Latest news with #Eddington
Forbes
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Joaquin Phoenix Headed To New Mexico To Find His ‘Eddington' Character
Joaquin Phoenix as Sheriff Joe Cross in 'Eddington.' Richard Foreman/A24 When Joaquin Phoenix set out to play the small-town New Mexico mayor Joe Cross in Eddington , he didn't expect to be heading to the film's location for inspiration. "Honestly, it was an act of desperation," he tells me as we chat over Zoom. "I'd love to say that there was some great method or idea, but I was sitting here in my house in Los Angeles, holding the script, and saying, 'I need something tangible. How am I supposed to build the character? I have no idea. I need to be, and the landscape is important, and I need to be around people for whom this is their experience, or else I'm basing it off of reading." So, without hesitation in August 2023, the Oscar-winning actor and Eddington 's writer-director, Ari Aster, headed to Albuquerque, Santa Fe County, and Truth or Consequences, to get a feel for the people and places. While those three places are very real, Eddington is a work of fiction. "For me, it felt like it needed something more, and I think that was something that Ari had already been doing," the Joker actor explains. "He had been doing research in New Mexico, so I went with him, and we did ride-alongs with sheriffs and different police officers, and mayors, and it was absolutely vital. For me, I'm the kind of actor who wants to be able to touch something. I want to feel the environment." "Everyone was great and receptive, and kind of like the cliche of a small town in which everyone was friendly, and they didn't care. In the first five minutes, you took some pictures, and then all that celebrity attention went away, and we were able to spend time with them and ask anything. I found everybody to be open, receptive, not guarded and judgmental, but curious." Aster, known for acclaimed films such as Hereditary and Midsommar , describes Eddington as a "western-noir dark comedy ensemble piece set in a fictional copper mining town in contemporary New Mexico during the Covid-19 pandemic." Phoenix plays the town sheriff and a mayoral candidate running against Pedro Pascal's Ted Garcia, Eddington's incumbent mayor, who is running for reelection. Eddington lands in theaters on Friday, July 18, 2025. Students of cinema, both Aster, who is from New Mexico, and Phoenix, draw inspiration from a range of films and other art. Perhaps surprisingly, action movies from the 1980s, starring the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris, play a significant role in Eddington 's explosive finale. "I didn't make any conscious or considered effort to study any of those films, but I was born in '74, and I grew up with all of those images of those actors and iconic films. They're part of me. It's a part of my experience," Phoenix confirms. "I understood the humor of kicking open a door with me holding a massive machine gun and spraying the town. That was a part of me and Ari. I'm sure Ari had a more specific intention there, but it was nothing we discussed. There was no particular film that we talked about or looked at in terms of how I approached those moments." Forbes John Leguizamo And Anna Chlumsky On 'Smoke' And Her Hard No To 'My Girl 3' By Simon Thompson Eddington reunites Phoenix, known for standout performances in Walk the Line , Gladiator , The Master , Her , and C'mon C'mon , with Aster, who previously worked together on Beau is Afraid . He's one of only a handful of filmmakers that the actor has worked with more than once. So what is it about Aster that sets him apart? "There are probably several things, and maybe there's the professional side, but what I look for is a director who does something that no one else can do, and they have a very unique vision. Ari certainly has that," Phoenix shares. "There is nobody like him. Part of the personal side of it is that we want someone with whom we understand each other and can spend a lot of time together. Sometimes you're spending months with somebody. I like Ari as a person. I enjoy talking to him. I enjoy his observations and I like his humor." (Left to right) Writer, director, and producer Ari Aster and Joaquin Phoenix at the LA Premiere of ... More 'Eddington' at DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles, California. A24 via Getty Images How does Aster challenge an actor with such a diverse and celebrated catalog of work that netted him four Oscar nominations and one win? "I love the question, I know he does, but it's tough to articulate," he muses. "Sometimes with the director and actors, the director needs to be sensitive to what's going on with the actor, and to sense whether there's something more or a different approach than the actor might have. Sometimes it's to ensure that you've fully explored every possibility of the moment. Sometimes it's more direct than that, and very simply, for instance, you will know that in certain scenarios you need an insert shot. You need to make sure that