Summer Phoenix and THE BELIEVER: The Hollywood Flashback Interview

(Summer Phoenix, left)

(I spoke with Summer Phoenix for Venice Magazine in spring of 2002, during a time when she was getting a real publicity push and lots of work. A press kit that was sent to me in advance had articles from just about every major newspaper and magazine. She was living in London at the time, doing a play with Casey Affleck, who she would marry a few years later. I thought she was quite strong in both The Believer, which would give Ryan Gosling a big push, and a lesser-seen film called Esther Kahn, in which she was the lead. I don't know if she has abandoned acting for the time being, as her IMDB credits seem to stop in 2004. Regardless, I believe she is still a talent and an interesting person from the film world of the decade that was, and so am including our talk in our flashback series.)

Summer Arrives

by Terry Keefe

You’ve probably heard about her even if you‘ve never seen her face before. She’s the youngest of the famous Phoenix family acting clan and she’s always mentioned somewhere in the countless biography pieces that have been done on her older siblings, Joaquin and the late River. With such a lineage, Hollywood, understandably, has also buzzed about her arrival in the acting world for some time. But when you see the body of work she’s been quietly putting together over the last few years, it’s clear that 24-year-old Summer Phoenix is intent on carving out a career uniquely her own. The easy route would have led her into the teen movie world where she could have quickly cashed in on her name recognition, but Summer has gone in the opposite direction. Just this year alone has seen her play two challenging roles: a young 19th-Century Jewish woman who longs to be a stage actress in the title role of Esther Kahn and then in The Believer she plays Carla, the daughter of a neo-Nazi. Talk about range. The latter role earned her a well-deserved "Best Supporting Actress" nomination at the recent Independent Spirit Awards.

The story of Summer’s childhood growing up in the Phoenix family has already become the stuff of legend. Along with her siblings Joaquin, Rain, Liberty, and River, she was home-schooled for much of her early life by her bohemian parents, John and Arlyn, who changed their last name to Phoenix after marrying. It was a true "artist family upbringing" which saw them travel all over the United States, from Los Angeles to Florida, with many stops in-between. Summer actually had a crack at the professional acting game some years ago when she acted in television and commercials up until the age of 12. This included a guest-starring role with brother Joaquin on the new "Leave It To Beaver" series and a role in the feature film Russkies (1987), where she once again starred with Joaquin. At 14, Summer moved to Central America with her father, along with sister Liberty. It wasn’t until she returned to Manhattan at the age of 18 that she decided to pursue acting again.

She made the indie film Dinner Rush, where Summer plays a young waitress working at a trendy Manhattan restaurant. The film screened at last fall’s Telluride Film Festival. She was also recently seen playing a teenage heroin addict in the MTV film Wasted. Like many fine actresses, there’s a chameleon-like quality to Summer. She isn’t always immediately recognizable from film-to-film because of the degree to which she submerges herself into her roles. But the recognition factor is about to change. A glance at her impressive collection of recent press clippings reveals that journalists are already running out of clever ways to spin her name into the title of their pieces on her: "Summer Time," "Summer in the City," "Days of Summer," and "Endless Summer" are amongst the ones that have been used recently. Add ours to that list.

We recently spoke with Summer from London where she is starring opposite Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in the Kenneth Lonergan play "This Is Our Youth" at the Garrick Theatre in the West End.

You did great work as Carla in The Believer. What was that shoot like?

Summer Phoenix: It was very, very "labor of love." It was very guerrilla-style. Often times we didn’t have a permit and we would jump out and shoot and run away. It was brilliant though because we were all there and we believed in it and we were all working together really hard to make this happen. And I absolutely adore (director) Henry Bean and (co-star) Ryan Gosling.

And how did it feel to be nominated for an Independent Spirit Award?

That just came out of the blue. I was just like, "No, I wasn’t (nominated)! Nuh-uh!" [laughs] It was brilliant. None of us had any idea that The Believer would get any recognition. So when it started to (attract attention) it was just that much of a better surprise. It was great to be a part of the Spirit Awards and to be sitting with all the other people and filmmakers who were nominated, as opposed to just showing up at a party. I actually had a reason to be there and that was really justifying.

