Joaquin Phoenix Johnny Quotations

When I heard that James Mangold was directing a movie about the life of Johnny Cash, I wanted to do it without even reading the script. I just had a really good feeling about it, and I liked the idea of playing such a complex man who led an incredibly rich life.

He was strumming the guitar but he wouldn't sing, ... And he said, 'I'm waiting for June to get my nerve up.' I thought, 'How is Johnny Cash waiting for anybody to get his nerve up?' But he really needed her. ... They both were incomplete in some ways and when they were brought together, they felt completed.

Johnny moved on stage in very specific ways, he had a specific guitar strum that contributed to the energy of his performances.

When I would go on stage and say, 'Hello, I'm Johnny Cash,' you're not trying to say it like John does, but trying to capture what propelled him to say, 'Hello, I'm Johnny Cash,' when everybody already knew who he was. What I was trying to do was really try to find the man behind all that.

It was magical to be able to explore the young Johnny Cash and his music. But you worry about people's expectations. There's a concern about people saying, 'Well, that's not Johnny Cash'.