the actor looks at their phone so that you can cut to it." "Often, when there are more meaty scenes, in some ways, part of what I want is somebody that can help me to ensure that I'm fully exploring all the possibilities for that scene, and isn't going to be comfortable with just settling on the first thing that comes to mind or what comes easily. Ari has like an obsession, and hopefully I do too, with doing that, and I think that hopefully we challenge each other to go deeper." (Left to right) Pedro Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix pose during a photocall for the film 'Eddington' at ... More the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. AFP via Getty Images There Are Two Big Reasons Why You Should Watch 'Eddington' In Theaters At a time when independent films need audience support at the box office more than ever, Phoenix implores people to experience Eddington in theaters. However, good box office is not the only reason. "It's vital, and I think that's true for most films, but with this film in particular," he concludes. "It's so much about this shared experience that we all went through, and yet we all went through it often glued to our own, individual screens, getting our version of events and of reality. There's something that feels corrective and right about going through this experience and watching this film as a collective, and to hear and feel the reaction of those around us, and hopefully people that have different political or philosophical leanings." "I think that's something really enjoyable about Eddington. There's something in which we can hopefully recognize a piece of ourselves in every character, and maybe laugh at ourselves a little bit, and forgive ourselves a little bit. Doing that in a collective experience feels important. There's something very fun about this film, and particularly the finale you mentioned, where you're in a room full of people, it's charged, it's electric, it's exciting, and it feels vital to have that experience versus sitting alone behind the screen."
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Emma Stone on Working With Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Eddington' and That Viral Bee Incident With Pedro Pascal and Austin Butler at Cannes
Emma Stone says she's glad she got to rehearse with Joaquin Phoenix before making 'Eddington.' But she's not always keen on rehearsal. More from Variety 'Bugonia' Trailer: Emma Stone Is Kidnapped by a Conspiracy Theorist Who Thinks She's an Alien in Yorgos Lanthimos' Next Film Bob the Drag Queen Launches Production Company Purse First Studios (EXCLUSIVE) Eric Dane's 'Countdown' Co-Stars Say He's Handling ALS Diagnosis With 'Grace and Dignity': 'He Wants Other People to Know They're Not Alone' 'We rehearsed. We went through everything,' Stone told me Thursday at the 'Eddington' premiere at the DGA in West Hollywood. 'Rehearsal is a little bit of mixed bag for me sometimes. Sometimes I really really enjoy it and sometimes I'm like, 'Oh God we're just doing it and it's going to ruin everything,' but this was one of the good ones.' Ari Aster's 'Eddington' stars Phoenix as the sheriff of a small New Mexico town during the COVID pandemic who surprises everyone when he announces – including his wife, played by Stone – that he's going to run for mayor against the incumbent (Pedro Pascal). Rounding out the cast are Luke Grimes, Austin Butler, Deidre O'Connell, Michael Ward, Clifton Collins Jr., Amélie Hoeferle, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Cameron Mann and William Belleau. Stone recalled her first day on set with Phoenix: 'It was cool. He was a cowboy. He was [Sheriff] Joe.' At the Cannes world premiere of the movie, a video of Pascal and Butler trying to shoo away a bee from Stone went viral. Just hours before the 'Eddington' premiere, Focus Features released the trailer for Stone's other upcoming movie, 'Bugonia,' directed by her frequent collaborator Yorgos Lanthimos. It revolves around two conspiracy-obsessed friends (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) who kidnap a high-powered CEO (Stone) because they believe she's an alien intent on destroying Earth. The trailer opens with Plemons in a beekeeper's suit talking about bees and how they collect pollen for their queen. I asked Stone if the viral Cannes moment was secret promotion for 'Bugonia.' 'Wouldn't that have been an incredible idea,' she said, smiling. 'It's just Pedro trying to help me out carrying a bee around in his pocket and setting it loose and Austin just blows it seemingly into my face and it was like, 'Bugonia, coming soon!'' 'Eddington' is in theaters July 18. 'Bugonia' is set for a limited release on Oct. 24. followed by a wide expansion on Oct. 31. See more photos from the 'Eddington' premiere below. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: All 118 Categories Updated as Voting Opens With Tight Races and Major Shakeups 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Joaquin Phoenix Says ‘I'm So Sorry' for ‘Horrible' and ‘Uncomfortable' Letterman Interview: ‘One of the Worst Nights of My Life'
