Joaquin Phoenix is commonly thought to be one of many best actors of all time, and for good cause. The prolific actor has been nominated for 120 awards, earned excessive accolades resembling an Academy Award, two Golden Globes and even a Grammy, and has been extremely praised by critics for his portrayals in varied impartial and worthwhile blockbusters.
From Theodore in Her (2013) to Arthur Fleck in Joker (2019), the numerous complexities of the characters Phoenix portrays have cemented his legacy in Hollywood. These portrayals have led to a exceptional resume, however not each function was an ideal selection for the actor. Here are 10 main roles that Joaquin Phoenix turned down or didn’t get.
David Freeman - Flight of the Navigator (1986)
Joaquin Phoenix started performing at eight years previous, initially starring in an episode of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers titled “Christmas Song.” This debut launched Phoenix’s profession in performing and led to his first function movie audition for the 1986 science fiction movie, Flight of the Navigator. He auditioned for the lead function of David Freeman, a lacking 12-year-old who reappears eight years later with the power to pilot an alien spaceship, together with Joey Cramer and Chris O’Donnell. The movie, regardless of being a monetary success, grew to become progressive for its use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) results on the time.
Phoenix ended up not receiving the function, which went to Cramer as an alternative, however he did handle to make his function movie debut that very same 12 months. Under the identify Leaf Phoenix, he starred within the notorious 1986 movie, SpaceCamp.
Edgar Allen Poe - The Raven (2012)
V for Vendettas director James McTeigue tackled the ultimate days of Edgar Allan Poe’s life in his third function movie, The Raven, in 2012. The story portrayed a fictionalized retelling of nowadays by following Poe’s pursuit of a serial killer who makes use of his tales as inspiration for his assaults.
The crime thriller was initially set to star Jeremy Renner as Emmett Fields, a detective Poe companions with, and Joaquin Phoenix as Edgar Allan Poe. However, Renner’s dedication to filming Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol as an alternative led to the duo dropping out of the movie.
Captain Hook - Peter Pan & Wendy (2023)
Disney has had its fair proportion of live-action remakes of its basic and fashionable animated movies, and Peter Pan & Wendy (2023) is among the studio’s newest examples of this pattern. Its story follows the 2 titular characters and Tinker Bell (Yara Shahidi) as they journey to Neverland, encountering the evil Captain Hook (Jude Law) alongside the way in which.
Before Jude Law adorned the mantle of the hooked pirate, it was rumored that Joaquin Phoenix together with Margot Robbie as Tinker Bell had been each eyed by producers to tackle the favored roles. However, these rumors didn’t pan out, but it surely was not the one Disney function Phoenix would have — as he voiced Kenai in Brother Bear (2003).
Disney Live-Action Remakes: Excitment or Worry
DJ - Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Rian Johnson’s eighth entry into Star War’s Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, has polarized followers from the second it was launched. The combined reception of the movie’s plot, character arcs and character deaths have grow to be some extent of rivalry amongst followers regardless of its monetary and important success. Throughout all this, the movie nonetheless launched many characters and plots into the saga, with one in every of them being DJ, performed by Benicio del Toro.
DJ was a skillful hacker that aided Rose and Finn as they labored their manner into infiltrating the Supremacy, a flagship managed by the First Order. Before the function was confirmed to be given to Del Toro, it was speculated that Joaquin Phoenix was approached to star because the movie’s resident hacker. However, it was later speculated that Phoenix went on to show down the provide — which was not his first denial of a future main blockbuster.
Billy Loomis - Scream (1996)
When it involves memorable, iconic villains all through horror, no names come to thoughts faster than the murderous duo of Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) from 1996’s Scream. The Wes Craven directed, Kevin Williamson written movie sparked a brand new era of movies within the horror style, counting on being self-referential to the broader style and casting high-profile performers in lead roles.
The movie is taken into account to be probably the greatest slashers from the Nineties, and Ulrich’s terrifying efficiency as Billy Loomis could be attributed to its attraction. The casting of Ulrich was primarily as a result of actor’s resemblance to the younger Johnny Depp, who appeared in A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1986. While producers and filmmakers noticed Ulrich because the pristine selection for the function, it’s speculated that different names circulated the listing for one of many unique Ghostface killers. Among the listing was Joaquin Phoenix.
Louis Simo - Hollywoodland (2006)
The 2006 thriller drama movie, Hollywoodland, is one other occasion of a fictionalized account of an actual particular person’s dying that Joaquin Phoenix has turned down. The movie is ready within the Nineteen Fifties and follows the dying of George Reeves, a well-known actor recognized for enjoying Superman, and the situations surrounding it. The movie, nonetheless, focuses on Louis Simo, a detective performed by Adrien Brody of The Piano fame, as he investigates the circumstances surrounding the premature dying of Reeves.
