is your first really strong leading role (that we'll see anyway). Is that a change for you?

Joaquin: I'm definitely getting better opportunities. It's great. The amazing thing about doing a "lead role" is just the amount of time that you get to work on the script and work with the director, and what a difference that makes. It's great training to play a supporting role because they don't give you much time to work on the thing. You've got to come in and nail it and be gone because the director's spending all this time with the crew with the lead actor. And I like going to work every day and working really closely with everyone and working on the character with the director. Just the amount of time that you get is great.

TeenHollywood: What would you rescue from a burning building?

Joaquin: I don't know. I haven't thought of that. Maybe my wallet which I lost.

TeenHollywood: So if there was a fire now you'd be able to rescue us?

Joaquin: (laughing) You'd be carrying me out!

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.