Zazie Beetz Reveals What She Learned From Acting With Joaquin Phoenix At the 2020 Oscars

Acting opposite Joaquin Phoenix has got to be quite the experience.

Zazie Beetz, who costars with Phoenix in Joker, told E!’s  Guiliana Rancic what she had learned from the infamously method actor on the red carpet at the 2020 Oscars, and she actually describes him as “playful,” and says he taught her how to take up space on a set. 

“I think honestly watching Joaquin, he’s so playful, in a way, and really willing to take risks and you know, not being afraid of wasting time or trying something out, or really working a scene until it’s ready,” Beetz said. “There’s always so much pressure on a set to get it done, get it done. I never want to be a nuisance—not that he was a nuisance at all—but to take up your space and be like, ‘we need to figure this out,’ I really respect that.” 

Beetz, who’s literally sewn into a custom Thome Browne dress, is “exhausted” here at the end of awards season, but says she’s running on adrenaline right now.

Joker is nominated for Best Picture tonight along with a whole bunch of other awards, and Beetz says she thought it was going to be “something special” from the beginning. 

“It really matched a lot of what I thought it was going to be, just being on set and reading that screenplay, which I felt from the beginning, the moment I read that, I felt it was something special, and to see that manifested visually was great,” she said. “I think a lot of people felt very emotional leaving it.”