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Joaquin Phoenix
has distinguished himself in a string of excellent roles since his 1995
breakthrough in Gus Van Sant’s To Die For. This year he
is a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee for his outstanding performance
as Commodus, the treacherous but all too human Roman emperor in Ridley
Scott’s nomination dominator, Gladiator, starring Russell
Crowe.
He also recently
appeared in The Yards, co-starring Mark
Wahlberg and Charlize Theron; and in Quills,
as Abbe de Coulmier, a tormented priest who is the Marquis de Sade’s (Geoffrey
Rush) rival for the affections of an enchanting laundress (Kate Winslet).
 A
Scorpio, Phoenix has used his craft to explore the slimy underbelly of
conventional morality, perhaps to demonstrate how all sinners are merely
pawns of their own temptation. His creative lifeline is based on identifying
moral ambiguity and exposing the victim/perpetrator in everyone. In the
simplest terms, he likes to show good people doing bad things.
Scorpio:
Fixed Mars
“You
are not the Antichrist. You are only a malcontent who knows how to spell.”
(Phoenix
as Abbe de Coulmier in Quills, addressing the Marquis
de Sade.)
Phoenix’s
chart contains a significant concentration of planets in Scorpio. His
Scorpio archetypes reflect the darkest elements of human behavior, contrasting
will power with submission to personal demons.
Madeleine
(Kate Winslet): “How can we know who is good and who is evil?”
Coulmier
(Phoenix): “All we can do is guard against our own corruption.”
(Dialogue
from Quills)
Scorpio’s
relationship with this aspect of humanity extends from two specific astrological
factors. First, is its traditional association, what is called rulership,
with Mars, the planet of dissociate force and action. Secondly, it is
a fixed sign (along with Taurus, Leo and Aquarius), a characterization
(called a mode) which implies a deeply rooted, unchangeable nature.
Every sign
has a ruling planet and belongs to one of three modes, the combination
of which reflects the inherent characteristics of that sign. As a fixed
Mars sign, Scorpio represents premeditated or compulsive types of action.
The other Mars-ruled sign, Aries, is categorized in the cardinal mode
and applies to instinctive or impulsive types of action. This distinction
addresses many of Scorpio’s modern associations, such as jealousy, obsession
and intrigue.
Not
Morbid
“There
are some things that you see, and you can’t unsee them.”
(Phoenix
as Max California, the porno shop clerk in 8mm.)
Phoenix’s
“Scorpionic” preoccupation with darkness is not morbid. In fact, it shows
his awareness of its own purity and natural place in the balance of life.
Scorpio’s dark side is an extension of the dissociating function of its
ruling planet, Mars. Subjectively, this points to the more brutal levels
of existence, conceptualized in terms of basic survival and human nature.
Max California
(Phoenix): “There’s three rules in life: One, there’s always a victim;
two, don’t be it.”
Thomas
Wells (Nicolas Cage): “And three?”
Max California:
“I forget what three is.”
(Dialogue
from 8mm)
Phoenix has
gone to great lengths to remind audiences of the more arbitrary aspects
of judgment and justice, that persecution and prosecution can be so easily
intertwined. His focus reveals profound insight into the complex web of
circumstances involved when people commit offences of any kind. For instance,
he has played a series of roles as someone who is forced to assume the
full penalty for crimes committed either by, or with, others.
There is
Jimmy Emmett in To Die For, whose primal teenage lust was
manipulated by a psychotic older woman (Nicole Kidman) to murder her husband
(Matt Dillon); Lewis McBride in Return to Paradise, the
lone convict of an American trio of tourist buddies, unfairly sentenced
to death in Malaysia for an exaggerated drug possession charge; and Clay
Birdwell in Clay Pigeons, who got trapped in his own web
of lies as the wrongly accused patsy of Vince Vaughan’s charming serial
killer, Lester the Molester.
Commodus:
Sympathy for the Devil
“He
sleeps soundly because he is loved.”
(Phoenix
as Commodus in Gladiator, enviously referring to his sleeping
nephew and heir, Lucius.)
In a thematic
twist from previous roles, ruthless Commodus was solely responsible for
his crimes. However, it was impossible not to sympathize with him, mainly
because of the way Phoenix showed us how his motives were so universal.
His delivery suggested that all any vicious dictator ever needed was to
be loved, revealing a type of compassion on his part that is particular
to Scorpio’s concerns.
Phoenix’s
Scorpio Sun, which represents his individual “self,” is joined closely
with Mars, his energy, and Venus, his values. As Mars rules Scorpio, it
is considered to be stronger in its expression when placed in its own
sign, effectively dominating this trio in influence. (Editor’s Note: Many
modern astrologers use Pluto as the ruling planet of Scorpio but Mars
is the traditional ruler.)
Adding to
his Sun’s basic personality, it is his powerful Mars in Scorpio that emphasizes
his expressive intensity. It essentially overpowers him, implying his
willpower can be subject to a force stronger than his own, for better
or worse. As an actor, this distinction is what allows him, as in the
case of Commodus, to depict evil as the most human of qualities.
Men
and Women: Three Is a Crowd
In astrology,
Mars and Venus respectively represent men and women. Their interaction
in a chart commonly refers specifically to gender relations. In Phoenix’s
chart, Venus is placed between Mars and the Sun, mirroring a struggle
that is repeatedly manifested in his work.
He has played
many characters who are the odd man out in triangulated circumstances,
usually between a woman and another man. It is often the “other” man who
plays the stronger Mars role against Phoenix’s own Sun.
Adding to
such previous examples as To Die For and Quills,
there are several others, such as Doug Holt in Inventing the Abbotts,
the sensitive loser of a fierce sibling competition (with Billy Crudup)
for the attention of three sisters (including Liv Tyler); and Toby N.
Tucker in U Turn, the smalltown roughneck defending his
claim on Claire
Danes against Sean Penn. He even followed this thread to a
disturbing new level in Gladiator, as Commodus’ jealousy
over Maximus (Russell Crowe) extended to his incestuous desire for his
own sister.
The
Oscar Club
Now acknowledged
by the Academy, Phoenix’s newcomer status in this notoriously unpredictable
category could easily work against him. However, Gladiator’s
overwhelming total of twelve nominations could also help sweep him in
on a wave to victory.
Poised to
continue producing great work, he follows with Buffalo Soldiers,
an account of the fall of the Berlin Wall, co-starring fellow nominee
Ed Harris. Hopefully, the considerable acting potency in this Scorpio’s
sting will keep him in good roles and movies for some time.
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