“I wanted to be good, but I completely burned up the morning,” said Joaquin Phoenix on day 1 of Eddington. “Ari and I stayed on set when everyone left for lunch—and, slowly, something emerged. I don’t know if it’s any good, but it didn’t make me want to end everything.”

With the film’s arrival in theaters, we return to our candid, long-form talk with Phoenix. At the top, we unpack his transformation in Joker: Folie à Deux (7:10), his free-wheeling collaborations with director Todd Phillips (9:32), and the nomadic upbringing that marked his early years (13:00). Then, he reflects on his childhood television debut in Hill Street Blues (20:27), the brilliance of Robert De Niro (25:53), and his formative performances in To Die For and Parenthood (32:45).

On the back-half, we discuss how the polarizing mockumentary, I’m Still Here (45:15), inspired his singular collaborations with directors Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, James Gray, and Lynne Ramsay (49:30). We also talk about the evolution of his acting process (50:47), the impassioned Oscars speech he delivered accepting Best Actor for Joker (56:15), and whether he’ll ever turn in what he believes is a ‘great’ performance (1:00:40).

Hear our episode with Ari Aster and watch on YouTube.

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

&ldquo;I wanted to be good, but I completely burned up the morning,&rdquo; said Joaquin Phoenix on day 1 of <a href="https://www.fandango.com/eddington-2025-240285/movie-overview">Eddington</a>. &ldquo;Ari and I stayed on set when everyone left for lunch&mdash;and, slowly, something emerged. I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s any good, but it didn&rsquo;t make me want to end everything.&rdquo;
With the film&rsquo;s arrival in theaters, we return to our candid, long-form talk with Phoenix. At the top, we unpack his transformation in <a href="https://www.joker.movie/">Joker: Folie &agrave; Deux</a> (7:10), his free-wheeling collaborations with director Todd Phillips (9:32), and the nomadic upbringing that marked his early years (13:00). Then, he reflects on his childhood television debut in Hill Street Blues&nbsp;(20:27), the brilliance of Robert De Niro (25:53), and his formative performances in To Die For&nbsp;and&nbsp;Parenthood&nbsp;(32:45).
On the back-half, we discuss how the polarizing mockumentary,&nbsp;I&rsquo;m Still Here&nbsp;(45:15), inspired his singular collaborations with directors Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, James Gray, and Lynne Ramsay (49:30). We also talk about the evolution of his acting process (50:47), the impassioned Oscars speech he delivered accepting Best Actor for Joker (56:15), and whether he&rsquo;ll ever turn in what he believes is a &lsquo;great&rsquo; performance (1:00:40).
<a href="https://talkeasypod.com/ari-aster/">Hear our episode with Ari Aster</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc9VjN4SqpA&amp;t=1739s">watch on YouTube</a>.
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a weekly series of intimate conversations with artists, activists, and politicians. Where people sound like people. Hosted by Sam Fragoso. New episodes every Sunday.

Where people sound like people, since 2016.

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