Brian Cox has branded Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Napoleon Bonaparte “truly terrible” in scathing new comments.
The Succession actor, 77, said Oscar winner Phoenix’s performance in Ridley Scott’s 2023 epic was “crazy” and “awful” and declared he would have played the role “much better.”
In a scathing speech at HisFest this week by The standard, Cox said of the Oscar-nominated historical film: “It’s terrible.” A truly terrible performance by Joaquin Phoenix. It’s really scary.
‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I think it’s totally her fault and I don’t think Ridley Scott will help her. He would have played it much better than Joaquin Phoenix, I assure you. You can say it’s a good drama. They are not lies.
Then he added strangely, “I think it has a good name.” JoaquÃn… crazy… crazy. It’s kind of an extravagant performance.
Brian Cox called Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Napoleon Bonaparte “truly terrible” in a scathing new interview.
The Succession actor, 77, said Oscar winner Phoenix’s performance in Ridley Scott’s 2023 epic was “crazy” and “awful” and declared he would have played the role “much better.”
Taking aim at the lack of historical accuracy in biopics, Cox then criticized Mel Gibson’s 1995 epic Braveheart as a “bunch of nonsense” and a “bunch of lies.”
Cox also called method acting “absolutely idiotic” and said that researching a role was much more important than playing a character non-stop.
In the wide-ranging interview, the star added that he will “probably” leave the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected to the presidency.
Last year, Scott responded to criticism of his long-awaited biopic about Napoleon in France, stating that “the French don’t even like themselves.”
French critics criticized the biopic as “deeply clumsy” and “boring” when it premiered in Paris last week.
But Sir Ridley insisted: “The audience I showed it to in Paris loved it.”
Despite earning rave reviews in Britain and the United States, the epic starring Joaquin Phoenix as the marauding French emperor irritated critics on the continent.
Historian Patrice Gueniffey, writing in Le Point, criticized the film as “an Englishman’s film…very anti-French” and criticized the director for having “Wokist biases.”
But asked about him bbc On what he thought of historians who say his film is inaccurate, Sir Ridley said: “Do you really want me to respond to that?… It will have a beep.”
He said: ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I think it’s totally his fault and I don’t think Ridley Scott will help him (Phoenix and Scott pictured from November 2023)
Phoenix plays Napoleon in the film which focuses on his complex and tainted relationships amid a surprising rise to power against the backdrop of the French Revolution.
Taking aim at the lack of historical accuracy in biopics, Cox then criticized Mel Gibson’s 1995 epic Braveheart as a “bunch of nonsense” and a “bunch of lies.”
A GQ reviewer said the film left them “bored”, adding that there was something “clumsy” but “unintentionally funny” about watching French soldiers shout “Vive la France” in an American accent.
Le Figaro said the film should be called “Barbie and Ken under the Empire” and added that Napoleon is portrayed as a “sentimental brute with a gun in his hand and quick to shed a tear.”
The French-language Canadian newspaper Le Devoir led with the headline “Not Waterloo, but not Austerlitz either,” referencing Napoleon’s last futile stand in Belgium and his tactical “masterpiece” against the Russians in present-day Czechia.
The article described Phoenix’s Napoleon as a “petulant kid who doesn’t really seem to know what he’s doing.”
Criticism of the film’s direction is based on growing claims of inaccuracies by historians, including Dan Snow.
Snow also took issue with the film’s tagline, “He came from nothing, he conquered everything,” because Napoleon never conquered Britain.
‘I love historical epics. I love Ridley Scott. But if you’re watching this movie, it’s not a documentary,” he said.