Joaquin Phoenix Is No Christian Bale When It Comes To Onset Diva Tantrums
You really can’t take one step across the internet without tripping on some kind of headline about that Joker shit. We’ve heard about how the families of the Aurora shooting victims are worried that the movie may plant the seeds for more violence and asked Warner Bros. to push for gun control. And that Joaquin Phoenix ran away from an interview like it was soap after he was asked if Joker could inspire shootings. And the military is on high alert over this mess, the police are stepping up their presence at some screenings, and reporters were banned from the premiere for obvious reasons. There’s a lot more “Ands” I can add, but you get the point.
Well, I guess Warner Bros. wanted to counter all those serious headlines with some fluffiness, so they threw Joaquin into Jimmy Kimmel Live!. But when you mix together the light cheesiness of a late-night talk show host and the uncomfortable sheepishness of a ~*sErious THespiAN*~ like Joaquin, you get a bowl of awkward. And things got even more awkward when Jimmy Kimmel pulled out some Joker outtakes of Joaquin throwing a little fit after the cinematographer, Lawrence “Larry” Sher, wouldn’t stop whispering about Cher!
While dressed like an IRS auditor going to the funeral of a co-worker whom he was “eh” about, Joaquin started his talk with Jimmy by saying words about getting scrawny for Joker. Things got a little awkward when Joaquin talked about his love of breakdancing, and Jimmy made fun of him for being alone with his cardboard in his room, to which he said, “You’re making fun of it, but it was serious to me.” And when Jimmy wondered if Joker was hard to make, Joaquin said that things were light and fun on set. Jimmy was obviously setting Joaquin up, because Jimmy then showed outtakes sent to the show by anti-woke culture activist/Joker director Todd Phillips of him getting pissed off as he’s trying to gift the world with his brilliance as Larry the Cinematographer whispers about him being a diva like Cher (Joaquin WISHES!). This set Joaquin off:
“The constant whispering, just shut the fuck up, dude. I’m trying to like find something real. Sorry, it’s not a big deal, it’s not a big deal. Yeah, it kind of is.
I know you started the fucking Cher thing, Larry. Fucking making fun of me. Like I’m a fucking diva. It’s not even an insult. Cher, really? Singer, actor, dancer, fashion icon — how’s that a fucking insult?”
I do have to hand it to Joaquin for defending Cher against Sher. That is the best thing he’s ever done! But now I’m going to need Warner Bros. to cancel Joker’s opening, delete and burn every single copy, and re-shoot the entire thing with Cher as The Joker. This is a good move, because 1. Cher. And 2. Warner Bros. won’t have to worry about complaints of gun violence since The JoCher would cause chaos with her voice, moves, sparkling hotness, glamour, and ass cheeks!
Joaquin responded to the clip by saying that sometimes movie-making gets intense, but that the clip was supposed to be private and he’s embarrassed and is sorry everyone had to see it. The not-as-entertaining lukewarm reboot of Joaquin’s Letterman messiness from 2009 starts at around the 8:05 mark below.
Yes, Joaquin was probably in on Kimmel’s “surprise” clip and that whole thing was probably staged to further prove that he’s a serious actor who is seriously serious about his serious craft, but please. It looks like Joaquin barely graduated from The Preschool of On-Set Tantrums, and if he’s really going to go there, he obviously needs to take a lesson from Professor Christian Bale at the University of On-Set Tantrums.
Why bother losing it on set in a moment that’d eventually get leaked or released for promo when you aren’t even going to give us a catchphrase we can use for the rest of our days? I mean, “I know you started the fucking Cher thing” is no “Ooooooh, gooooood for you!”
Pic: YouTube