Joaquin Phoenix and Ridley Scott teaming up again for Napoleon. Over two decades after their collaboration on the Oscar-winning film Gladiator, Joaquin Phoenix and director Sir Ridley Scott are teaming up once again for another ambitious project, Napoleon. In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Phoenix revealed that the nostalgia from Gladiator, combined with the opportunity of working with Scott again was a major draw for him.
Phoenix revealed that he cherished the incredible experience he had while working on Gladiator at a young age, and hoped for a similar opportunity. “The truth is, there was just a very nostalgic idea of working with Ridley again. I had such an incredible experience working with Ridley on Gladiator, and I was so young. It was my first big production. I really yearned for that experience again, or something similar”, said Phoenix. The scale and psychological depth of Napoleon also made the project a perfect venture for the duo, since Phoenix is considered “the best player of damaged goods” by Scott, owing to his ability to portray complex characters with emotional depth, as seen in Joker and Galdiator.
Phoenix and Scott’s partnership with Napoleon was marked by focus and intensity. Together, they meticulously combed over the screenplay by David Scarpa, ensuring they shared the same vision for the film. The team delved into Napoleon’s world-conquering ambitions, his darkest deeds, and his tumultuous relationship with Vanessa Kirby’ Josephine de Beauharnais. Leaving no detail unattended, they recognized a particular trait in Phoenix that had impressed Scott since Gladiator. The contradictions at play in Napoleon himself are channeled into Napoleon. While Scott is playing on a vast historical canvas, this isn’t a rousing story of triumph. Instead, we get a film that doesn’t shy away from the considerable amount of blood on Napoleon’s hands. “I compare him with Alexander The Great. Adolf Hitler. Stalin,” Scott tells Empire in our world-exclusive cover feature. “Listen, he’s got a lot of bad shit under his belt. At the same time, he was remarkable with his courage, and in his can-do and his dominance. He was extraordinary.” Joaquin Phoenix, too, was intent on subverting the usual tropes of heroics, victories, and the story of a rebellious figure rising through the ranks. “That’s definitely something we wanted to avoid,” he says. “Certainly speaking for myself, I actively wanted to avoid the conventions of the biopic.”
