Play It Again: Joaquin Phoenix - Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

“I wanted to be good, but I completely burned up the morning,” said Joaquin Phoenix on day 1 of <a href="https://www.fandango.com/eddington-2025-240285/movie-overview">Eddington</a>. “Ari and I stayed on set when everyone left for lunch—and, slowly, something emerged. I don’t know if it’s any good, but it didn’t make me want to end everything.” With the film’s arrival in theaters, we return to our candid, long-form talk with Phoenix. At the top, we unpack his transformation in <a href="https://www.joker.movie/">Joker: Folie à Deux</a> (7:10), his free-wheeling collaborations with director Todd Phillips (9:32), and the nomadic upbringing that marked his early years (13:00). Then, he reflects on his childhood television debut in Hill Street Blues (20:27), the brilliance of Robert De Niro (25:53), and his formative performances in To Die For and Parenthood </e...