Joaquin Phoenix Screamed On The Set Of Beau Is Afraid To Intentionally Humiliate Himself
Every actor has their own unique process for how to emotionally and mentally get themself into the right headspace for a scene. Some put on a piece of music that matches the tone of the scene. Some pace back and forth, muttering their lines under their breath. Some take a nap, immediately wake up, and they're completely locked in. I am of the opinion that as long as what you are doing isn't detrimental to your co-workers' well beings, whatever you have to do to get to that place is absolutely fine.
That isn't to say what that person does can't be surprising to those around the actor. Sometimes that surprise factor, which may cause some alienation from the fellow cast and crew, is exactly what the actor needs to get to that point. Enter Joaquin Phoenix. He is one of those actors whose method has never been defined all that clearly, except for the fact that he doesn't like to do something unless it feels real.
For Phoenix's latest film, the episodic, absurdist black comedy "Beau Is Afraid" from writer/director Ari Aster, he has to play someone who feels as though the world not only is against him but is deeply embarrassed by him. To get to that place, Joaquin Phoenix needed to find a way to embarrass himself. His solution? Randomly screaming.
'You can't look any more stupid'
When I am out in the world, something that will always make me turn my head out of surprise is hearing someone scream. It could be a squeal of delight, a cry of pain, or anything in between. A scream will always get me to turn my head — and probably everyone else's heads too — and we all lock our focus on the one who did the screaming. They become the center of attention, and it's more than likely not what they had hoped to happen.
This was the feeling that Joaquin Phoenix wanted to harness for a scene in "Beau Is Afraid," and he got there just by screaming suddenly on set. Speaking on the A24 Podcast with Ari Aster, where the two exchanged many words about their insecurities, Phoenix recalled that one particular moment that he was nervous to shoot, and his instinct to scream felt like the right thing to do. The actor said:
"I just started screaming, just the most intense guttural pain scream that I could before we were shooting, sitting there, because I had to just fully humiliate myself ... And then just go like, okay, well once that's happened, you can't look any more stupid than you do now. And it just let go of everything, right? I don't know why, but I just was overcome with this need to do that."
Doing that, Phoenix did think it made Aster uncomfortable, though the filmmakers assured the actor that it didn't. After all, Aster understands that an actor needs the space to make themselves vulnerable like that, and in his lengthy, accomplished career, I don't know if I have ever seen Joaquin Phoenix more vulnerable than he is in "Beau Is Afraid." So, while the screaming is odd to most, it certainly worked.