Eddington 'could have been much more unpleasant'

Eddington director Ari Aster has confessed the film could have been "much more unpleasant".

The moviemaker's latest offering is a dark Western starring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal which is set in New Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic and Aster has revealed he wanted the film to reflect the "cruel" times but he decided to "sand off the edges" to make it more "digestible".

He told The Hollywood Reporter: "Eddington is a dark film, and I’ve heard people describe it as mean-spirited. But again, it’s trying to reflect the mood of the country, and things have gotten really mean. Things are very cruel.

"This culture is incredibly cruel, and things have gotten really obscene. So, in some ways I had to tamp all that stuff down in the film because it could have easily been much more alienating and much more unpleasant.

"So it was interesting to have to actually sand off the edges in some cases just so it could be digestible."

Aster also spoke about his leading man Phoenix and admitted the actor often "suffers" for his art as he battles self-doubt.

He said: "Joaquin completely throws himself into whatever he’s doing, and he takes the decision to actually commit to something very seriously. I think he suffers over it, and I certainly understand that.

"I have nerves about everything I’m doing and wondering whether it’s the right thing. With Joaquin, I think he faces that with every scene.

"For every scene, he comes in and asks: 'How do I find this? How do I find something interesting, true and urgent that is worth expressing?'

"I think he lives in horror of the idea of acting and just giving a performance. I think he even recoils at that word performance, and that’s why I really love working with him."

He adde of Phoenix: "He will challenge everything you put in front of him, and that very often yields something surprising and, sometimes, electrifying.

"What you want from any actor is for the scene or the movie to come to life, or to get away from you and take on its own energy. And there is a magic to what Joaquin does. He’s trying to summon that.

"He’s trying to summon something that is beyond him. He’s also a very technical actor, surprisingly technical. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s very conscious of craft."