The Believer is the kind of film which could have been a train wreck in the wrong hands. Were you concerned about that when you signed on?

Yeah, absolutely. I was very concerned. But what I liked is that Henry Bean was concerned as well. He wasn’t totally sure but he was like, "Trust me and let’s do this together. Let’s try to pull this off, all of us. And it’s going to take all of us to pull it off." So that experience of being such a big part of the collaboration was so rare. And doesn’t really often happen. It was the best sort of actor-director relationship that I’ve ever had because he was just so incredibly open to more "chefs."

Speaking of chefs, tell us how it was making Dinner Rush, set in the restaurant world of Manhattan.

Dinner Rush was fun. It happened in my part of town in New York. I had just come off of playing Carla in The Believer and Esther in Esther Kahn, which were two sort of more demanding and darker roles. And I was looking forward to playing somebody that was just ordinary. You know, just a waitress in a restaurant. So it was exactly what I needed and wanted.

Had you ever worked in a Manhattan restaurant before? I know you worked at one as a teenager in Latin America.

No, but there was a time when I considered it. I was hoping that Arturo’s would, like, let me play piano and hostess at one point. [laughs] But then something else came up, fortunately.

There was a period in your teen years when you stopped pursuing acting professionally for a while. Was it always your intention to pursue it again later?

I think for a while I just didn’t think about it. I lived a life.

You were busy being a kid.

Yeah, totally a kid. [laughs]

I read a quote from you where you said growing up in your family was a little like being in the von Trapp family.

It’s amazing these quotes! [laughs] I don’t even know who the von Trapp family is! Is that The Sound of Music?

That’s The Sound of Music.

Oh, okay. [laughs] I guess that that’s an okay comparison at times in that we sang and we danced [laughs] and we were all together constantly.

Coming from a famous acting family, do you feel like you have to prove yourself even more in Hollywood? I’m sure that some people probably think your name gives you an easy "in," but that may not be the case.

Right, it’s definitely not the case. I’ve definitely pulled my own weight very slowly. But I don’t know, sometimes it may just be projection and my own insecurity, something that I’ve just put on other people—like, "You just think I’m here because of my last name." Maybe they’re not thinking that at all. But I do think that I’ve pulled my own weight and I’m proud of that, you know what I mean? Yes, I come from the same ilk and the same thread and the same blood as others. But I’m definitely an individual and I think that’s pretty obvious, you know?

Tell us more about growing up in a bohemian/actor/artist-type family.

[laughs] It was normal. I didn’t know anything else. I didn’t know that other people ate meat (Her family were vegans). Or that everybody didn’t love their brothers and sisters, you know what I mean? That was my life. It all seemed very normal to me. It’s very hard to make comparisons when you’re a kid because you don’t know anything else. That’s how you were brought up, you know?

You’re performing in London’s West End in "This Is Our Youth." How is that going?

I’m really, really enjoying myself. There’s an added plus for me because I was here a few years ago shooting Esther Kahn, which is a story about a young girl who slowly charts her way to the West End against all odds. So it’s sort of brilliant that I’m here now.

It’s all come full circle. What is the role that you’re playing?

I play Jessica Goldman, who is this sort of nervous teenage girl who comes over to this boy’s house and she’s scared that she’s being set up with this boy who she actually likes, but she doesn’t want to be set up with him. And she’s just very opinionated and very analytical, as you are when you’re 19 years old and having realizations every day about "Oh, this is what life is about!" [laughs]

Is the Garrick the biggest theater that you’ve worked in?

Oh, yeah. The only theater. [I haven’t been on stage] since elementary school in auditoriums when I was in “Cats.” [laughs] So it’s brilliant to debut in such an old, great theater.

So, was it a little bit scary the first time on-stage there?

Umm, it was. It was slightly at first because we only had 3 1/2 weeks of rehearsal, which is rare. It was very quick. But that first time is over. It’s interesting that whole new element of how you can work something over and over again, but until you have your audience there— you’re supposed to be alone in the room with one person, and then all of a sudden you’re alone in the room with 700 people. And to keep that freshness and newness of being alone with one person takes a lot of work, so it’s been interesting. I can’t talk it up enough how much I’m enjoying it, because I truly am.