Ridley Scott is a top-echelon director whose incredible contributions to art and cinema have earned him several prominent accolades. Scott has ruled the sci-fi, crime, and historical genres throughout his legendary career. His movies often leave the audience informed, amused, and astonished, for he delivers captivating projects featuring A-list cast ensembles, over-the-top dialogues, aesthetic props, and intense scenes, which makes his films an inescapable delight.
His upcoming directorial epic historical drama Napoleon is making headlines. He recently revealed many intriguing details about the flick. In the latest candid interview, the 85-year-old filmmaker opened up about how he cast Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role as Napoleon, claiming after watching his award-winning performance as Arthur Fleck in his 2019 American psychological thriller Joker, he decided to offer him the part.
Ridley Scott Reveals How He Cast Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon
Ridley Scott is perhaps one of the best directors in the film industry today. Several of his films occupy top positions in all-time best charts in showbiz, and he has worked with enough A-list talents in the entertainment industry. As a creative visionary, Scott has effectively helmed dozens of mind-bending, thrilling, and thought-proving films.
He creates magic on the silver screen by giving fans the absolute masterpiece, and he often takes the directing world by storm with his genius filmmaking approach. Even at 85, the director is creating non-stop record-smashing films that are acquiring iconic status and making tidal waves in the industry, and there is no sign of him slowing down.
In a recent interview with Empire Online, the England native director opened up about his much-awaited epic historical drama Napoleon. He shared that he was watching Joaquin Phoenix’s 2019 film Joker, and after seeing his exceptional performance, he decided to cast him as Napoleon in the upcoming movie. Scott told the outlet,
“I’m staring at Joaquin and saying, ‘This little demon is Napoleon Bonaparte.’ He looks like him.”
There is no denying that Phoenix is one of the most dedicated stars who has played varied roles in his career, but fans of the actor loved his performance in Joker the most. His acting was drastic, and he depicted his character flawlessly in the flick, which is why Ridley Scott offered him such a complex part after watching his performance.
Ridley Scott Talks About His Experience Working With Joaquin Phoenix
During his candid conversation, director Ridley Scott shared his experience working with Joaquin Phoenix in his highly-anticipated upcoming film Napoleon. The actor-director duo first teamed up together on the 2000 film Gladiator. Scott gushed about Phoenix’s cinematic skills, saying,
“Joaquin is about as far from conventional as you can get. Not deliberately, but out of intuition. That’s what makes him tick. If something bothers him, he’ll let you know. He made [‘Napoleon’] special by constantly questioning.”
He continued,
“With Joaquin, we can rewrite the goddamn film because he’s uncomfortable. And that kind of happened with ‘Napoleon. We unpicked the film to help him focus on who Bonaparte was. I had to respect that because what was being said was incredibly constructive. It made it all grow bigger and better.”
Ridley Scott-directed upcoming historical drama boasts a star-studded cast featuring Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Ben Miles, Ludivine Sagnier, and Matthew Needham, among others.
Napoleon will hit theaters on November 22, 2023.
Source: Empire Online