During the early phases of the movie’s pre-production, Mark and Michael Polish had been employed to direct the early script of the movie, then titled Truth, Justice, and the American Way, beneath Focus Features. After the movie was dropped, Miramax Films picked up the script, and quite a few names had been purported to be in rivalry for the function of Louis Simo with the 2 greatest being Benicio Del Toro and Joaquin Phoenix. While Phoenix didn’t find yourself getting the half, last-minute delays led to Del Toro leaving the movie and Brody taking his place.
Willard Stiles - Willard (2003)
In a reasonably unusual world, Joaquin Phoenix would have commanded a bunch of rats within the 2003 movie, Willard. The psychological horror movie is a free adaptation of Stephen Gelbert’s novel Ratman’s Notebooks, and it follows Willard Stiles’ quest for revenge after being wronged by his boss and discovering his unusual affinity towards controlling rats.
The Glen Morgan-directed, and written function noticed Back to the Future’s Crispin Glover because the movie’s titular outcast; nonetheless, he was not the one actor who’s believed to be in consideration for the function. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Macaulay Culkin are thought to have been approached to play the function of Stiles within the movie, however each dropped out for unspecified causes.
10 Times Joaquin Phoenix Transformed Himself for a Role
Lex Luthor - Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
In one other occasion of polarizing movies Phoenix has nearly starred in, the 2016 superhero movie Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice would possibly take the controversial crown. While the movie grew to become the seventh highest-grossing movie in 2016, the detrimental critic rating and underwhelming field workplace outcomes towards its finances led the movie to grow to be contentious amongst beloved followers.
Like The Last Jedi, the movie served because the introduction to many characters inside the now-defunct DC Extended Universe. One of these characters was Lex Luthor, who was performed by Jesse Eisenberg within the movie. While his portrayal can also be contentious amongst followers, the introduction of Lex Luthor proved vital for the introduction of one in every of DC’s most prestigious villains, and Adam Driver and Joaquin Phoenix had been additionally thought-about for the half.
Driver, who went on to star within the Star Wars collection, was approached by manufacturing for the function however was hindered by a scheduling battle. Phoenix, who has handed on earlier superhero roles prior to now, declined the function.
Dirk Diggler - Boogie Nights (1997)
When Paul Thomas Anderson’s second function movie, Boogie Nights, was in early manufacturing, he envisioned Leonardo DiCaprio because the movie’s dishwasher who turns into a productive porn star. Anderson was drawn to DiCaprio after the latter’s efficiency in The Basketball Diaries and felt that he was excellent for the half, however DiCaprio was pledged to Titanic as an alternative.
Anderson went on to seek for his lead and requested Joaquin Phoenix to star. However, Phoenix turned down the function as a consequence of his worries about enjoying a porn star, and the function went on to Mark Wahlberg ultimately.
Phoenix’s presence in one in every of his movies led Anderson to proceed asking the star to be solid in different movies of his, such because the 2007 hit There Will Be Blood. Eventually, Anderson’s needs got here true as soon as Phoenix signed on to star in Inherent Vice (2014).
Doctor Strange - Doctor Strange (2016)
One of the extra memorable cases the place Joaquin Phoenix turned down a task occurred to be the function of Doctor Strange in Doctor Strange (2016). The movie noticed the introduction of the magical neurosurgeon inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Phoenix was in early negotiations for the function in July 2014. Shortly thereafter, discussions between Phoenix and Marvel Studios fell by means of, resulting in actors like Jared Leto, Benedict Cumberbatch and Oscar Isaac being thought-about for the function.
Doctor Strange would have been Phoenix’s first enterprise inside the superhero style earlier than he was solid because the unforgettable lead in 2019’s Joker. In an interview with TimeOut, Phoenix was requested if he ever considers starring in big blockbuster movies prefer it and Star Wars, resulting in this response:
“When I was younger I was probably a bit of a snob about that. But they’ve gotten better. I’ve flirted with several of those films, having meetings and getting close, but ultimately it never felt like they’d really be fulfilling. There were too many requirements that went against my instincts for character. I’ve been spoiled. I’ve never had to make those compromises. I’ve not met a director yet with one of those films where we go through the script, they say: “You know what, f*ck this set-piece, let’s focus on the character!” I perceive, but it surely’s finest I don’t do it.’”