Joaquin Phoenix was the guest of honor on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' on Tuesday night, marking his first appearance on the late-night staple since his infamous 2009 interview with Dave Letterman and subsequent on-air apology the next year. The Oscar winner memorably appeared on Letterman's 'Late Show' in character (shaggy hair, untamed beard and all) from his mockumentary 'I'm Still Here,' which documented his life after the spoof announcement that he was retiring from acting to pursue a hip-hop career. The interview, some of which was used in the film, was incredibly awkward and led the public to believe Phoenix was having a mental breakdown. More from Variety Emma Stone on Working With Joaquin Phoenix in 'Eddington' and That Viral Bee Incident With Pedro Pascal and Austin Butler at Cannes 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman' Renewed for Seasons 6 and 7 at Netflix 'Eddington' Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal Feud Through George Floyd Protests and Machine-Gun Fire in Ari Aster's COVID Western Sitting down with Colbert, Phoenix said it was his intention to get a big reaction out of, not just Letterman, but the public at large. However, he said he did give the show a heads up. 'When I came on this show with Dave, I originally did the pre-interview in character and I realized that it was just a little silly, so I called them back and I said, 'Listen, this is what I'm doing. I'm coming out here and I'm doing this whole thing. And I just want Dave to like, lacerate me. I just want it to be really dangerous,'' Phoenix said. 'That was the kind of intention — I just always wanted to get this reaction and see how I would respond to that. So it was beneficial for no one to know, except when needed.' But Phoenix admitted that the interview itself was 'horrible,' adding: 'It was so uncomfortable. I regret it, I'll never do it again. I'm so sorry.' After the two shared a laugh, Colbert told Phoenix, 'I don't know if [Letterman's] watching.' 'He might be and I just need to say, I'm sorry,' Phoenix responded. The actor, who stars in Ari Aster's new movie 'Eddington,' did apologize to the late-night host when he came back on 'The Late Show' in 2010. 'I hope I didn't offend you in any way,' he said at the time. 'You've interviewed many, many people and I assumed that you would know the difference between a character and a real person, but I apologize.' Reflecting on the moment with Colbert, Phoenix concluded: 'It was strange because in some ways, it was a success, and it was also just one of the worst nights of my life.' Watch Phoenix's full interview with Colbert below. Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch Solve the daily Crossword
Montreal Gazette
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Brownstein: In its 29th year, Fantasia festival boldly stays the course to outer limits of moviedom
By The 29 th Fantasia International Film Festival, kicking off Wednesday night and running until Aug. 3, once again reaches for the outer limits of moviedom with offerings from all over the map. If there isn't something among the 125 features and 200 shorts to titillate more adventurous moviegoers, it will probably come as a shock to the fest's long-standing artistic director, Mitch Davis. Billed as the continent's largest genre film fest, Fantasia's focus is as always indie-oriented, esoteric and auteur-driven, touching on live action and animated fare from all corners of our celluloid planet. But the fest also pays much homage to local fare and pioneers from our filmmaking past. Davis is fond of saying that Fantasia is 'a celebration of the eccentric and unclassifiable, playing all films with equal importance.' Eclectic would also apply. Be they the fest's opening films like the edgy Eddington, marking its Canadian première Wednesday at 6 p.m. or, yes, Smurfs, in advance of its Friday opening at theatres everywhere, Wednesday at 6:15 in French and 8:25 in English. The latter with its iconic blue critters takes animation to another level, while the former, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone, centres on a New Mexico town thrust into chaos. But Davis is equally high on Chicoutimi native Félix Dufour-Laperrière's Death Does Not Exist, an animated potboiler — first presented at Cannes and screening Thursday — pursuing a group of young revolutionaries. Or Saguenay native JP Bergeron's quirky yet poignant live-action love story Old Guys in Bed, showing Aug. 3. This is Bergeron's first feature. Better known for his 90-plus acting credits, Bergeron, 73, is an inspiration to senior filmmakers and is now planning to make Old Guys in Bed the first instalment of a gay trilogy. 'I plan to keep directing films for a while now,' says Bergeron, who previously directed a short that won a prize at the 2012 Fantasia fest. 