The only time Joaquin Phoenix lied about going method: “No, that’s horse shit”

Posted On February 2, 2025February 2, 2025

M Night Shyamalan is one of the most consistent horror directors working today, and regardless of how you feel about his work, he has a contagious creative energy that has led him to work on back-to-back projects throughout his entire career. He is known for adding supernatural twists to his modern take on the horror genre, with The Sixth Sense launching his career and being nominated for multiple Academy Awards, including for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.

Since then, he also reached critical acclaim for Split in 2016, with recent films such as Old and Trap showcasing his style’s versatility and knack for risk-taking within the genre.

Throughout his time in the industry, he has collaborated with a variety of wonderful actors, with one in particular discussing his work with the director and quelling some strange rumours about the production.

Joaquin Phoenix is one of the most infamous actors of his generation, known for his deeply considered and sensitive approach to acting and his mysterious persona off-screen, rarely discussing his work yet highlighting his feelings of discomfort towards the industry as a whole. This internal clash perhaps contributed to his compelling performances, with hidden depths only revealed on-screen, leading you to be completely captivated and drawn towards his every move. 

The actor first worked with Shyamalan on his 2002 film Signs, which follows a family living on a farm who discover mysterious crop circles in their field, implying the existence of a sinister threat. However, he then reunited with the horror director for his 2004 film The Village.

The story is enigmatic and haunting, taking place in a remote village in Pennsylvania as a young man ventures into an unknown community, sparking a chain of events that changes them forever. The project became well known for Shyamalan’s approach towards preparing his actors for the story, with Phoneix and the rest of the cast being subjected to a 19th-century boot camp, existing as a community that resembles the one in the film but without the conveniences and luxuries of their everyday lives. 

However, when discussing this process, Phoenix quickly put an end to the fantastical stories that had circulated about what this entailed after it was described as “a night to face your fears of the dark”. The actor said, “No, that’s horse shit. I went into the woods with Adrien and this kid Fran to sleep there one night. They sent me to get wood and when I came back they were gone. I sat around waiting, and suddenly, sticks would fly at me from the dark, and there were some noises. That was really the extent of it. It was like junior high pranks, not me facing my fear. They asked me about this in some interviews, and I kind of went with the lie. But then I thought ‘This is ridiculous, I can’t do this.’” 

The idea of directly mimicking the circumstances of the film sounds somewhat primitive and unnecessary, and while it would be fun to play on this idea and elaborate on what this evening entailed, perhaps Phoenix was right to put everyone’s mind at ease and assure them that he was not emotionally tortured to get into character.

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