He Walks the line

We Own the Night, director James Gray8217;s 8216;80s-set film, centres on two Brooklyn brothers: Joseph Mark Wahlberg, who has followed in the footsteps of his father Robert Duvall to become a cop, and Bobby Phoenix, a nightclub manager so eager to distance himself from his family that he changed his last name. When Russian mobsters escalate the drug trade in the midst of a police crackdown, life on both sides of the law is irrevocably altered.

Phoenix has appeared in 18 films in the past 12 years. But 8220;it8217;s not particularly fun to act. I don8217;t like set living. I don8217;t like going to makeup or wardrobe, so it has to be for something I8217;m really going to commit to.8221;

Rehearsing? Not a fan: 8220;I don8217;t like to specifically define what each line is going to be or what8217;s going to happen until I8217;m there,8221; he says. 8220;I think there8217;s too many variables. It8217;s impossible to rehearse in a hotel room when you don8217;t have wardrobe and props around.8221;

Not surprisingly for an actor who does not watch his performances on screen, Phoenix doesn8217;t watch dailies cuts from the day8217;s filming. 8220;Never,8221; he says. 8220;Some people can watch themselves in dailies and maybe make adjustments. But for me the idea is to not be self-aware, but to try and be in the moment and experience something and the director hopefully knows how to capture it. Not to make a face but to have a feeling, and that feeling is what makes your face look a particular way. 8230; It8217;s like doing an angry face as opposed to being angry.8221;

Phoenix is known for intense character preparation; he once said, 8220;I hate acting. I try to BE.8221; He spent time working in a Baltimore fire station for the 2004 drama Ladder 49, and before filming 20058217;s Walk the Line, Phoenix spent nearly a year practicing in character, taking voice and guitar lessons. He presumably did not snort cocaine and engage in running gun battles preparing for We Own the Night, but he avoided on-set friendships and opportunities to talk craft with the likes of Oscar winner Duvall. Phoenix says: 8220;When I8217;m making a film, it8217;s not an acting class. Although I don8217;t know what an acting class is, I never did one. I8217;m not there to learn about acting, but to perform, to be this character.8221;

As much as he admires and respects Duvall, he worked hard to create an antagonistic relationship to mirror the one between the film8217;s law-enforcing father and wayward son. 8220;I wanted Duvall to feel like I was an irresponsible idiot, which is how I think he thought of me while we were working; maybe he still does,8221; Phoenix says. 8220;We became friends and laughed afterwards.8221;
-Richard Harrington LAT-WP