Five days before shooting was scheduled to begin on his next film, an NC-17 gay romance, straight Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix is under fire for walking out of the production.
“Phoenix was reportedly flown off the set of Haynes’ film in Guadalajara, Mexico, two weeks ago, with producers trying to restart the project before production was halted completely.” Reports Deadline, on the far left. “Local crew will be paid.”
The 1930s period drama was built because it was funded by Phoenix, who clearly took a financial risk, and now that Phoenix has seemingly abandoned the project, director Todd Haynes and producer Christine Bashon have said the film is dead, meaning hundreds of crew members are suddenly out of work.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, Vachon responded to criticism that it was her fault for hiring a straight man to play a gay character.
And please, if you’re tempted to point fingers or admonish people for “casting straight actors,” please don’t. This is a project he brought to us, and Killer’s track record of working with LGBTQ actors/crew/directors speaks for itself (and if you do, know you’re making a bad situation worse).
According to World of Reel: She’s RightPhoenix approached Haynes with the idea for a gay romance set in a 1930s detective film, and apparently Phoenix kept pushing for more explicit gay sex scenes, so explicit that the film was rated NC-17.
There has been much speculation surrounding Phoenix’s departure, with many speculating that he balked at the idea of an explicit gay sex scene as filming approached, which may be true, but why did he even consider the idea in the first place and push for a more explicit homosexual theme?
There has been much discussion in the entertainment media about how negatively this will affect Phoenix’s career. He will now come across as volatile, unreliable, and uninsurable. The production team may sue Phoenix for damages and breach of contract. Before we dismiss Phoenix as a volatile homophobe, let’s hear his side of the story. Well-known actors and actresses often leave productions at the last minute for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with homophobia.
As for Phoenix’s future, Joker The sequel will be hugely profitable, he’ll be fine.
John Nolte’s first and last novel Borrowed time, Winning 5-Star Rave Reviews Submissions from our everyday readers. You can read excerpts here here And a detailed review here. Also available in Hardcover and Kindle and Audiobooks.
