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James Gray to get Joaquin Phoenix 'out of retirement'
2008-12-16
PARIS (AFP) - US director James Gray is hoping to persuade two-time Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix to reverse his decision to quit the screen. "I'll get him out of retirement, I've got to write a good part," said Gray, who starred the now 34-year-old actor in three of his four movies to date -- "Yards" (2000), "We Own The Night" (2007) and the just released "Two Lovers." "I just think he hit a moment where he was bored," said Gray during a visit to France for a weekend film festival. Phoenix last October announced his intention to bring an end to his film career and dedicate his time to music. Brother of River Phoenix, who died of a drug overdose in 1993, Joaquin was nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for his portrayal of singer Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line." Gray said that at the end of filming "Two Lovers," which also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Phoenix seemed exhausted. "One day near the end, he was sitting in a corner and he just looked totally spent. I said 'What's the matter ?' and he said 'Man, I'm tired. I don't know if I can do this any more.'" "He really puts everything into the movie, he becomes that person," said Gray. After setting all his movies in New York, Gray's next project takes him to the Amazon where Brad Pitt will play British soldier and spy Percy Fawcett, who left Victorian society to chart the jungle but then became obsessed with finding a lost civilisation he called Z. Titled "The Lost City of Z," it is an adaptation of an upcoming novel by David Grann of the New Yorker.
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