While recently preparing for an interview with Joaquin Phoenix during the Los Angeles press day for his new 2025 movie Eddington, I took notice of a special aspect of his filmography. His latest film is his second time working with writer/director Ari Aster, and that fits an interesting pattern, as there is a litany of talented and high profile filmmakers with whom he has worked multiple times – the list including Ridley Scott, Paul Thomas Anderson, Gus Van Sant, James Gray, Terry George, M. Night Shyamalan, and Todd Phillips. Discovering this, I couldn’t help but think that it said something about the way that he works with directors, and I felt compelled to ask him about those relationships the following day.
