Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix did an incredible job while filming Walk the Line. Both of them received massive praise for the movie and it even got the actress an Oscar for Best Actress. Although she was hesitant on doing the role at first, she came around and was extremely glad that she did. However, neither actor mixed as well with each other when they first started doing the movie.
The movie has been remarked as one of their best performances and was highly critically acclaimed. Even though she tried her best to get out of the movie because she was asked to sing, there was no way out for her. Witherspoon had to learn how to sing and she practiced every day for the movie.
Joaquin Phoenix Was Not A Big Fan Of Reese Witherspoon Initially
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon did not blend well with each other when they first started working together on Walk the Line. As the duo had to spend a lot of time together, it was quite difficult at first. The Joker actor could not handle her singing and would often complain about how her voice could get very loud when she sang.
“I’d sing too loud and he’d say, ‘It’s driving me crazy, she’s singing too loud. Does she have to sing so loud?’ I said, ‘I’m just trying here!’ It took about three months before we responded to each other’s work and saw improvement. It took a long time before we really felt comfortable with each other.”
It took them around three months to actually grow comfortable around each other. After that, they were always there for each other and grew much closer. Moreover, they would understand if either one of them was having a bad day and would try their level best to cheer them up.
Joaquin Phoenix Credits His Movie’s Success To Reese Witherspoon
When the two began working with each other, neither knew much about the other to be able to understand how they were as people and as actors. They took their time learning things about each other and also trying to figure out how both their acting styles could work well with each other.
“I don’t know that I could have done this without Reese,” the actor stated. “We have very different acting styles, but she had enough faith in our compatibility for the both of us. She’s the one who got me a singing coach and hooked me up with T-Bone, who was really encouraging.”
The actor was also one who wasn’t very confident in his singing skills and did not even know how to hold a guitar at first. She got him a singing coach and it was her faith in the both of them that helped him do the entire movie.
Source: Massachusetts Daily Collegian
