Joaquin Phoenix as Sheriff Joe Cross in ‘Eddington.’
When Joaquin Phoenix set out to play the small-town New Mexico mayor Joe Cross in Eddington, he didn’t expect to be heading to the film’s location for inspiration.
“Honestly, it was an act of desperation,” he tells me as we chat over Zoom. “I’d love to say that there was some great method or idea, but I was sitting here in my house in Los Angeles, holding the script, and saying, ‘I need something tangible. How am I supposed to build the character? I have no idea. I need to be, and the landscape is important, and I need to be around people for whom this is their experience, or else I’m basing it off of reading.”
So, without hesitation in August 2023, the Oscar-winning actor and Eddington’s writer-director, Ari Aster, headed to Albuquerque, Santa Fe County, and Truth or Consequences, to get a feel for the people and places. While those three places are very real, Eddington is a work of fiction.
“For me, it felt like it needed something more, and I think that was something that Ari had already been doing,” the Joker actor explains. “He had been doing research in New Mexico, so I went with him, and we did ride-alongs with sheriffs and different police officers, and mayors, and it was absolutely vital. For me, I’m the kind of actor who wants to be able to touch something. I want to feel the environment.”
“Everyone was great and receptive, and kind of like the cliche of a small town in which everyone was friendly, and they didn’t care. In the first five minutes, you took some pictures, and then all that celebrity attention went away, and we were able to spend time with them and ask anything. I found everybody to be open, receptive, not guarded and judgmental, but curious.”
Aster, known for acclaimed films such as Hereditary and Midsommar, describes Eddington as a “western-noir dark comedy ensemble piece set in a fictional copper mining town in contemporary New Mexico during the Covid-19 pandemic.” Phoenix plays the town sheriff and a mayoral candidate running against Pedro Pascal’s Ted Garcia, Eddington’s incumbent mayor, who is running for reelection. Eddington lands in theaters on Friday, July 18, 2025.
‘Eddington’ Draws Inspiration From Real Life And Classic 1980’s Action Movies
Students of cinema, both Aster, who is from New Mexico, and Phoenix, draw inspiration from a range of films and other art. Perhaps surprisingly, action movies from the 1980s, starring the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris, play a significant role in Eddington’s explosive finale.
“I didn’t make any conscious or considered effort to study any of those films, but I was born in ’74, and I grew up with all of those images of those actors and iconic films. They’re part of me. It’s a part of my experience,” Phoenix confirms. “I understood the humor of kicking open a door with me holding a massive machine gun and spraying the town. That was a part of me and Ari. I’m sure Ari had a more specific intention there, but it was nothing we discussed. There was no particular film that we talked about or looked at in terms of how I approached those moments.”
Eddington reunites Phoenix, known for standout performances in Walk the Line, Gladiator, The Master, Her, and C’mon C’mon, with Aster, who previously worked together on Beau is Afraid. He’s one of only a handful of filmmakers that the actor has worked with more than once. So what is it about Aster that sets him apart?
“There are probably several things, and maybe there’s the professional side, but what I look for is a director who does something that no one else can do, and they have a very unique vision. Ari certainly has that,” Phoenix shares. “There is nobody like him. Part of the personal side of it is that we want someone with whom we understand each other and can spend a lot of time together. Sometimes you’re spending months with somebody. I like Ari as a person. I enjoy talking to him. I enjoy his observations and I like his humor.”
(Left to right) Writer, director, and producer Ari Aster and Joaquin Phoenix at the LA Premiere of … More
How does Aster challenge an actor with such a diverse and celebrated catalog of work that netted him four Oscar nominations and one win?
“I love the question, I know he does, but it’s tough to articulate,” he muses. “Sometimes with the director and actors, the director needs to be sensitive to what’s going on with the actor, and to sense whether there’s something more or a different approach than the actor might have. Sometimes it’s to ensure that you’ve fully explored every possibility of the moment. Sometimes it’s more direct than that, and very simply, for instance, you will know that in certain scenarios you need an insert shot. You need to make sure that the actor looks at their phone so that you can cut to it.”
“Often, when there are more meaty scenes, in some ways, part of what I want is somebody that can help me to ensure that I’m fully exploring all the possibilities for that scene, and isn’t going to be comfortable with just settling on the first thing that comes to mind or what comes easily. Ari has like an obsession, and hopefully I do too, with doing that, and I think that hopefully we challenge each other to go deeper.”
(Left to right) Pedro Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix pose during a photocall for the film ‘Eddington’ at … More
There Are Two Big Reasons Why You Should Watch ‘Eddington’ In Theaters
At a time when independent films need audience support at the box office more than ever, Phoenix implores people to experience Eddington in theaters. However, good box office is not the only reason.
“It’s vital, and I think that’s true for most films, but with this film in particular,” he concludes. “It’s so much about this shared experience that we all went through, and yet we all went through it often glued to our own, individual screens, getting our version of events and of reality. There’s something that feels corrective and right about going through this experience and watching this film as a collective, and to hear and feel the reaction of those around us, and hopefully people that have different political or philosophical leanings.”
“I think that’s something really enjoyable about Eddington. There’s something in which we can hopefully recognize a piece of ourselves in every character, and maybe laugh at ourselves a little bit, and forgive ourselves a little bit. Doing that in a collective experience feels important. There’s something very fun about this film, and particularly the finale you mentioned, where you’re in a room full of people, it’s charged, it’s electric, it’s exciting, and it feels vital to have that experience versus sitting alone behind the screen.”
