Two weeks before filming, Joaquin Phoenix quit Split, recalls James McAvoy

Good for the English actor, who is great in this surprise sequel to Unbreakable, by M. Night Shyamalan.

James McAvoy just released Speak No Evila horror thriller, in the United States. The opportunity for him to replay an evil character. In 2017, he had bluffed everyone with his multiple incarnations in Splitof M. Night Shyamalana thriller in which he played a man struggling with no fewer than 23 personalities.

Interviewed in the podcast Happy Sad Confused about this collaboration, and how he found the different facets of his anti-hero for the director of Sixth sensethe star actor of the prequels of X-Men is also questioned about his replacement on this film of Joaquin Phoenixwho had initially been announced in this role.

Joaquin Phoenix refuses to explain his departure from Todd Haynes’ film

In August 2015, First also relayed the information: if the film was not yet called Split and that its creator obviously said nothing about its content, it was planned that Shyamalan reunites with his lead actor of Signs (2002) and The Village (2004) for a new thriller produced by Jason Blum, once his horror movie The Visit released, just like its series Wayward Pines with Matt Dillon.

Joaquin Phoenix remained attached to this mysterious project until early October of that year, when he was replaced “at the drop of a hat” by James McAvoysince filming of Split began at the end of October 2015, for a theatrical release in early 2017.

While the star comedian of Joker come to abandon a Todd Haynes filmwhich he himself had initiated just before the start of filming, McAvoy confirms that he had had very little time to prepare at the time:

“Sometimes, arriving at the last minute is the best. I think he dropped out of the film about two weeks before shooting started? It was really last minute. I only had a few weeks to prepare. Two weeks, actually. The script was well written, very detailed, so there were a lot of things that were very clear from the start, but some characters took me a little longer to find them. Patricia arrived very quickly, on the other hand, Hedwig, it took longer.”

Asked how he felt about agreeing to replace Joaquin Phoenix at the last minute, McAvoy laughs, before answering more seriously:

“No, (I didn’t find it weird to reprise his role). Not at all. I have enough confidence in myself to know that I will do better, anyway. No, I’m kidding, I like to say stupid things. Are you kidding? He’s a great actor. He would have delivered a different performance than I did, that’s for sure, but it would have been incredible.”

Now that he’s already stepped in for him once on an ambitious film, could James McAvoy be called upon by Todd Haynes to help with his gay romance? That’s the hope of some of the actor’s fans, but for now, this independent project seems to be in jeopardy due to Phoenix’s last-minute departure.

Joaquin Phoenix (also) almost slammed the door on Napoleon

Finally, still on the subject of Splitat the end of summer 2015, to prepare for the release of The Visit at the cinema, First was able to ask M. Night Shyamalan a few questionsThe filmmaker obviously did not reveal the link between his future film and Unbreakablea revelation that allowed him to then film Glass (2019) by reuniting Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and James McAvoy for the grand finale of his superhero story. He did, however, hint that he had seriously considered the question of a Unbreakable 2. Here is an excerpt from his interview:

You are prone to making fun of yourself, both in The Visit that in Wayward Pineswhich borders on self-parody…
I’m immersed in comedy dark. Wayward And The Visit are mysteries with keys propelled by inappropriate humor. That’s the mood of the day. The film I’m currently writing is of the same ilk. I’ve been thinking a lot about David Lynch lately, that’s probably where it comes from…

Really ?
And Pedro Almodovar. His strangest films like Tie me up. Am I supposed to laugh? Freak out? I love it… It was in Unbreakablebut I can’t think about anything else: the trigger and the trigger.

Unbreakable 2 ? How do you not show Bruce Willis beating up the Glass Man? And the Glass Man crumbling into little pieces? How do you stay grounded?
That’s the problem, isn’t it? It obviously can’t become Marvel. I have some ideas but the format would be shocking, the tone extremely realistic. It would be a very, very unusual film…

They fight… but we don’t see them fighting?
Yes. It can’t be anything else.

Split is to be (re)watched on Première Max. Trailer:

Split: M. Night Shyamalan confirms his comeback (review)