Joaquin Phoenix was unexpectedly eloquent during his speech after winning Best Actor at the London Critics Choice Awards. His speech started out with, “I struggle with the idea of winning awards for acting. Stating I'm Best Actor for something as subjective as film seems strange to me. To the uninitiated it implies I'm solely responsible for the creation and implementation of the character. I am not.”
Joaquin Phoenix in 'The Master'
He goes on to thank his colleagues and everyone involved with his performance, saying, “I suppose that's why we thank our colleagues. There are those who you all know such as Paul Thomas Anderson, to whom I am eternally grateful – a man who has persistently searched for the truth. I am fortunate to have been under his guidance. Philip Seymour Hoffman for his patience and advice. Amy Adams for being angry. Megan Ellison and everyone at Annapurna for their support of the film and ensuring that I was able to cover my mortgage.”
He also thanks members of the crew and others who don’t usually get thanked for awards like this, an unexpected move from any actor, but especially from Phoenix. At the end of his speech, he adds a postscript saying, “P.S. There's an up-and-coming actor named Daniel who's in a movie called 'Lincoln.' You should check it out."
Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln
Is he taking a jab at Daniel Day-Lewis or just pointing out to the London Critics that he thinks that Daniel deserved the award? After all, it’s not like Phoenix is a frontrunner for these awards; Daniel Day-Lewis has pretty soundly been beating everyone for Best Actor in almost every award ceremony in the past few weeks.
Joaquin Phoenix at the Venice Film Festival for 'The Master'
