An Interview with Joaquin Phoenix (continued)

handbag.com has all the latest celebrity gossip, entertainment news and celebrity interviews. handbag.com talks to Hollywood actor Joaquin Phoenix.

You're in the midst of shooting a film, Walk The Line, about Johnny Cash (directed by James Mangold) with Reese Witherspoon. What are your thoughts about Cash?
Johnny Cash was an incredible man. A genius and a kind of Messiah in his own way. He had a tremendous love for people and an almost religious sense of mission in the way he sang and what he felt about the world and about people in general. I'm thrilled to be able to play him, because there is a kind of strange beauty to his whole being that I'm wrapped up in.

Some people have suggested that you're physically wrong for the role.
Cash was a big man, around 6ft 1in, and I'm five inches shorter than that, and there's nothing I can do about that. But I can get into the man's heart and soul and I hope that will make people forget about resemblances. To tell you the truth, Johnny Cash was so unique that I don't think anyone can really match his physical presence, even if they're the same height and build. The whole gift about being an actor is being able to pour yourself into a character and make audiences feel something about who you are and what you're experiencing. That's the road I'm on.

You're going to be enjoying a lot of publicity and media scrutiny because of The Village and the Johnny Cash film. How do you think that's going to affect you?
I don't know. I don't think I'll ever have groupies chasing me down the street or that the paparazzi will be lined up waiting outside a restaurant, unless I happen to be dating a supermodel or someone like that. [Laughs.] I have a different kind of image and most of the people who recognise me and stop to talk to me have had some really interesting and generous things to say to me. I'm always flattered that people appreciate my work. So I hope things won't change that much. I wouldn't like the idea of having to live in hiding or having photographers hiding in trees waiting until I have sex with my girlfriend. [Laughs.]

Your other siblings all went into acting. Was that what first motivated you to get into the business?
My brother River was doing the TV series Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, so me and my sisters hung around on the set quite a bit. It seemed like such fun, what he was doing. It's like this. When your older siblings do gymnastics, you want to do gymnastics. When they listen to Squeeze, you listen to Squeeze, so I wanted to act. One day I got to be in a scene with River. We were supposed to cry because someone was fighting. River started crying right away and it made me cry. It felt so real. It was a shocking revelation. So I was kind of hooked after that.

Did your parents feel that acting was an interesting creative outlet?
Yes. We were all involved in music in some way and acting was sort of a step in the same direction in terms of performing. My parents believed that we should all explore every avenue towards being creative and inspired in whatever we did in life. Creativity and freedom of expression were the dominant themes in our family and that kind of attitude still guides all of us.

Will you give your children - should you have children one day - as creative names as the ones your parents gave you?
Right. The problem was that I thought Joaquin was so different from my siblings' names [Rain, Summer, River, Liberty] that I felt left out. So that's how I got the name Leaf. But when my dad and I spent some time in Mexico I found out that Leaf is very similar-sounding in Spanish to words that mean eye and garlic in English. Whenever I would try to explain how to say my name in Spanish, I wouldn't pronounce it properly and so a lot of Mexican people thought my name was garlic or eye. So I went back to Joaquin, which is easy to pronounce if you're Spanish.

You're probably making some serious money these days. Given your modest background, does the money ever freak you out?
It just becomes unreal after a certain point. I don't need a private plane or a palazzo in Venice, so I'm not sure what else to do with it except to stick it in the bank and help my family and friends once in a while if they need it. I don't even like to think about money - I've always felt that it corrupts people and makes people do things and behave in ways they would never behave because money has such an importance in how we live. I live pretty simply and I consider myself very lucky not to have to worry about money, think about money, or give a damn about money anymore. It just tends to mess things up.

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