Joaquin Phoenix was set to star in an untitled gay film from Carol (2015) director Todd Haynes.
IndieWire reported that the actor dropped the film five days before production kicked off. The reason? He reportedly got cold feet.
A debacle ensued after the revelation, as cast and crew members were left with egg on their faces and lost as to what to do.
The situation is unique, leading to the death of the film and production losses as the crew was left flabbergasted on set in Mexico.
The ordeal highlights some significant issues with the film, and potential moviegoers on social media reacted to the news as one would expect.
What becomes clear is that there was an elephant in the room that everyone had avoided addressing—most of the decisions made in making that film were terrible.
See, Phoenix approached Haynes with an original story he had developed and wanted Haynes to direct him.
The story was described as an intense gay romance between Phoenix’s character and a younger man. Danny Ramirez had already been cast as the younger man.
It is advisable to refrain from critique until there is some evidence, but the film was a recipe for disaster.
Phoenix, for all anyone knows, is a cisgender heterosexual man.
Based on previous experiences, when cishet men write gay stories and cast cishet men in lead roles (or cast themselves), it is almost predictable how the film will turn out.
Usually, it is sexually explicit (exploitive in some cases) and incredibly tragic.
To a lesser degree, age-gap love stories are hit or miss, usually a miss. Audiences have become extremely sensitive to age in sexual relations.
The saving grace was that Haynes is gay and would have offered some perspective about experiences by gay men, but also, given the ages of both the star and the director, there was potential for bias.
Phoenix had pressed Haynes for more explicit sex scenes, which is reportedly the reason he chickened out.
The entire affair is quite illogical, given that he was involved with the film in the first place. But considering Phoenix’s history, it is not surprising.
He has admitted that sometimes he gets too anxious before filming and considers leaving projects.
He is also notorious for making demands on set and threatening to drop out if they are not addressed, as was the case with Napoleon.
The facts that a straight man wrote the film, was to star straight men (Ramirez does not identify as queer), and the star did not have the best reputation for coming through on his promises, it was a disaster waiting to happen.
The Elephant In the Room
In this day and age, there is no good reason to cast straight actors to play queer characters.
And it’s not like production was unaware of the potential blowback if the film was not perfect, as that was the only way audiences would forgive the casting decision.
Christine Vachon was a producer on the film and, following Phoenix’s exit, took to social media to confirm that he was out.
“A version of this did happen. It has been a nightmare,” she shared.
. . . ‘that’s what you get for casting a straight actor’ . . .
“If you are tempted to finger wag or admonish us that ‘that’s what you get for casting a straight actor’ — DON’T.
“This was HIS project that he brought to US — and Killer’s record on working with LGBTQ actors/crew/directors speaks for itself. (and for those of you who HAVE — know that you are making a terrible situation even worse).” Vachon continued.
The now-deleted post revealed they would be willfully ignorant if it got them an A-Lister like Phoenix in their project.
For the Love of Academy Awards
Phoenix is a talented and seasoned actor.
He won an Academy Award in 2020 for playing Arthur Fleck in the 2019 film Joker.
Typically, films like Joker don’t excite The Academy despite mass appeal.
It is commonly accepted that for an actor to consider themselves successful, they must do an indie project, and if it’s recognized, then they’ve made it.
Sobby gay films starring straight performers have long won audiences and awards because of the “courage” and “bravery” these people must possess to play gay.
This is speculation on my part, but the film seemed like Phoenix’s attempt at nabbing a second Oscar.
That, or he was just being an artist struck by an idea at 3 am, and it was the only thing he could think about.
I see a version of this where he wrote the script in one sitting, but when the high was no longer present, he realized he’d bitten more than he could chew.
For now, the project is dead like a fish out of water.
People who backed the film relied on his star power to break even or profit. Without Phoenix, the film is less attractive to them.
And if he’s stubborn, he’s not willing to let another actor — preferably a gay actor — bring the story to life.
But if this affair has had an upside, producers have learned to pick reliable and suited actors to play certain characters.
It feels like we’ve dodged a bullet with how insufferable the atmosphere surrounding the film would have been.
It has already begun with Daniel Craig in Queer, where a festival director has praised him for being brave to do an explicit gay film as a straight man.
Predictable.