Napoleon will premiere in theaters November 22.
“I compare him with Alexander The Great.
Stalin,” Scott said, acknowledging the darker aspects of Napoleon’s legacy.
He was extraordinary."
Joaquin Phoenix, portraying Napoleon, aimed to steer away from the traditional heroic tropes.
“That’s definitely something we wanted to avoid,” Phoenix said.
“Speaking for myself, I actively wanted to avoid the conventions of the biopic.”
Note: All interviews with actors and writers for Empire Magazine took place prior to the union strikes.
Scott worked to maintain that focus despite the allure of the grand battle scenes.
“So I kept reining it in, I kept going back to Josephine.”
“I’m staring at Joaquin and saying, ‘This little demon is Napoleon Bonaparte!’
He looks like him,” Scott said.
Phoenix echoes Scott’s sentiment, emphasizing the complexity of the character and the film itself.
“Because if you see this film, it’s this experience told through Ridley’s eyes.
It’s just such a complex world.
I mean, it’s so… complex.
What we were after was something that would capture the feeling of this man.”
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