This story came out a while ago or I would think it was an April Fool’s joke. It still might be a fake story, I’m just saying it didn’t come out today. So if you heard this ages ago, forgive me but it’s news to me. I’d also like to talk about it, since I finally gave in a couple of weeks ago and watched Casey Affleck’s documentary on Joaquin Phoenix’s “faux” breakdown, I’m Still Here. To say the movie was hard to watch was an understatement. It was somewhat provocative and mildly interesting, but overall it was boring to watch a self-indulgent drug-addled downfall. Casey has admitted that it was faked, although if that was the case Joaquin was incredibly convincing. He’s an Academy Award nominated actor after all.
So these two are teaming up again on another film project, and it’s much different from their last effort. They’re going to document the lives and last days of terminally ill people:
National Geographic Channel has greenlighted a provocative documentary special from top auspices: Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck; Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin, directors of the Oscar-winning 2011 documentary Undefeated; and Scott Free, the company behind NatGeo’s hit factual drama special Killing Lincoln. The Verité documentary chronicles people’s final days before death, celebrating their lives and legacy through documentary footage, home movies, personal testimonials and interviews with friends and family members. “This is an incredible (project) documenting people in their last days and tackling the notion of death in an uplifting way,” NatGeo president Howard T. Owens said. Phoenix and Affleck, who previously collaborated on the headline-making 2010 film I’m Still Here, executive produce with Michale Muller through Strawhouse. Jules Daly will produce and David Zucker and Mary Lisio of Scott Free will executive produce, with Lindsay and Martin also producing. Production on the special will begin this spring, with broadcast set for fall 2013.
This actually sounds like a good idea. It reminds me of a charity I heard of recently, The Bucket List Foundation. (Warning on that link, you will probably cry if you read any of the personal stories) That charity was founded by a hospice worker and RN who wanted to help grant the wishes of terminally ill seniors she cared for. In a way, this film project can do that for a handful of people, it can help document their lives and let them know that they’ll be memorialized. It does make me wonder if Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix are the ones to be taking on such an important project and if they’ll do the subject justice. This might just be an opportunity to change direction and prove themselves after filming scenes with women posing as hookers and an assistant trying to crap on Joaquin’s face. (Spoiler I guess.) Although given the two sexual harassment lawsuits filed against Casey for I’m Still Here, I’m inclined to believe it wasn’t all faked. They need some kind of feel good social project after that mess.
Casey Affleck and his wife, Joaquin’s sister Summer Phoenix, at the VF Oscar Party. They look thrilled.
Joaquin and his girlfriend, Heather Christie, a couple of weeks ago. He’s also shown below with his sister, Rain. Bedhead told me that Joaquin’s real name is “Leaf.” It figures.
Photo credit: FameFlynet and WENN.com
I like Casey. Actually more than Ben. He has really beautiful eyes. I was wondering why he was not working then saw that he has 2 films coming out.
I guess filming this will mean something to the family left behind. I get that.
i think his real name is joaquin. he used to go by the name leaf when he was younger but i’m sure i read he changed it to that because he wanted a name more like his siblings’ (river, summer, rain etc)
Yeah, his real name is Joaquin Rafael Bottom. His parents changed their last names to Phoenix when he was a child.
River Phoenix’s real name was River Bottom.
His real name is Joaquin. When he was six years old he told his father he wanted a name more like his siblings (Rain, Liberty, River, Summer) and mother Heart. His father, who was raking the leaves with young Joaquin asked him what name he would like and he said “Leaf” thus getting the new moniker bestowed on him. He says he was tired of correcting those who pronounced his name incorrectly. Somewhere in his teen years he began to go by Joaquin again.
I think his real name is Joaquin and he changed it briefly because everyone else in his family had cool names.
I think anything that gets Joaquin in front of a camera is award-worthy. Always. He’s that good.
So totally agree with you.
I can’t take anything that Joaquin does seriously and because of their close relationship, same with Casey. I mean don’t get me wrong, Joaquin was brilliant in The Master, Walk the Line, etc but his antics bother me and not at all in a good way. And I never used to mind Casey until the two women went forward with claims of sexual harassment against him. I won’t be seeing this documentary, especially knowing how ridiculous their last one was. One thing I do find interesting though is that most of Casey’s work over the course of his career has either been with Ben, his brother, Joaquin, his brother in law or Matt Damon who is basically like a brother. I wonder why he doesn’t do more work outside of his family when one of the few times be did do a project of his own, he got nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has this upcoming project with Joaquin and an upcoming film with Ben and Matt so its weird to me because he’s been doing this since Good Will Hunting.
Love Joaquin! Always will
If it is true, I love the idea. Our culture seriously undervalues its elders.
You don’t need to be old to be terminally ill 🙂
er, that’s not HEather…
You are right. That’s British model Sophie Sumner. She was on America’s Next Top Model – British Invasion and is best friends with Emma Watson.
Joaquin’s girlfriends last less than Clooney’s
If it’s not done in an exploitative way, it could be quite lovely.
I like the idea of documenting people’s lives. I’m the genealogy freak in my family.
I watched the Alzheimer’s Project documentary that Maria Shriver narrated. I was crying within 20 minutes of the 1st episode.
Hopefully Joaquin and Casey will do a good job with this project if it ever comes to fruition.
I volunteer at an assisted living center for the elderly (Sorry, but I have to boast a little bit, but my 17 year old volunteer with me and absolutely loves it)..I think it’s a good idea. I do have to say that his girlfriend’s outfit is terrible. But I like Joaquin (don’t know much about Casey)…because he’s not an -in-your-face celebrity (I had to fix that because I typed “celebitchy” – force of habit 🙂
(what I meant was bragging about my son’s love for older people, not about myself!)
That is not Heather Christie. That is Sophie Summers. She won ANTM British Invasion. She’s the model who had pink hair that Helen Mirren copied. I keep seeing this all over the Internet and that is NOT her name.
I used to date a guy who went to the same college as Casey. Casey showed up for an audition for a Shakespeare play once drunk off his ass (my then-bf directed the play and was one of the people auditioning other college students). They told Casey to go home, sober up, and return the next day. He freaked out on them and started yelling such things as “You don’t know who the f*** I am, I’m Ben Affleck’s brother!” That’s what I think of when I see Casey Affleck.
Joaquin is a modelizer like Leo and Clooney. That’s not Heather. Anyway, I read this report a few weeks ago. It’s interesting. His new PETA ad is also very good. I must be among the few people who enjoyed I’m Still Here. It’s hilarious and it’s also Joaquin’s best performance. I want to see Casey in more films. He is odd and therefore interesting. I like his voice. Both of them have unique voices.
“Joaquin is a modelizer like Leo and Clooney.”
*sticks fingers in ears and sings lalalalalala, I can’t heeeeeear you*
I know! It’s very sad but he is, very low key though. Some of the JP forums state that his last serious relationship was with Liv. After that it has been a list of interchanging models for very short periods of time.
Six Feet Under was all about bringing death out of the closet and this project will obviously continue that. So I’d be interested in it. I also think it be good if someone like HBO made a drama set in a palliative care unit. It could be like Six Feet Under meets Nurse Jackie.
I agree. Both Joaqin and Casey’s new documentary and your TV show idea sound good.
SOMETHING ABOUT THIS MAN!!!DRIVES ME CRAZY!LOVE HIM!
of course for a profit, right?
sleaze bags
It’s true. The film crew has been with my dying friend all day today and many days over the last week or so. They have been incredibly gentle, present and considerate. I will not say more out of respect for the delicate circumstances of their work, but it should be an intimate and compassionate look at the process of dying.