Actress Vanessa Kirby let Joaquin Phoenix slap her in Napoleon.
This upcoming epic historical drama is directed by Ridley Scott, who previously made movies like Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator. It stars Phoenix as the Emperor of the French during his “rise to power through the lens of his addictive and volatile relationship with Empress Joséphine,” according to the synopsis. Kirby appears in the film as Joséphine, and she shared what it was like to work with Phoenix.
Phoenix slapped Kirby across the face while filming a heated divorce scene. “We were using the real words from their divorce in the church,” Kirby said. “When that happens, you can faithfully go through an archival re-enactment of it and read out the lines and then go home. But we always wanted to surprise each other.”
“She said, ‘Look, whatever you feel, you can do.’ I said, ‘Same thing with you.’ She said, ‘You can slap me, you can grab me, you can pull me, you can kiss me, whatever it is,’” Phoenix recalled about his talks with Kirby before filming kicked off. “We had this agreement that we were going to surprise each other and try and create moments that weren’t there because both of us wanted to avoid the cliché of the period drama. And by that, I mean moments that are well-orchestrated and designed.”
Kirby added, “It’s the greatest thing when you have a creative partner and you say, ‘Right, everything’s safe. I’m with you. And we’re gonna go to the dark places together.’”
“We encouraged each other, demanded of each other, to challenge ourselves to shock each other in moments,” Phoenix said. “And that’s what came out of that, that moment.”
What is the Napoleon movie release date?
The film will release on November 22, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing, and will then stream on Apple TV+.
The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Ben Miles, Ludivine Sagnier, Matthew Needham, Youssef Kerkour, Phil Cornwell, Edouard Philipponnat, Ian McNeice, Paul Rhys, John Hollingworth, Gavin Spokes, and Mark Bonnar.
