Joaquin Phoenix quotes: buckle up and go for a ride in the backseat of Joaquin’s brain.
“Is it that your dream is unattainable or is it that you have the wrong dream?”
“You’re always thinking, ‘What’s the next move? The career, the money?'”
“You should always be scared. If you’re not scared then you should get out of the department because that’s when you get hurt. You have to have a level of fear and a level of respect for what it is you’re doing, and if not, I think it breeds a level of complacency, which is very dangerous.”
“I don’t know a single person in life that doesn’t have conflict.”
“You still can be searching every moment to try to find something, and keep some of the excitement and uncertainty.”
“I always look to work with people that are pushing themselves, and pushing me, because it’s more enjoyable, and you have a chance to touch that thing, whatever the f*ck that is.”
“I take a lot of time and consideration when making decisions and what I’m gonna work on – always.”
“When I decide to do something, I stick with it, total commitment.”
“I always have the fear that, if I don’t commit 100% to my work, then it’s gonna suffer.”
“I never prepare. I think that’s completely overrated. It’s a very simple job. All you have to do is hit this bright mark, stand in the right spot and say the line. So I don’t really believe in preparation.”
“I like working all the time. I hate taking breaks. I don’t like the weekends.”
“Acting is real important to me. I love it, and it’s something I care about.”
“When you’re a kid, acting is an extension of playing. You have an imagination, right? If that’s encouraged and you’re in an environment where you’re given these props and opportunities to express yourself, it’s terribly exciting. I always loved it.”
“I just want to capture things that I haven’t figured out, that I don’t understand. That’s what the process is. I’m not going to modulate at all. I’m not going to be adjusting things. I just have to find what I feel and you’ve got to tell me to pull way back or go forward or if it’s too much. But I’m going to go in and do what I feel in the moment. Sometimes it’s wrong. Sometimes you come into something with too much energy. I’m very fortunate. I like making somebody happy – and if they’re not, then I’m crushed.”
“What keeps me acting is not the end result but the process. And I was very satisfied with the process.”
“I’m terrible at metaphors or analogies. I don’t know the difference, actually. For me, acting is like your dad teaching you to ride a bicycle. You feel totally vulnerable at first. You imagine yourself getting hurt, and the only thing that prevents you from crashing is your dad is running after you, holding on to the back of your seat. You keep looking over your shoulder at him and he’s going, ‘You’re doing it, kid.’ And then, all of a sudden, you’re, like, ‘Why are you still holding on, Dad? Let go.'”
“I’m shocked when I don’t get fired, so to get a nomination is a pleasant surprise.”
“For me, I’d rather have an intense experience than not.”
“I think you just have to do something because it affects you in a personal way.”
“I want to go into the courtroom and feel like I might lose the case. I want it to be scary – and it still is. I’ve been acting for 30 years. But I still get nauseous the day before and have weeks of incredible anxiety. They have to put f*cking pads in my armpits because I sweat so much that it just drips down my wardrobe. For the first three weeks of shooting, I’m just sweating. It’s pure anxiety, and I love it.”
“I know if I’m lost in the moment or not.”
“I have this horrible sense of humor where I think discomfort is funny – partly because I experience discomfort a lot, and it’s a way of laughing at it and getting a release.”
“If you walk into a room and 100 people say, ‘You are a lovely, beautiful person,’ who isn’t going to be affected by that? But you have to tell yourself not to value that. You have to tell yourself – or at least I do – to not become accustomed to hearing applause in any way, because I think that’s dangerous.”
“I don’t walk around like I’m a movie star because I don’t think of myself as a movie star. People usually don’t even notice me.”
“I guess I had what you could call an unconventional upbringing. My parents were just searching for an alternative way of raising their children. When I look back I can’t believe how my parents managed, but the cliche is true. We didn’t have money, but we were rich in so many other ways.”
“I had a really wonderful upbringing. We were a tight family. It was wonderful to grow up with so many siblings. We were all just a year or two apart, and we were always so supportive of each other. I learned everything from my older brother and sister and taught it to my younger sisters.”
“I’ve made up so many stories about my name, I can’t remember.”
“My significant other right now is myself, which is what happens when you suffer from multiple personality disorder and self-obsession.”
“This is the best time of my life.”
“I’m very thankful for the people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. I have a good life. It’s been amazing.”
“Don’t worry. Everything is cool.”
Related: Jack Nicholson quotes.
