Joaquin Phoenix is about to star Napoleonthe new epic film Ridley Scott. Director and performer worked together in one of the most remembered roles of phoenixthat of Emperor Commodo in Gladiator. However, what convinced Scott to opt for him as Napoleon Bonaparte It was not that collaboration, but a more recent project of the actor.
The filmmaker gave a talk at an event in London organized by deadline. In it, he gave new details about his imminent film, which will be released in theaters at the end of November. Therefore, he spoke of phoenix and when she decided to opt for him over any other actor. “I was impressed with his enormous film joker. I didn’t like the way it celebrated violence, but Joaquin It was extraordinary,” he says. Scott.
“I thought he would be an incredible asset to Napoleonalso in a commercial sense,” reveals the veteran director, responsible for works such as Alien either blade runner. Thanks to his portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime in D.C., phoenix He won the role of the French warlord ahead of another actor. “I only had two actors in mind for the role. I won’t mention the other one,” the director dropped during the conference.
Next to Scott was Kate Rhodes Jamesthe casting director of Napoleon. This explained the great chemistry that arose between phoenix and Vanessa Kirbywhich gives life to Josephine de Beauharnais, the protagonist’s wife. “They have an intimacy that you can’t camouflage. Vanessa He has a particular quality: he is very intelligent. Josephine, the character, was an intelligent and manipulative survivor. There were moments in the film that the two actors improvised and it was magical. They were amazing together,” she celebrates.
Why Napoleon
Throughout his career, Scott He has excelled in a multitude of different genres and stories. It is not in vain that he is considered one of the best filmmakers of the last four decades. But his choice to do a work as ambitious as Napoleon At 85 years old, it was born from a personal passion. “I have always loved the French lifestyle. I have never forgotten the French summers. I loved Paris so much that I have an office there. My first film, The duelistsit was about Napoleonalthough he did not appear in it,” he mentions in reference to the film he directed in 1977.
“There are 400 books on Napoleon, but I am a child who looks at images. When you see the paintings of the French painter [Jacques-Louis] David“You learn a history lesson from them,” he reflects. Scott. From all that fascination with French culture is where the seed of what has ended up being born. Napoleon. A film of more than two and a half hours that also has a director’s cut of more than four hours that is still unknown if it will see the light of day. The film will be released in theaters on November 24 and will later reach Apple TV+.