Joaquin Phoenix

Phoenix never reached a point where he felt like he “got it,” but says that a series of progressive moments led to what is by most accounts a near-seamless characterization: “I know that I reached a point where I was no longer thinking about [performing as Cash]; that’s just what I did.”

Despite describing performing live in front of thousands of people as a “terrifying concept,” there was one thing that Phoenix was never afraid of during filming: boredom. “The hardest thing in some ways,” he says, “is to remain stimulated by a role throughout the course of a three-month shoot and twice as long to prep. I never had that problem with John. He was an incredibly complex person, and there are so many beats to play that I never once felt bored by him. I always felt challenged.”

So does the actor think that Cash would have liked Walk the Line? “I do,” says Phoenix. “I hope that he would. There wasn’t a lot of artifice with this film, just a lot of heart and passion and hard work, and that’s what John was all about. I think he would have appreciated that.”—Ryan Devlin