Sony Pictures Entertainment
The two actors — who play Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine de Beauharnais, respectively, in the upcomingRidley Scott-directed epic historical drama — spoke withEmpiremagazine about their open communication on set, which extended to consent about unscripted physical interactions.
“She said, ‘Look, whatever you feel, you can do.’ I said, ‘Same thing with you.’ She said, ‘You can slap me, you can grab me, you can pull me, you can kiss me, whatever it is,' " said Phoenix, 48.
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Joaquin Phoenix inNapoleon(2023).Sony Pictures Entertainment
“When that happens, you can faithfully go through an archival re-enactment of it and read out the lines and then go home. But we always wanted to surprise each other,” the actress shared.
With that approach, “We encouraged each other, demanded of each other, to challenge ourselves to shock each other in moments,” Phoenix said. “And that’s what came out of that, that moment.”
“It’s the greatest thing when you have a creative partner and you say, ‘Right, everything’s safe. I’m with you,' " she said.
Scott, 85, released two films in 2021:The Last DuelandHouse of Gucci.
An official synopsis for the upcoming film describes it as a “spectacle-filled action epic” that follows the real-life Bonaparte’s rise to power and fall before his eventual death in 1821 at age 51.
source: people.com
