Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby will soon be seen together on the screens in the historical drama film, Napoleon. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film is based on the true story of the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte. Joaquin Phoenix is portraying the titular character with Vanessa Kirby playing his wife, Empress Joséphine.
Now, if you know these two actors, you know that they are both absolute powerhouses. Therefore, it was obvious when that when they collide, there will be a ton of spontaneity on the set. This is exactly what happened when Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby made a pact to surprise each other during shoots and the former ended up slapping the latter for the sake of the scene.
Joaquin Phoneix Slapped Vanessa Kirby in Napoleon
Talking to Empire, Vanessa Kirby and Joaquin Phoenix let the world in on the little pact they made with each other on the set of Napoleon. In the terms and conditions of their pact, both parties had full freedom to do whatever they think would be fitting for the scene, even if it meant slapping the other person.
Kirby recalled a scene where Phoenix and she were shooting Napoleon’s divorce with Joséphine. Instead of simply sticking to the script and just reading the lines out loud, Phoenix decided the scene needed something more. Kirby stated,
“We were using real words from their divorce in the church. When that happens, you can faithfully go through and archival re-enactment of it and read out the lines and then go home. But we always wanted to surprise each other. It’s the greatest thing when you have a creative partner and you say, ‘Right, everything’s safe. I’m with you. And we’re gonna go to dark places together.”
Phoenix talked about how Kirby gave him the full freedom to be spontaneous when the cameras were on them. He recalled the little agreement they had before shooting started stating,
“She said, ‘Look, whatever you feel, you can do.’ I said, ‘Same thing with you.’ She said, ‘You can slap me, you can grab me, you can pull me, you can kiss me, whatever it is.”
This level of comfort with a co-actor needs immense trust between two people. Clearly, both Phoenix and Kirby were professional enough to be able to entrust each other with such creative liberty.
Why Did Joaquin Phoenix & Vanessa Kirby Choose this Path?
Despite the fact that Napoleon Bonaparte’s life is one interesting story in itself, Phoenix and Kirby knew they did not want to deliver a boring, two-dimensional, cliché story. They didn’t want to simply come on set, read their lines, and go their separate ways. For them, making the scenes interesting was priority number one.
Phoenix stated,
“So we had this agreement that we were going to surprise each other and try and create moments that weren’t there, because both of us wanted to avoid the cliché of the period drama. And by that I mean moments that are well-orchestrated and designed.”
Through their improvisation, the actors wanted to perfectly portray the imperfect and chaotic relationship between the French leader and his wife. Since this is just one instance from their time on the set, we cannot wait to see what the entire film turns out to be like. We are pretty sure there’s more spontaneity where that came from!
Napoleon releases in theatres on November 22, 2023.
Source: Empire
