Joaquin Phoenix Came to Ridley Scott Two Weeks Before Shooting NAPOLEON Saying He Didn't Know What to Do

Director Ridley Scott has been making films for decades, getting four Oscar nominations, and making movies that have become fan favorites like Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Thelma and Louise, The Martian, and many more. He has worked with many award-winning actors, and he knows how to draw out a good performance, so it was a good thing he was at the helm when the star of his latest movie came to him two weeks before shooting to say he didn’t know what to do with the role.

Scott told Empire magazine (via Variety) that Joaquin Phoenix felt clueless two weeks before cameras were set to roll on their historical epic Napoleon. The film marks a long-in-the-works reunion between the director and the Oscar-winning actor, who worked together over two decades ago on Gladiator. Phoenix is headlining the film as the French emperor opposite Vanessa Kirby as his wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais.

Scott explained:

“He’ll come in, and you’re fucking two weeks’ out, and he’ll say, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ I’ll say, ‘What?!’ ‘I don’t know what to do.’ Oh God. I said, ‘Come in, sit down.’ We sat for 10 days, all day, talking scene by scene. In a sense, we rehearsed. Absolutely detail by detail.”

Scott went on to call Phoenix “the best player of damaged goods,” which is why he was so perfect to cast as Napoleon. The actor said it wasn’t too tough of a decision to sign up for another film directed by Scott.

Phoenix said, of working with Scott:

“The truth is, there was just a very nostalgic idea of working with Ridley again. I had such an incredible experience working with Ridley on ‘Gladiator,’ and I was so young. It was my first big production. I really yearned for that experience again, or something similar. He’s approached me about other things in the past, but nothing that felt like it would be as demanding for both of us. And so I really liked the idea of jumping into something with Ridley that was going to be that.”

Scott previously revealed to Empire that casting Phoenix as Napoleon resulted in the script being entirely rewritten to make the actor more comfortable. The Napoleon script was penned by David Scarpa, who also wrote the screenplay for the Scott-directed All the Money in the World.

Scott said:

“Joaquin is about as far from conventional as you can get. Not deliberately, but out of intuition. That’s what makes him tick. If something bothers him, he’ll let you know. He made [‘Napoleon’] special by constantly questioning. With Joaquin, we can rewrite the goddamn film because he’s uncomfortable. And that kind of happened with ‘Napoleon.’ We unpicked the film to help him focus on who Bonaparte was. I had to respect that, because what was being said was incredibly constructive. It made it all grow bigger and better.”

Apple and Sony are releasing Napoleon in theaters on November 22nd.