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When Joaquin Phoenix abandoned the film project that he had with Todd Haynesits producer Christine Vachon, at the head of Killer Films, wanted to set the record straight. She clearly explained that it was the actor who had initially contacted the director of Carol and of May December to submit his idea of a daring gay romance in the 1930s. According to her, he got scared just before starting filming, when his sets were already built and a crew of around a hundred people had already been engaged. Here is her initial reaction, followed by her new words, when she was asked about this same subject at the San Sebastian festival.
“Yes, a version of this happened. And it’s a nightmare,” she wrote on X before deleting her message a few hours later. Regarding this choice of actor who does not have the same sexuality as her character, she adds: “If you are tempted to criticize this, tell us: 'This is what you get when you cast a straight guy in a gay role'DON'T DO IT. It was HIS project, he brought it to US. And Killer's history with LGBTQ actors/directors/crew members speaks for us. (And to everyone who has already spoken without knowing: you are making this terrible situation even more difficult).”
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“The thing is, everything that needed to be said about what happened has been said, she comments today, before still taking stock of the situation. If I had any gossip, I'd tell you, but I don't have anything. Simply, it was tragic. The worst thing for me is that Todd Haynes is 62 years old. This means that he will still be able to make a limited number of films between now and the end of his life. This is the most tragic, I find, because I consider him one of the most extraordinary artists of our generation.”
“The idea that he wasted his time like that… when he had been working with Joaquin for years, that's the tragedy for me. Which I don't accept. As a cultural community, we lost an opportunity to see a new Todd Haynes film. It's criminal.
In addition to Joaquin Phoenix, the film was to star Danny Ramirez (Captain America 4), but the departure of its main star left its fate up in the air. Who will pay the costs already incurred? Will Todd Haynes manage to restart his filming with another cast? Or will he raise enough money for another film project entirely? For the moment, he has not announced a feature film allowing him to bounce back from this failure, and Joaquin, interviewed at the Venice Film Festival about his departure, during his presentation of Joker: Folie a Deux at a press conference, preferred do not comment on his decision…
Is there a Joaquin Phoenix problem in Hollywood?