James Mangold's A Complete Unknown is proving to be a huge hit in theaters right now. Premiering on Christmas day, it looks like Timothee Chalamet knocked his take on Bob Dylan out of the park. Boyd Holbrook plays a pretty solid Johnny Cash if the trailers are anything to go by too. However, could you imagine a situation where Joaquin Phoenix came back to play the role? It seems like that time would be a little past him now after playing Cash for Walk the Line in 2005. Surprisingly, though, it was a brief thought the director had.
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Recently, Mangold spoke with Business Insider for an interview to promote A Complete Unknown. There, he reveals that he legitimately considered Joaquin Phoenix for a brief moment to be in the film. However, obvious factors came to mind before he could even dial his phone to make the call. "The thought occurred to me. But then I realized he'd be 20 to 30 years too old to be playing the part," the director says.
Joaquin Phoenix Was a Brief Thought to Return for Johnny Cash Role
Certainly, there's some ways to get around this age hurdle. I mean, they busted out some special CGI and digital de-aging tricks to pull off Harrison Ford in the last Indiana Jones film. Or you could really pack on the makeup. It's not an impossible feat for James Mangold to pull off with Joaquin Phoenix.
Regardless, the director maintains that keeping the two films as separate entities is for the best in the end. Creating a classic rock biopic universe of sorts cheapens the whole experience, let Mangold say it. Makes Joaquin, Chalamet, and the director look a little silly. "Okay, but then what am I servicing? This kind of meta-movie universe stuff that has plagued us enough? I'm a big fan of making a movie and giving the public the movie. Don't try to suture the movie to another movie, just own it. Otherwise movies just become this hyper-expensive television series in which we never stop making new episodes every couple of years," he says.