'The way I see it is that 90 could be the new 60.' Davis is also excited about The MusiquePlus Years: Artists Who Started with the Music Video, a nostalgic look back at the station's glory days in the '90s through clips, stories and memories. It is being presented Saturday. Screenings as well as panel discussions take place at Concordia University's SGWU Alumni Auditorium (Hall Theatre), J.A. de Sève Cinema, the Cinéma du Musée and the BBAM! Gallery. Adds the ever-effusive Davis at fest headquarters in Concordia's Hall Building: 'And can't forget that we're showcasing the current exciting renaissance of Kazakhstan genre cinema with the world première of the noir-tinged folk horror chiller Kazakh Scary Tales, hosted by award-winning director Adilkhan Yerzhanov and star Anna Starchenko, and the North American première of the touching sci-fi comedy Stinker, hosted by director Yerden Telemissov.' No surprise that Davis's enthusiasm for film has struck a chord with the likes of Quentin Tarantino — whose Inglourious Basterds made its North American première at the fest and who called Fantasia 'the most important and prestigious genre film festival on this continent' — as well as with such past guests as Guillermo del Toro, Mark Hamill, John Carpenter, Ken Russell, Robert Pattinson and John Landis. This year's Fantasia will also be paying special tribute to acclaimed Hollywood film composer Danny Elfman, Canadian acting great Sheila McCarthy, veteran Montreal director George Mihalka, maverick American indie filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman and legendary American animator Genndy Tartakovsky — whose latest film, Fixed, closes the festival. Nicolas Archambault, Fantasia's director of Asian live-action programming the last 18 years, is particularly pumped about his acquisitions. 'We have a lot from Japan and South Korea, where production has been fast changing because they've been selling many of their TV series to Netflix,' notes Archambault, who had spent two months scouting films in Japan and South Korea. 'Now Korean producers really feel the need to make films to play in their theatres as well as those in Indonesia and Thailand. Indonesia is also getting there on the production front. Our challenge is to keep up because the scene is quickly evolving.' Davis points out that in the first year of Fantasia there was much attention paid to the Hong Kong New Wave movement, from directors like John Woo. 'These films were really blowing up, yet the Montreal film festivals at the time had a collective blind spot and just weren't showing them. So we did. And we've kept at it since.' That element underscores the Fantasia programming formula. 'We've always been very broad in what we play, but not so much for people with only vanilla tastes but for those who want to see something with a point of view, even like the eccentric Smurfs,' Davis says. 'We have a real consistent thread. The films can be subversive melodramas or South Korean comedies, horror, sci-fi or fantasy films or documentaries. But one thread going through them all is they are made, regardless of budget, with a purity of vision. And they take risks.' Yet even Davis is surprised that Fantasia has lasted 29 years with such fare. 'Certainly, we never expected to be around this long. Every year felt like it was going to be our last. We weren't getting any institutional support at the beginning. Every year felt like a miracle. But now we really feel supported and recognized. 'And loved.'
UPI
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
Watch: Joaquin Phoenix 'so sorry' for 'horrible' 2009 'Letterman' interview
1 of 5 | Joaquin Phoenix apologized for his "horrible," "uncomfortable" 2009 interview with David Letterman during his visit to "The Late Show" Tuesday. File Photo by Rocco Spaziani/UPI | License Photo July 16 (UPI) -- Eddington star Joaquin Phoenix is apologizing for his "horrible" 2009 interview on The Late Show with David Letterman. The actor, 50, discussed the experience when he stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday. In 2009, Phoenix spoke to then-Late Show host David Letterman while in character for his film I'm Not Here, in which he portrays a version of himself who quits acting to become a hip-hop artist. His appearance and behavior during the interview led some to believe Phoenix was having a mental breakdown. "It was horrible. It was so uncomfortable. I regret it. I'll never do it again. I'm so sorry," the actor told Colbert with a smile. "It was strange because in some ways, it was a success, and it was also just one of the worst nights of my life," he added. Phoenix said the situation happened because he stayed in character for the duration of filming, which lasted longer than he anticipated. "We shot for over a year. I did not anticipate that. I thought I was going to be several weeks, maybe a couple months, and what happened was -- because it started out just in my house... and then we started going public," he said, adding, "I had to keep it going." Phoenix next stars in Eddington, which opens in theaters Friday. The film is directed by Ari Aster and also features Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler and Luke Grimes.
