By Gill Pringle
Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, Joaquin Phoenix’s Theodore rebounds in a way that any man-of-the-near-future might hope – he falls in love with the perfect woman. The only obstacle is that his new soul-mate happens to be the equivalent of Siri. In other words, he falls in love with a computer-generated operating system, albeit with the sensual, playful, come-to-bed overtures of a husky-voiced Scarlett Johansson. What man could resist her charms?
While Spike Jonze’s premise in Her might seem esoteric, it’s not difficult to imagine in a world of on-line dating where flesh-and-blood discoveries are made long after initial contact is established in the web-osphere. Ten years ago, when Jonze first had the idea for Her, Siri had not yet been birthed, although the director was unperturbed by her arrival, viewing his film more as a love story than a statement on technology. While Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde and Rooney Mara were later cast, Joaquin Phoenix was attached from the outset. “I can’t wait to be a cyborg,” the actor tells FilmInk. “I’m not kidding. I’m not afraid. I’ll get surgery and do it.”
A typical interview with Phoenix – if there is such a thing as typical in his particular case – will often find the actor so engaged that it becomes a conversation rather than the traditional interview and interviewee format; it’s a rapid exchange of ideas, rather than a prying into his psyche. When FilmInk expresses distrust of his initial declaration of wishing for cyborg status, he inhales deeply on a cigarette. “Are you kidding? To have the ability to speak any language? Do you not enjoy the internet? Do you not like having all that information? To be able to look anything up? The ability to just think it, and to be connected?” he asks this doubtful reporter. “It just seems exciting, what the future might be like, and what an education might be like; the idea of going to school in the future might be this ridiculous concept like, ‘They actually used to go to school to learn this stuff?’ because now it’s all just saved here?”
Often cited by critics as “one of the most intelligent actors of our generation”, Phoenix laughs at such lofty notions. “I’m not sure that I thought about it much at the time,” the actor says of being home-schooled with his large family. “You don’t do that as a kid. I didn’t feel one way or another. I never wanted to go to university. I was going to be an actor, and I never had that desire. I guess that I was just waiting until we could plug it all in like that, and fuck university. But I do think it’s exciting. The idea of being able to watch your dreams…that would be amazing. Like anything, there are pros and cons, and there are parts of it that are scary, but it’s evolution. Adapt or die. Things happen, whether you like it or not.”
When FilmInk tells him that we still have doubts, Phoenix takes a seat by our side, acting as unsolicited comforter. “Never have I been accused of being optimistic! I can’t believe that I’m the one who’s seeing the optimistic way of looking at this. It’s fucking hilarious that you’re thinking about the negative things, and I’ve just only cited the positive things!”
When we point out the obvious pitfalls of having a self-realising micro-chip implanted in your brain, Phoenix says that “it’s not that different. It’s just that you’re removing the part of you typing in the questions as opposed to thinking it. It’s not that different…maybe it makes you feel better that it’s somewhat removed. I imagine that they’ll have things built in where you can turn it off and on, as opposed to being paranoid that it’s going to be on all the time.”
Of course, there is the naivete of someone who will later admit that he’s not especially technology-friendly. “I don’t use technology that much…I’m just saying things that I think I should say for the interview!” he grins, his iPhone abandoned on the coffee table. “If I can’t figure something out, I go, ‘Fuck it!’ I’m not going to even deal with it.”
Sporting wild shoulder-length dark hair, peppered with gray, the smoke from his ever-present cigarette permeates the entire floor of this expensive non-smoking New York hotel overlooking Central Park. According to Spike Jonze, he would never have made Her without Phoenix on board. “He’s probably just being nice,” laughs the actor. When FilmInk asks him where Her fits into an eclectic resume which includes To Die For, Signs and even voicing a character in the animated movie, Brother Bear, Phoenix smiles wearily. “I fucking struggle with everything just the same…I don’t know if one role is more different than another.”
This article was published in FilmInk Magazine in 2013. Her is available on various streaming and digital services. Napoleon is in cinemas now.
