Ferrell & Phoenix talk horses, bananas & much more in amazing interview

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

On camera, Joaquin Phoenix is a very intense, versatile actor capable of weaving between various roles with the ease of a fish in water. As for Will Ferrell, he’s America’s funnyman, a warm, gentle soul capable of executing big laughs with quotable bits. These two could not be of more opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their big screen personas. However, a new interview between the two proves that when the two are their natural selves it makes for riveting conversation.

In an interview conducted by Ferrell himself, the two actors talk about a wide variety of things, starting out with Valentine’s Day, and then moving into topics like horseback riding in movies, whether or not they’ve met before, movie stunts, and bananas.

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Here is a little taste of the fantastic interview with an excerpt with Phoenix and Ferrell talking about riding horses in movies (which the former does in his newest movie THE SISTERS BROTHERS)

FERRELL: The few times I’ve done horse work, they’re always like, “Joaquin, you’ll be on Thunderbolt. Will, we’re going to give you Cinnamon here. Cinnamon’s a good old gal. She won’t give you much trouble.”

 

PHOENIX: There was another one, the stunt horse, that I couldn’t even look at because she was just so ferocious, her muscles constantly flexing.

FERRELL: Twitching, ready to go, full gallop.

PHOENIX: And I couldn’t do that. I mean, I didn’t like riding horses. I actually regretted having to ride. I’m a little clueless, because I don’t think that I really thought about it that much until I was there and realized, “Oh, it’s a Western and we’re on horses a lot.” I hadn’t really considered that. I felt bad about riding them. I had the feeling that they were like, “I don’t really want you on my back.”

FERRELL: But they tell you that the horses love it.

PHOENIX: Yeah, but the horses tell you something different. I’m really bumming out this interview, man. [laughs] I’m sorry.

The interview has some insightful moments about the industry, with the two talking about the insanity of doing press shoots and doing interviews with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. But one of the more notable bits is when Ferrell told Phoenix GLADIATOR worked so well because Pheonix was “such a little bitch" in the role of Commodus.

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What I love about this interview is how it acts as a looking glass into two people who you have a certain perception of an how that perception changes when you’re finished. Ferrell, often doing broad comedy work, comes off like a completely normal guy, one who would be selling you real estate if he weren’t doing comedy. Phoenix, a seemingly intense figure, seems personable, open and down to discuss anything. You can read the whole interview at the source link below! Am I crazy thinking these two should be in a movie together?

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE starring Phoenix is in theaters Friday.