Don’t listen to me listen to the stars

Joaquin Phoenix came to this conclusion around the time of Walk The Line, which was entertaining but by the numbers. He realized he didn’t want to do that kind of acting any more. “You just act and it’s so ugly.” So when is acting not acting? For Phoenix, it’s a sort of freestyle improv, a feeling that he’s chasing, the kind of thing easier to do than explain. But he knows the only way he’ll get to it: by feeling there’s no real control, by feeling genuine danger, to capture things that he hasn’t figured out, not the things he has. He wants it to be scary.

“When the actor is on the set working and they are completely and totally prepared they should be looking for the things in there environment ( surroundings, other actor or actors in the scene etc.) that they don’t know not the things they do.  This brings spontaneity to the work and stops you from acting.  They are now on the road to exploration being their default. ”  Dan Gauthier