A lot of people seem to think that this is the year for Joaquin Phoenix when it comes to winning an Oscar, but if you asked the actor himself he’d probably grin and state that he just doesn’t care. He’s had a strange attitude about winning awards for a long time now, but the gist of it seems to be that he’s not really defeatist when it comes down to winning, he just doesn’t want to be labeled as someone that’s going to strive and strive for an award while doing anything and everything he can to get it. He’s there to act, to do his best, and to make sure that he can believe the character he’s selling. If the audience believes it then so much the better, since that’s the goal of a movie is to make the people believe for those two hours or more that they’re watching genuine emotions play across the screen. and Phoenix manages to give them all that and more when he’s in good form.
He’s fallible though, of that there’s no doubt. He has his faults and he’s even acknowledged them in the past. When he went off seemingly half-cocked and announced his retirement from acting people lost their minds. When he came back and did films like Her and The Master people were either in awe of him or wondering just what in the heck he was doing. The thing is that Joaquin is acting, he’s not trying to be a professional, he’s trying to be an actor. He’s not going for the pro status that would net him blockbuster roles for the next several years, and yet people are responding to him as though the films were his and his alone to make or break. Phoenix would rather see the people that conceived the film win the awards since it was their imagination and their pluck that got them noticed in the first place, but he’ll definitely take the roles as they’re given to him and make them into something that will wow the audience again and again. He’s managed to prove that even if the movie he’s in is horrible his part will still be something special that people will like.
But he’s not a glory hound. For as much as it seems that he’s tried to get peoples’ attention in the past he’s doing this for himself more or less since he wants to act. He doesn’t want to be a pro, he wants to be an actor, and there is a big difference if you just look at it. An actor will just go with the flow and be what they need to be in the moment, while a pro will oftentimes take things to a level that kind of begs the question of why they’re there in the first place. Actors tend to love what they’re doing, pros tend to love it when they’re getting paid top dollar and have top billing. Now yes, that’s a bit general to be honest, but it’s also very true in many cases. A pro is the type of person that won’t perform a job unless they’re getting paid what they believe they’re worth and thus might pass up on several opportunities just because it won’t make them a healthy enough profit. Actors will simply act because it’s what they love and what they want to do.
Do things for the love of it, that’s usually the best way to start.
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