Joaquin Phoenix Says a Director ‘F—ing Pissed Me Off’ by Calling Me a ‘Character Actor’: It Was Code for ‘You’re Never Going to Get There’ as a Star

Don’t tell Joaquin Phoenix he’s not a star. The Oscar winner recently appeared on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) during his “Eddington” press tour and remembered a director telling him on set early in his career that all he would ever be is simply a “character actor.” Phoenix’s co-star at the time compared him to a higher-profile actor, to which the director butted in and shot down the comparison.

“It’s kind of code for like, ‘You can’t really, like, you’re never going to really get there, but you’ll work,’” Phoenix said of the director’s “character actor” dig at him. “And that fucking pissed me off.”

But Phoenix added, “I ultimately appreciate it because it made me go like, ‘Well, how do I find that way? Like, how do I find more?’”

The actor would go on to be nominated for four Academy Awards, winning the best actor trophy for “Joker.” He’s also been awarded the best actor prize at Cannes for his leading turn in Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here.” Phoenix has fronted major studio films like “Walk the Line” and “Signs” while also headlining acclaimed indies like “Her” and “The Master.”

Phoenix’s latest is “Eddington,” a COVID-era Western from his “Beau Is Afraid” writer-director Ari Aster. Similar to their last collaboration, “Eddington” is proving divisive among film critics and moviegoers. The film struggled in its box office opening but is sure to gain a cult following.

“The movie is about the center not holding, and you feel that refracted through every pleading stammer of Phoenix’s alienated, sad-sack performance,” Variety’s Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review. “It’s not one of Phoenix’s mumbly showboat performances. There’s a bitter poignance to Joe, who’s in way over his mussy-haired head. When he finally takes matters into his own hands, you keep rooting for him even as he does something indefensible.”