Gladiator
Pitted against Russell Crowe's hulking, earthy Maximus, Joaquin Phoenix is smaller, more delicate. It is the classic confrontation between a man of honor and brute strength and a man of cunning, deception, and title. As Commodus, the emperor's only son, who threatens to turn Rome into a corrupt tyranny after his noble father dies, Phoenix perfects the image of pampered royalty rotting from within. Thunderous brows complicate his boyish face and terrifying green eyes, which, in every scene, look as if they are concealing vast reserves of wickedness. He embodies "a mix of Adolf Hitler and an angry 12-year-old," said one reviewer.
Indeed, to prepare for the role, Phoenix gained weight, cultivated a "patsy" complexion, and pored over The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Director Ridley Scott had reportedly envisioned the character's entry into Rome as something resembling the Nuremburg Rally.
Phoenix was far from the natural choice for this film. At the time he was cast, he had little in his body of work to indicate that he could embody a Roman emperor in an epic film. His film work had consisted of roles such as Nicole Kidman's dim-witted love slave in To Die For and a blue-haired porn store clerk in 8MM. But Scott fought for him.
Said Scott in a recent article, "People were saying, 'But could he be royalty'? And I said, 'Of course he could. He's an actor.' And they said, 'But he's never played posh before.' And I said, 'But you're offering him a fresh page!'" Scott was right to insist, as Phoenix has so skillfully transformed this fresh page into a memorable, archetypal picture of privilege and corruption.